Land owned by area family may be key to future Hutto sports complex

The parks master plan, which was originally written in 2007, lists additional soccer, baseball and softball fields as high priorities. The master plan states demand for recreational areas is increasing throughout the country because of increased mobility, awareness of health and fitness, and requests for after-school and summer programs.

Hemker said the 2007 master plan is outdated and does not account for population and construction cost increases.

Hutto officials have noted a need for a dedicated sports complex for years. The city uses some of Hutto ISD's sports facilities when otherwise unoccupied. Creekside Park has some basic baseball practice areas. The Hutto Youth Sports Complex has several soccer fields, but the land is privately owned and could be developed at any time, according to the parks master plan.

In 2009 Hutto citizens voted against a bond measure to fund construction of a sports complex that would have housed baseball, softball and soccer fields. In the same bond election residents approved a bond measure to fund improvements to Fritz Park, which includes revamping its sports fields, Hutto Assistant City Manager Micah Grau said.

The Fritz Park improvements are targeted to begin after October 2015, but no new fields will be built. Bonding for the park improvements has been pushed back to keep the tax rate level while other bond projects—including the Hutto YMCA—are completed, Hemker said.

City Councilwoman Melanie Rios said the city could support new sporting fields because population growth has strained the current ones.

"We have so many homes being built here right now, and we definitely have an influx of families," Rios said. "I definitely believe we have that need for more sports facilities."

In July another opportunity to move forward with constructing sports fields presented itself when the Hutto YMCA proposed a partnership with the city. However, the partnership did not move forward after city leaders did not budget funds to help build the fields. Jeff Andresen, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Williamson County, said the Hutto YMCA is moving forward with other funding options including applying for funds from the county or metropolitan-level YMCAs.