The public line is the sides are still negotiating a financing plan for a $525 million ballpark for the Marlins at the site of the Orange Bowl, but it won’t be ready in time for Tuesday’s Miami-Dade County Commission meeting, as some had hoped.

A few sticking points remain, including the issue of who will pay for the parking garage and the annual maintenance of the venue. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said he thinks the issues can all be resolved shortly – assuming everyone’s schedule can be freed up – and he’s hoping there will be a vote in the first half of this month. With this project, it’s impossible to predict anymore.

Diaz dismisses those who believe he's behind any delays and says the city is willing to pay for the parking garage – as initially proposed – but is balking at paying for maintenance of a venue that will be owned by the county.

“We don’t have any money and we don’t own the stadium,” Diaz said. “How in the world do we contribute to maintain something we don’t own?”

He also insists he is not holding up the project to wait for Major League Soccer to grant Miami a soccer team, which could be years off, if at all. He said a 25,000-seat soccer stadium next to a ballpark would generate more revenue to help pay for the parking garage, but it isn’t a requirement.

“Listen, the baseball deal is moving forward. It has nothing to do with the soccer deal,” Diaz said. “I’ve fought long and hard to get a baseball deal done. I think we can get a soccer deal done. One is not mutually exclusive of the other.”

Diaz says talks will continue despite auto dealer Norman Braman’s lawsuit, which seeks to derail the $3 billion downtown Miami overhaul and plans for the ballpark. The former Philadelphia Eagles owner is concerned voters have been cut out of the process and their 2004 vote to put $50 million in general obligation bond funding toward renovation of the Orange Bowl has been dismissed in favor of putting those dollars toward a ballpark. His suit also claims a breach of contract for performing arts center bondholders, including himself, if the bond repayment is switched to Community Redevelopment Agency dollars to free up hotel bed tax dollars for the ballpark.

Diaz doesn’t see why voters need to vote.

“The public has never voted on an appropriation of convention [hotel bed tax] dollars or how the CRA dollars have been spent,” Diaz said.