City leaders threw out their first pitch toward building a new baseball and soccer complex last week by choosing an engineering firm for the project.
Council members voted unanimously to allow city staff to begin negotiations with EST Inc. on a drainage and dirt work design for the complex that would be located on the southwest side of Wild Horse Park. The Council will have to approve the cost of that design before it can move forward.
The dirt and drainage design of the facility, which includes six baseball fields and five regulation soccer fields, was originally developed for a $2.9 million bond issue in 2008. The plan was defeated by voters, which marked the second time a plan for upgrades to the sports complex had been rejected by voters. A more robust $4.4 million plan was taken to voters in 2006 and handily defeated.
Justin Battles, Mustang parks and recreation director, said the new plan calls for five regulation soccer fields and six baseball fields.
Two of the baseball fields may be designed with a fence that can be moved so those fields can be used for football. Battles said the city currently has only one regulation-size soccer field but the space for four more.
Depending on the number of teams in each age group, the Mustang Youth Soccer Association currently converts the soccer field space into about a dozen youth fields.
Ward 3 Council member Ben Green asked Battles last week how much money was reserved for the project, and the parks director said he did not have a firm number but estimated between $109,000 and $113,000 would be available during the current fiscal year. The cost of the design plan would be deducted from that amount.
The decision to try the “pay-as-you-go” improvement plan was pushed in May during City Council budget hearings. Mayor Jeff Landrith jotted notes on a notepad during city department head budget proposals, totaling numbers from line-item budget requests that he said he believed could be eliminated, delayed or pad through other means.
“I would like to talk to Council about moving some of these funds over into the parks and recreation to start bringing water and sewer over to that area, do some dirt work and engineering,” Landrith said during the budget hearing. “We can't do it in one year. It may take multiple years.”
Battles said it is uncertain how much money will be available to begin moving dirt once the design is complete, likely pushing any start date on the project back to the summer of 2012. Battles said he does not know how long the project will take to complete but warned it may take several years.
In the last bond issue in 2008, cost of the dirt work alone was estimated at $190,000. If the dirt work is done, the city would also have to put down a ground cover on the leveled fields so weather erosion doesn't destroy the improvements before city officials can free up additional funding for the project. Battles said a ground cover such as sod could cost an additional $100,000.
The parks director said he hopes some work such as fencing can be completed through volunteer labor. But other pieces of the project such as lighting will have to be contracted out so that the city get a warranty on the work. Also, other pieces of the puzzle will have to be built in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We are going to have to think outside the box to get this completed,” Battles said.
Additional parking for the sports complex could be part of a planned bond package that city staff is formulating.
City officials have stressed the need for additional parking at Town Center. No details of the bond package have been made public, though city officials are expecting to seek voters' support for an expansion of the city's library.