ZEBULON — The town of Zebulon wants a new lease from the

Carolina Mudcats

or they want the Mudcats out.

Town officials filed a lawsuit, seeking to remove the Mudcats from Five County Stadium, They claim the lease agreements that they made with the minor league baseball are illegal and void.

"We don't feel like we have done anything wrong," says Mudcats president Steve Bryant. "We have lived up to every signed agreement that we have. We probably have done more than what the signed agreement calls for."

Bryant is filing a motion to have the Wake County Superior Court dismiss the lawsuit filed by the town of Zebulon. Town officials found that they were losing $70,000 a year in the current lease arrangement and they wanted a better deal.

Town officials believe that they found a legal technicality in the original deal with the Mudcats when the stadium was built in 1990, saying a statute requiring public hearings and bid procedures for other possible tenants were not carried out therefore, voiding the agreement.

"We don't take this area for granted. We don't take this stadium for granted," Bryant says. "This is a community that has helped us build what we have here and we are going to be here for the community for many years to come."

Zebulon Mayor Robert Matheny says this was not a unexpected motion, but he would still like to resolve the situation with the Mudcats without going to court. The Carolina Mudcats are the AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the Southern League. The team is the second largest employer in Zebulon.