The 200-acre Fisher Ferry property bought by the city in 2003 under the Laurence Leyens administration is the most cost-effective site to build a sports complex, according to a report from the consultants hired by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to look at potential sites for a multipurpose recreation complex.

The report from Sunrise Beach, Mo.-based Diamante Global/JCI Holdings LLC, was the result of the company’s survey of three properties selected by the board as potential sites for a sports complex: the Fisher Ferry site, the former Mississippi Chemical property, also known as Mississippi Bluffs, and property in the vicinity of the city’s Halls Ferry Park and Bazinsky ball fields. The board hired Diamante Global in February.

The consultant’s report and information on the proposed special tax on lodging and food and beverage sales will be presented to the public Thursday at a 5:30 p.m. public hearing in the board meeting room at the City Hall Annex.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said Tuesday the Fisher Ferry site might not be the selected site for the complex.

“We’ll find out after Thursday,” he said. “I agree with (South Ward) Aldermen (Willis) Thompson that the public should decide where it should go.

“I’m not totally convinced that the Fisher Ferry site is the best place for it,” I don’t think that’s the best use of the taxpayers’ money for that property.”

According to the consultant’s report, the decision on Fisher Ferry was based on a strength, weakness opportunity and threat, or SWOT analysis, which examined each property for its ability to be the best site for developing a sports complex.

According to the report’s findings, the decision on Fisher Ferry was based on five issues:

• The estimated development cost of each site.

• Which site provided the highest and best use as a sports complex.

• Which site had the potential to generate the most tax revenue for the city.

• Which site provided the capability to build a facility that would get noticed in the youth tournament world and get noticed.

• The total fiscal impact on the city and how it pertains to the future growth and financial stability of the city.

“Based on the assumptions outlined … The Fisher Ferry property is arguably the most cost-effective site on which to build this complex,” according to the report. “It has less environmental issues, will require the least civil work (grading, leveling and remediation), and has the best topography for a sports-based development.”

The report, however, indicated the city would have to resolve access problems to the site. An access road from either Dana Road or U.S. 61 South to the property has been proposed by city officials.

The Mississippi Bluffs property, according to the report, would require “considerably more site work due to the drastic elevation changes on the property which will result in higher civil work costs.”

The report also indicated that the Mississippi Bluffs property, which is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, has wetlands and environmental issues, and “verifiable flood plain areas” that would need to be mitigated. The Bluffs property was at one time considered for a casino resort.

According to the report, the city would have to acquire additional property to expand Halls Ferry Park, adding the layout of the ball fields at the park was inefficient and the site lacked adequate parking.

Since its purchase in 2003 for $325,000, the Fisher Ferry property had been plagued by problems that eventually led to the previous Board of Mayor and Aldermen writing it off as a potential site. One of the reasons listed for the decision not to develop the site was the potential for flooding from Hatcher Bayou, which runs along the property’s northern boundary and has a history of flooding.

Work began to prepare the property for ball fields in 2009, but wetlands problems, coupled with access to the property and the diversion in 2009 of money from a 2007 bond issue from the park to the Washington Street bridge project, eventually forced city officials to end the project.

Besides the $325,000 purchase price for the property, the city has spent $2.7 million for preliminary plans, engineering and dirt work. The city has spent an additional $55,343 since August 2012 to replace the concrete in the drainage chutes on the site with riprap and grout under a Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality mandate.

The board in March put the property up for sale for a 90-day period, but there was no interest.