A Memphis City Council discussion on Tuesday about a resolution that would have added a board seat to the body that could control Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium erupted into a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the Memphis Grizzlies and the entire stadium funding deal.

The day ended with the council postponing a vote on the issue to its next meeting on Dec. 19, but not before lots of arguments. Councilman Chase Carlisle said at a meeting of the council's budget committee that the city essentially has three years to come up with $550 million to keep the Grizzlies in Memphis.

"The Grizzlies basically said, 'Look, we're still working on our plan set. We can support this because we want this to be a unifying moment, but you're on notice that we need $550 million. It's your responsibility to figure it out with the state and you guys have about three years to figure it out or we have to start seriously considering our options.' That's just the even landscape," Carlisle said.

There are a plethora of different places to look for that money, including the $350 million in cash the state allocated to the city earlier this year.

Part of that $350 million — $120 million — would be allocated to the university and Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium under a resolution introduced last month that also includes a $50 million gift from FedEx founder Fred Smith and his family. Carlisle said at the meeting that the Grizzlies currently have a path to around $320 million, including the $230 million left over from the state funding and various taxes and bonds.

But the council expressed frustration with the way the deal came together, specifically that councilors did not find out about it until just before it was announced by the city and the university last month.

"That was a huge political miscalculation that we are now seeing play out today," Councilman Worth Morgan said.

The agenda item being discussed was a resolution from councilman JB Smiley Jr. that would have made the overall stadium deal contingent on the University of Memphis Auxiliary Services Board — which would take ownership of the stadium as part of the funding deal — adding city appointees to its board. Smiley said at the beginning of the discussion that he wanted to have a broader discussion about the stadium deal, and that's exactly what happened.

The resolution to allocate $120 million to the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovations was introduced after months of discussions between the city, the university and the Grizzlies. Officials were trying to decide how to allocate $350 million from the state for various renovation projects in the city, but those conversations finally hit a breakthrough when Smith and his family announced they would donate $50 million for Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovations. The university announced it would attempt to fundraise $50 million more. With the $120 million from the city and that additional money, the university would have the $220 million it wants to renovate the stadium.

That deal, which city officials said Grizzlies officials agreed to, also included the transfer of the stadium from the city to the university. Officials have said that the city will still retain ownership of the land around the stadium, including Tiger Lane. That's one of the reasons Smiley said he introduced his resolution — the city would have an interest in the goings-on at the stadium because it would still control the area around it.

The university had sent a letter to Carlisle that said adding the seat to the board was not possible because of the board's charter, but Smiley's resolution asked them to amend the charter to add a seat for a city appointee who would only vote on stadium-related matters. The board also controls dozens of university-owned properties.

The discussion at the committee meeting veered away from the board seat and eventually led to council members asking why the city had chosen to move forward with the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium deal before addressing FedExForum, the home of the Grizzlies and the Tigers men's basketball team. University officials have been pushing for months to finalize funding so they can start renovations after the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29.

Chandell Ryan, the city's chief operating officer, said transferring the stadium to the University of Memphis Auxiliary Services Board would help the university get into a better athletic conference.

Ken Moody, director of local relations and partnerships in the university's government relations department, said the donation from the Smith family is contingent on the city transferring the property to the ASF, suggesting that the entire deal could fall apart if the city does not agree to transfer the stadium to the university.

A significant portion of the discussion centered on the stadium's value and the debt the city will still be responsible for. City officials have referred to the stadium as a "liability," something Smiley pushed back on.

The city's debt on the stadium is around $28 million. Moody and university officials said they would not be able to absorb the debt with the stadium transfer. Chairman Martavius Jones said the transfer on the stadium's debt was one of the things holding him back from supporting the deal as it currently stands.

Morgan ultimately said he supports the deal and thought councilors could work through their frustrations with how it came together. He said he didn't think adding the board seat was necessary because the city and university work together on projects all the time.

At the end of the discussion, Smiley said his goal was to start a discussion about the stadium deal with his resolution about board seats.

"I'm not sold on these ideas. What I wanted to do was spark a conversation," Smiley said. "We will not be dictated to. We will make the best decision for the city of Memphis."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Meeting about Liberty Stadium dominated by future of Memphis Grizzlies