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Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs City Council concluded five months of Triple Crown contract negotiations Tuesday night when it voted, 4-2, to bring the national youth baseball tournaments back to Steamboat for at least one more year, and possibly two.

Triple Crown Sports founder Dave King said it wasn't meant to be this difficult.

"The process has been a tremendous amount of undue wear and tear on both sides for something that works this well," King said before the beginning of Tuesday's meeting at Centennial Hall.

Councilwoman Meg Bentley and Councilman Steve Ivancie were the dissenting votes; Councilman Walter Magill was absent.

Councilman Scott Myller said he was almost persuaded to reverse his earlier support for two more years of Triple Crown, but not quite.

"I heard from a lot of constituents," Myller said. "I think our community is getting tired of always being busy and the river being flooded with people. You guys almost had me, but it seems like a perfect match" for Steamboat's tourism-based economy.

The ordinance passed by council ratifies a two-year contract extension for Triple Crown events that will begin June 8 next summer and continue through Aug. 9. The second year is not as certain.

The council balked at final approval of the ordinance Aug. 6 and deferred the debate until after Labor Day. Council wasn't happy with last-minute contract language that put the possibility of Triple Crown use of the Emerald Park fields back on the table. There also was concern about the possibility of rescheduling local adult league softball at Howelsen Hill two nights a week.

In the end, the Emerald Park proposal was withdrawn. The possibility of rearranging the adult softball schedule remains in the contract language. However, it appears unlikely because the city can avoid it by continuing to improve its existing fields at its "sole discretion."

The contract extension doesn't mean Triple Crown in 2010 is a sure thing. King's company has the option to become a free agent and terminate the agreement for 2010 no later than Nov. 1, 2009, if the city does not give written confirmation to Triple Crown by Oct. 1, 2009, that four additional playing fields will be provided. They must be ready for play in the 2010 season.

King confirmed that despite his longstanding relationship with the city and Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, he's preparing to take his championship events on a road trip, if necessary.

Triple Crown has put out request for proposals to other cities, including resort towns, medium markets comparable to Fort Collins, and major metro areas comparable to Las Vegas. He hopes to hear back from interested destinations in December.

Next time around, King will be seeking a 10-year contract. He thinks it would be a plus for host cities as well as for his business.

"This is a good town with a lot of good people," King said. "Our relationship with Steamboat, if it's meant to be, would become even stronger because it will be more thought out."

Bentley doesn't agree.

"I'm not going to be able to support this," she said. "We need to evaluate everything monetarily. What kind of bang are we going to get for our buck? I think it's shortsighted to take money from our budget to support Triple Crown. It's my fear that next time they'll try to get more than we can afford to do."

Councilwoman Cari Hermacinski countered that summer tourism doesn't get much better than Triple Crown.

"What demographic is better than kids?" she asked. "It's a demographic of children and families. It's about as good as it gets. They earn the right to be here by playing in baseball tournaments throughout the year. The money that goes into our fields (as a result) benefits our children as well."