DAYTON DAILY NEWS                   Copyright (c) 1997, Dayton Newspapers Inc.DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997           TAG: 9701220233EDITION: CITY          SECTION: METRO TODAY PAGE: 1B TYPE: MAIN SOURCE: By Susan Vinella  and Laura Bischoff  Dayton Daily News                             TASK FORCE: PLAY BALL                       CITY URGED TO GET TEAM, STADIUM    With a sense of urgency, a local baseball task force on Tuesday recommendedthe almost-immediate acquisition of a Class A minor league baseball team andstarting construction on a publicly financed stadium in downtown Dayton by theend of the year.   Whether those deadlines are met depends on getting a team to agree tolocate to the city, securing $12 million-plus in public funds from Dayton,Montgomery County and the state, and receiving approval from the CincinnatiReds to bring a team here, according to the task force.   "There are a lot of issues that still need to be resolved but we're headingdown the path where this looks like it can be done,'' task force chairman DanSadlier said at a news conference.   But not everyone says such a stadium should be built using public funds.   "With all the valid economic development priorities for this region, Ican't see the legislature putting millions in for a stadium that helps createminimum-wage jobs and nothing else,'' said state Rep. Jeff Jacobson, R-ButlerTwp.   Before the stadium funding issue can be tackled, however, Sadlier said ateam must make a commitment to move here. The task force, made up of publicofficials and business leaders, recommends that agreement be secured in thenext 60 to 90 days.   Sadlier said local investors are negotiating with owners of two teams inthe Midwest League to purchase part or all of their franchise and move it toDayton. He declined to name the investors or the interested team owners.   Without a commitment from a team, Reds managing executive John Allen saidhe cannot consider talking to Dayton about a possible affiliation with theCincinnati club. And city and county officials say they won't discuss theallocation of funds for a stadium if a team is not in place.   "Without an anchor tenant, without a team, there is no baseball,''Montgomery County Commission president Vicki Pegg said. "That's what we needto see.''   Allen said he cannot discuss the possibility of a Reds farm team in Daytonin part because of a legal commitment to the club's current Class A affiliate,the Burlington (Iowa) Bees. But for the first time Tuesday he said he, notsuspended CEO Marge Schott, would likely be the one to make the decision.   "I don't have a definitive answer but predominantly the decision lies withme,'' he said. "Of course, I'll have someone looking over my shoulder."   That person most likely would be Schott who, under her suspensionagreement, is permitted to be involved with long-term decisions with the team.Schott has said she opposes minor league baseball in Dayton because shebelieves it would take fans away from the Reds.   National League vice president Katy Feeney said "any location of a team inDayton would have to be discussed with Mrs. Schott because it becomes along-term thing.''   But Feeney said if Schott and Allen were to disagree, the issue could bebrought to the league to decide.   What is clear is that approval from the Reds is necessary for Dayton toproceed with acquiring a franchise.   "If you don't have the Reds approval, it's not going to happen no matterwhat,'' said Jim Ferguson, spokesman for the National Association ofProfessional Baseball Leagues, which is the organization that oversees minorleague baseball. Ferguson said under guidelines established by the NationalAssociation and Major League Baseball, Dayton is considered Reds territory.   While investors and others are seeking a team and approval from the Reds,the task force recommends that a stadium site be selected. It proposes sixsites in downtown Dayton, two of which are city-owned.   A source said the real desire is to build the stadium on one of the fourprivately owned sites on the eastern edge of downtown.   Partnership president Maureen Pero, a task force member, said the siteswere selected either to be a part of the city's downtown riverfrontdevelopment or to try to benefit the Oregon Historic District.   Though land acquisition costs were not a part of the task force's report,one source said they range in price from $2 million to $8 million.      * STAFF WRITER   David Mendell contributed to this report.LENGTH:   88 linesILLUSTRATION: PHOTO (COLOR):          Task force chairman Dan Sadlier and Maureen Pero at news conference          GRAPHIC: Map shows six (6) potential sites for a stadium; facts          about the type of team likely to be selected and data on the stadium          itself are given.          [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC LIBRARY; SEE MICROFILM.]SUBJ: CITY GOVERNMENT      MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL NA: DAN SADLIER    MAUREEN PERO    JOHN ALLEN GEOG: DAYTON AT:  ENHANCER: ref8================================================================================ 41 of 76, 3 Terms                                                              Transfer complete. Press [RETURN] to return to Menu: