Keep your eyes open: Falcons stadium deal moving fast

• Dustin Chambers/CL File
• Deal to replace Georgia Dome with $1 billion stadium is moving through Atlanta City Council, state agency

Don’t blink. The deal to pave the way for a new Atlanta Falcons stadium is moving fast.

At 2 p.m, the board of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the state agency that would own the estimated $1 billion athletic complex, is expected to vote on the deal. The move comes little more than one week after only the basic details of the deal were released to the public, and amidst more questions of the actual amount of public funding that would be dedicated to build the new athletic and events complex. The Atlanta City Council might take on the matter on Monday.

The City Council’s Finance and Executive Committee yesterday spent five hours - much longer than Chairwoman Felicia Moore anticipated or hoped - talking about the proposed stadium and how the superstructure might affect surrounding neighborhoods. They also started sifting through a thick packet of documents that includes the actual agreements between the city, the Falcons, and the GWCCA. Councilmembers received the information the afternoon before the committee work session. (UPDATE, 10:11 p.m. A spokeswoman for Mayor Kasim Reed sends word that the documents are now available online, along with other stadium-related materials. Earlier today Reed staffers also posted a FAQ.)

The amount of public cash that’s often mentioned that would flow to the Falcons is $200 million. The funding would be generated by the city’s lucrative hotel and motel tax, which by law can only be used to fund a new stadium on GWCC property.