The city of Hutto took a step forward in starting development of parks projects funded by voter approved bonds.

Hutto City Council voted Feb. 7 to award a master services agreement to Burditt Consultants LLC with the goal of ultimately breaking ground on projects in April.

The $6 million agreement tasks Burditt Consultants with preliminary work, including engineering and design, on specific projects that were identified by committee earlier in the year.

“This allows for the architects ... and the engineers to get going ... in order for them to come up with tasks,” Hutto City Manager Odis Jones said.

In November, city of Hutto residents approved a $50 million bond proposition that provides funds to parks projects across the city. While the bond language did not specifically list any parks, the bond funds will go toward "constructing, acquiring, improving, renovating, developing and equipping, land, buildings, and supporting infrastructure for parks and recreational purposes," according to the city of Hutto website.

Burditt Consultants has previously worked with the city of Hutto to construct conceptual designs for a Recreation Center to be located just east of Fritz Park.

The Feb. 4 vote does not allocate funds for any specific projects, and any task orders for projects such as construction or improvements will have to come back to Hutto City Council for approval. Jones and other city officials said the vote gets the ball rolling for design and engineering work, though movement on the ground is not too far out in the future.

"One of our priorities was to get going so we could break ground in April," Hutto Mayor Pro Tem Tom Hines said during discussion.