In the past week, conflicting reports have come from the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau and from the Butler Redevelopment Authority as well as the Pullman Trust and city officials over the tourism group's support for the Pullman Park renovation project.

At issue is $90,000 that the tourism group said it would contribute for early planning and design work on the historic ball park project, once proof of local financial support was demonstrated.

The county commissioners attended a recent joint meeting between the tourism agency and the redevelopment authority, but the need for another meeting is clear. The county commissioners should again step forward to help resolve the dispute, which threatens to prevent the ballpark project and larger revitalization work from moving forward.

In 2002, the board of the tourism bureau committed $90,000 to be used to help pay for architectural and engineering drawings of the reconstructed park which is a key component in a larger, $50-million West End revitalization program.

Rather than just hand over the money, the tourism board sought to minimize the risk that its investment would be wasted by asking that the local groups involved in the ballpark project demonstrate that they had local financial support. Tourism officials say they want to see the $900,000 in local matching funds necessary to trigger the release of the state's $1.8 million grant. Redevelopment and city officials say that the original deal required considerably less local money to release the $90,000.

At a June 1 meeting attended by tourism officials and the county commissioners, Perry O'Malley, interim executive director of the city redevelopment authority was asked to provide proof of the local matching money. According to tourism officials, a June 2 letter from O'Malley did not include the requested documentation.

In a June 18 article in the Butler Eagle, however, O'Malley said he has proof of local matching money in the form of a $2.5 million low-interest loan. He expressed frustration over the tourism board's failure to release the promised $90,000. O'Malley went on to say the tourism agency has added financial stipulations before it will release the money, and that he will now begin looking elsewhere for money to replace the yet-to-be-released tourism money.

The conflicting reports in this dispute are frustrating because they suggest poor coordination and inter-agency dissension at a time everyone should be working together. Further complicating matters is the fact that timing is critical, because failure to move the project forward quickly would jeopardize the hoped-for 2006 playing season.

Mayor Leonard Pintell and Mike Kelly, redevelopment authority chairman, expressed disappointment over the holdup with the tourism money, with each suggesting they believed the issue had be resolved earlier.

The back-and-forth nature of this dispute suggests that the county commissioners should enter the scene as a neutral party and mediating force to bring the different agencies and individuals together to resolve the dispute and help move the project forward.

To its credit, the tourism agency wants to minimize the risk associated with an investment in the ballpark project, Requiring proof of local financial support is a good way to do that. But a guarantee is not possible in this case - just as guaranteed results are not possible with the various promotional and marketing expenditures paid for by the tourism board's bed-tax money.

If Pullman Park is revitalized and a minor league team takes us residence there, then county tourism officials will have another attraction to help market and those promotional efforts will help bring people and their dollars into Butler - the ultimate objective of the bed tax.

Whether the tourism board has moved the goal posts or the redevelopment authority has failed to document local financial support, the county commissioner ought to be able to get the answers on the table. In the scope of the project, $90,000 is not a huge sum. But the dispute doesn't paint a picture of the kind of unified support and cooperation critical to success. Involvement by the county commissioners might be a good way to change that.