City of Lakeway, Travis County aim to help fund sports facility

Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme announced May 13 that the Lake Travis Youth Association has a contract pending on a 70-acre parcel of land located on Bee Creek Road near Hwy. 71 adjacent to a planned Lake Travis ISD middle school.

Lakeway City Council annexed a large segment of land April 21, including the land for the proposed LTYA site,

DeOme said.

LTYA is a privately funded, not-for-profit organization that provides sports opportunities for Lake Travis–area youth. The association is housed at the Field of Dreams facility in Bee Cave and accepts players from multiple communities.

Two Lakeway residents own the proposed tract, roughly 100 acres in size, and they will be retaining about 30 acres, DeOme said.

He said the city of Lakeway and the LTYA board of directors agreed that the city would consider a $3.7 million bond proposal for the November election to fund the project. LTYA would operate and manage the property for a time frame that has not yet been determined, DeOme said.

LTYA plans to sell its Bee Cave property and use the funds to improve the proposed Lakeway site, he said. However, the Lakeway project is not contingent on the sale, he said.

DeOme said Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty is also committed to seeking an additional $3 million to $4 million bond package in the next election that would go toward building the LTYA infrastructure and improvements on the new Lakeway site.

"[LTYA] will put in $3 [million] to $4 million, and we'll have a ball field," LTYA Vice President Glenn Smith said. "With all of the partnerships we have now, we can really do this."

He said LTYA will also start a capital campaign to raise funds for the new build. LTYA's Bee Cave site does not have enough fields to support the number of children involved in the program, which experienced a 10 percent membership increase in the spring, he said.

Smith said the new space should enable LTYA to double its facility size long-term, allowing for 12 baseball fields versus the seven the organization currently has.

It would also support six soccer fields rather than the three currently in use, he said. The new build may be similar in scope to the youth fields found at Old Settlers Park in the city of Round Rock, he said.

"With this project we are trying to address certain recreational needs that the public has expressed to the City Council," DeOme said. "This is our contribution to satisfying the needs of our community, not only today, but also for the future. All the parties are trying to achieve what is best for the kids."

According to its website, LTYA serves more than 4,500 youths from multiple cities in nine programs and activities annually.