The big picture: On July 25, City Council approved applying for a $750,000 matching grant from TPWD for the creation of Bay Colony Park, which will include several sports fields to meet the demand for such facilities. The acreage that would become the park is owned by the League City Patrons of the Parks and Arts Foundation, and the city will use the land, which is worth more than $750,000, as the city’s matching portion for the grant.
Council Members Andy Mann, Justin Hicks and Tommy Cones voted against applying for the grant.
Overall, the park’s creation is projected to cost about $40 million, and 4B funds, which are sales tax moneys set aside for athletic facilities, will fund the project. Construction is expected to begin in 2025.
Those opposed: During discussion about the grant, council members raised issues with the park itself.
Council Members Sean Saunders and Cones mentioned the park’s location is not ideal. It’s located around residential developments, and the noise and lighting the park will create could be a nuisance for neighbors, they said.
“I just think it’s a bad location,” Saunders said. “I’m not in favor of this.”
Cones agreed.
“I just think it’s a very bad location for this large of a complex,” he said.
Hicks said he voted against the grant because the project has been a “runaway train.” The project’s design has gone through several revisions and updates over the years.
“I don’t think we should have any level of commitment on record until we know exactly where we’re going with it, so that’s why I’m a no,” he said.
Those in favor: Mayor Nick Long and others voted in favor of the grant but still expressed concerns with the project.
“It’s been languishing, and I’ve seen 10 different versions of it,” he said, noting he’s still glad the city is pursing the grant, no matter how small. “As long as we’re not committed to the project, then I’m OK with moving forward with this. I would like to see it done, but I’m still not 100% satisfied where it is.”
Council Member Chad Tressler said some of the concerns council members brought up were “ludicrous.”
The reason the park is being planned where it is is because it’s land the city already owns. Surrounding homeowners don’t have rights to land they don’t own.
Tressler said if council members want to kill the park project off to put it on the next agenda and vote accordingly.
“These parks aren’t cheap, and they’re only going to get more expensive the longer we delay,” he said.
Stay tuned: If TPWD gives League City the grant, the money could be taken back if the park’s design changes enough that it is no longer eligible for the grant, City Manager John Baumgartner said.
