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City may sue hockey team

The city’s leaders are close to filing a lawsuit against Williamsport Outlaws hockey team and Syracuse Junior Hockey League.

Solicitor Norman Lubin confirmed Tuesday he was planning to meet today with Mayor Gabriel J. Campana about the matter and discuss the pursuit of finance records to determine how much is owed in order to file a lawsuit.

Lubin said the city has contacted the Outlaws and nonprofit group, Syracuse Junior Hockey League of Dewitt, N.Y., asking them to make immediate payment.

Campana told City Council he was taking all efforts to recover what is owned and instructed Lubin previously to contact Kristen Rooney, Outlaws owner and an attorney in Phoenix, Ariz., and nonprofit president, Don Kirnan.

As of last week, the city was owed utility bills amounting to $36,000-plus change but final payments have yet to arrive and Campana Monday ordered the home locker room and ticket office doors to have locks switched to “prevent Kirnan from retrieving items of the Federal Hockey League.”

“We’ll determine damages owed to the city and part of the lawsuit, if prepared, would be how much money is due the city from loss of utilities, rental payments and damages to the field,” Lubin said.

To date, the rink has not been dismantled at Bowman Field.

Controller Margaret “Peg” Woodring and Joseph Pawlak, city fiscal and budget officer, are preparing an itemization report of the accounting expenses at Bowman Field for the appropriate time period that began in October, said Jonathan Williamson, city councilman and chairman of the finance committee.

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