COEUR d'ALENE - The city of Coeur d'Alene is considering purchasing nearly 5 acres of land east of Cherry Hill Park that could play home to a baseball complex to replace the possibly-displaced American Legion baseball diamond at McEuen Field.

The city's General Services Committee this week forwarded a recommendation that the City Council pay for the $440,000, 4.8-acre parcel on 15th Street in one lump sum payment to the Coeur d'Alene Eagles, rather than in annual installments.

But Councilman Steve Adams, a GSC member who made the recommendation to City Council, is unsure if he'll vote for the land purchase in the end.

"If we can't pay for it all at once out of the (parks) capital improvement fund, in hindsight, I may have to vote no," Adams said.

He said he made the motion to forward the discussion to City Council so the full body can vet the issue Tuesday night.

The question that will go before council members, should they want to purchase the land, is how to pay for it.

The original proposal from city staff suggested paying a $180,000 down payment from the city's general fund balance, or rainy day fund, followed by annual payments at 0 percent interest of $52,000 for the next five years.

Those payments would come from the parks capital improvement fund - essentially compiled from fees collected from park rentals and reservations. Those fees would also pay back the rainy day fund over time.

Adams said he preferred to pay it off all at once as not to bind future councils into debt, which could be a legal quagmire. But he said he's also unsure if he wants to front any money from the rainy day fund.

Whichever way the council chooses to buy the land, if it does, the finance department said the money is there. The city has used the general fund for purchases and paid it back before.

The capital improvement fund generates about $250,000 annually, according to city staff reports, but buying the land all at once would require more money fronted from the general fund.

Even one dollar from the general fund is too much for Councilman Ron Edinger, who voted against the land purchase.

Edinger has voted against everything directly or indirectly tied financially to the McEuen Field conceptual plan since last year, although he approved the resolution motioned by City Councilman Mike Kennedy in May that directed what sources of revenue the city should and shouldn't use to pay for McEuen Field.

In that resolution, park capital improvement funds were approved to be proper for spending on McEuen Field.

"If it was for a park, fine, but it's for a ball field," said Edinger, a longtime American Legion baseball supporter.

He opposes the land purchase because it could be used to replace the current legion field.

"However they try to maneuver the money, I still believe it's taxpayer money," he said.

Kennedy voted in favor of the purchase, along with Adams.

The council meeting is 6 p.m. in the Community Room of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.