County, Real bad blood lingering?

Bad blood between Salt Lake County and Real Salt Lake officials appears to linger, as delays continue in inking a contract to fund a soccer stadium in Sandy, according to documents obtained by the Deseret Morning News.

In August, the team agreed to a bare-bones contract with the county for partial funding for the $180 million, 136-acre project, which includes a hotel and broadcast studio. At the time, team and county officials said a detailed contract would be signed by the fall, with construction starting on the stadium by November at the latest.

Now it's December, and a deal to fund the stadium is at a standstill. The team staged a ceremonial ground breaking in August after the county pledged $35 million in hotel taxes, but construction hasn't started yet.

Real and county leaders have fought publicly in the past, particularly after the County Council voted against one funding plan in July. After that vote, team owner Dave Checketts lambasted Mayor Peter Corroon, calling him the "King of England" and blasting overall county leadership as a "completely dysfunctional group."

Now the county's chief administrative officer, Doug Willmore, believes a top Real official is "talking trash" about him behind closed doors. Willmore, who is heading up the contract negotiations for the county, said officials from the Legislature, the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office, the county and Sandy city have approached him with claims that Real chief executive officer Dean Howes said Willmore is "unethical; breaks his word; lies; is out to kill soccer in Utah; and other accusations we both know are false," according to a letter Willmore wrote to Howes, dated Nov. 27.

"Apparently someone has been going around town making false (cowardly, wild irresponsible, unethical) accusations about me and attributing them to you, and I thought you would want to know — because I believe that it really makes you look unprofessional," Willmore wrote.

When contacted for comment Thursday, Howes hadn't received the letter. He said he hasn't spoken to Willmore in months, and was surprised at the accusations.

"I don't know why anybody would say anything about that," Howes said. "I have never once done anything but publicly and privately say that we've made an agreement, and we hope the agreement gets done, and that's it."

Willmore said he's not trying to start a fight — he's just trying to clear the air. "The last thing I want is for this to become some public name-calling match," he said Thursday.

Despite the disagreements, negotiations for a funding plan continue. However, several key issues are holding up the deal, including land-ownership issues and the team's financial viability.