Yearly Arena Fee for City Is Suspended : Contract: Ogden Entertainment OKs three-year waiver of $1.5-million annual bill for Anaheim taxpayers.

The city and its partner in the Anaheim Arena formally agreed Wednesday to waive for three years the $1.5-million annual fee that the city faced paying because only one major league sports team has agreed to play there.

Anaheim and Ogden Entertainment agreed in 1990 when they went into partnership to build the $103-million arena that city taxpayers would pay $2.5 million annually for eight years if neither an NHL or NBA team used it, and $1.5 million if only one team played there. The fee would have covered a portion of the operating losses Ogden was anticipating if the arena had fewer than two major tenants.

The City Council unanimously approved the agreement with Ogden Entertainment during a special meeting Wednesday night. Also, approved were amendments to the financial documents, which permit Walt Disney Co.’s hockey team to continue playing in the arena if Ogden or its partners default on construction loans.

The city, Ogden and the Walt Disney Co. reached agreement on all issues last February when the entertainment giant announced that its expansion National Hockey League franchise--the Mighty Ducks--would begin playing in the arena next fall.

The council’s action Wednesday legally documented the agreements.

Ogden agreed to temporarily waive the fee because the city allowed it to recoup at least $7 million in expenses it will incur when it makes changes to the arena that Disney requests.

The city could still be obligated to pay Ogden $1.5 million annually for five years beginning in 1996 if a National Basketball Assn. team hasn’t moved into the arena by then.