Why can’t McMinnville obligate funding for the Park Theatre at the same time a company is hired to prepare documents? Officials tried to do just that in March, but were stopped by legal counsel.“Mayor (Norman) Rone requested that I clarify and expand on the opinion that I expressed at the last meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to the motion by Alderman (Jimmy) Haley regarding funding of the Park Theatre project,” said city attorney Tim Pirtle in a letter given to each board member.In March, officials were considering a resolution to enter into a contract with AEI Architects, Engineers and Planners to prepare plans, specifications and bid documents for renovating the Park Theatre.At that time, Haley wanted to attach an amendment to the resolution to also fund restoration, which has been loosely estimated as costing up to $2 million. Haley’s concern was the board would pay $80,000 for the documents, then fail to ultimately fund the project.Pirtle interjected with, “You simply can’t do it.