Just like every other time the D.C. Council was set to vote on the lease agreement for the new stadium along South Capitol Street, something had to come along and muddy up the waters.

As the Post reported this morning, a planned council vote on the lease was put off when council chair Linda Cropp introduced emergency legislation imposing a final price-cap of $300 million for labor and materials for the stadium’s construction. The legislation, which would require nine votes to pass, was put on the table after an independent consultant warned that a prior cap negotiated by D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and MLB might not be as airtight as once thought. The emergency legislation would similarly cap the total cost of the stadium at between $589 million and $630 million, an increase from the $535 million cap imposed in a December 2004 vote.

Now WJLA is reporting that the emergency session may take the better part of the day, pushing off the vote on the stadium lease once again. And not one to be left on the sidelines, Williams is firing back at one of the consultants that warned Cropp of the loophole in the existing price-cap. In a tersely worded release, Williams noted that the consultant, Louis Cohen, had worked for the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority, which had attempted to get the Nationals for themselves. Said Williams:

This is a shocking conflict of interest. How can the residents of the District of Columbia trust the advice of a lawyer when his previous work was on behalf of Northern Virginia? It’s a blatant and inherent conflict – especially now that Cohen, and others at Piper Rudnick, have encouraged the Council to take actions that could jeopardize the fragile deal to keep the Nationals in DC.

Confused? Tired? Banging your head against your desk just hoping for this all to be over? If so, you can take it out on the Post, who is hosting a Q&A on the matter at 1 p.m., or follow the progress on their new blog, D.C. Wire.