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Mondale Weighs In On Stadium Deadline

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's crunch time for the big time players in the Minnesota Vikings stadium deal.

Gov. Mark Dayton convened the meeting yesterday, which included Vikings owners Zigi and Mark Wilf, and Ramsey County Commissioners Tony Bennett and Rafael Ortega and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Ted Mondale, Chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facility Commission, was also present at the meeting. He told WCCO-AM's Morning Show with Dave Lee that they're dealing with three issues:

"There's a discrepancy on the transportation funding. We started at a $131 million gap there. The county and the Vikings think it should be $80 (million). We have some ownership and construction issues and some questions on the state's share of it's bonding."

WCCO's Dave Lee Interviews Ted Mondale

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He said a Friday deadline is now set for an agreement on how much transportation costs will be.

"I think the key thing that has to happen is an agreement between MnDOT, the Vikings and Ramsey County. The hope is they can come to an agreement on what the transportation costs will be at that time."

But, he said, the biggest issue that remains is $51 million financial gap.

"We need to do this right. This is something that will be with us for 30 or 40 years. So while there's a sense of urgency and we want to get this done by Friday. Certainly we're not going to go forward with a bill that is incomplete or have questions."

Mondale said they hope to put a bill together, go through the different committees, and have the hearing, so if there is a special session the last week of the month they'll be ready to go.

The Vikings hope to build a $1.1 billion stadium complex on the site of the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills, Minn.

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