City Manager David Corliss is delaying an approximately $1 million payment for controversial infrastructure costs at Rock Chalk Park after a dispute emerged over whether the public was adequately informed of the pending payment.

City commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting approved a $1.09 million payment for legal fees, interest costs and other “soft costs” that a development group led by Lawrence businessman Thomas Fritzel was seeking to be reimbursed for as part of the Rock Chalk project.

But that payment was not advertised on the city’s meeting agenda. A report by Corliss detailing how about $157,000 of the fees requested by the Fritzel group weren’t justifiable was not included as part of the packet of meeting materials provided to the public. Corliss said he sent that report to commissioners individually, but did not post it in the agenda packet, which is widely available to the public and closely watched by the media.

Corliss did post the report on a section of the city’s website, but the city made no effort to notify the public or the media that the report had been completed. After Tuesday’s meeting, when questioned by the Journal-World, Corliss and Mayor Mike Amyx acknowledged that it likely would have been difficult for the public to know of the report’s existence.

On Wednesday morning, Corliss said via email that he had consulted with Amyx and determined that the Rock Chalk Park payment should not be made until the public has had a chance to see the report and comment on it. Even though commissioners approved the payment — minus the $157,000 referenced in the report — on Tuesday evening, Corliss said he is instructing staff members to not process the check. Instead, the payment will be an item for discussion at the City Commission’s Dec. 16 meeting.

At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners approved the payment on a 4-1 vote, with Amyx opposing the payment as he has done with all other Rock Chalk Park related payments.