The Lampasas City Council at its recent meeting unanimously approved a zoning change for 9 acres to be annexed into the city limits and developed into Diamond Ridge Phase II.

The land, west of Sheppard Lane and north of Diamond Ridge Phase I, is zoned agricultural. It will be rezoned as a Single Family Residential 10 District and a Single Family-Patio Home District. The property will be divided into 35 lots, with 21 of them set aside for patio homes of at least 1,200 square feet.

Diamond Ridge Drive and Sheppard Lane will provide access to the subdivision addition.

Of 14 notices sent to nearby property owners, three were returned in opposition to the zoning change, and two property owners returned the notices in favor of the change. No residents addressed the City Council, however, during a public hearing that preceded the rezoning vote.

Rezoning will take effect once the property is annexed into Lampasas. During a called meeting on Friday the City Council approved the second reading of an annexation ordinance.

At its recent regular meeting the council also voted 7-0 to approve a zoning change for a portion of 2.61 acres of city property south of Farm-to-Market Road 580 East and on the east side of the A.T. & S.F. Railway Co. right of way. The area is zoned Single Family Residential- 8 District and will be rezoned as "Light Industrial."

In a related item, the council OK'd the vacation and change in public use of a 0.6-acre portion of an unopened right of way known as Seventh Street in the city's G.C. & S.F. Railroad Addition. The 0.6 acres will be combined with the rest of the 2.61 acres, and the city will advertise the area as industrial property for economic development, City Manager Michael Stoldt said.

In other business, the council unanimously approved fee increases for Hancock Park Golf Course.

A semi-annual membership for a single player will increase from $250 to $285, couple memberships will increase from $330 to $373, and a family membership will change from $370 to $417. The golf course also will charge a new $10 fee for players 12 years and younger.

Weekday and weekend green fees will increase by $2, and green fees with a half cart will rise by $3.

Weekend green fees for nine holes with a half cart will rise from $16 to $18, and nine-hole weekday green fees with a half cart will increase from $13 to $15.50.

With the increase, the first since January 2006, Hancock Park Golf Course membership fees will remain lower than at municipal courses in Copperas Cove, Burnet, Killeen, San Saba and Llano. Most cart and green fees will remain lower than in Burnet, and they will be no more than $5 higher than the other courses' fees.

During a workshop session before the regular meeting, landscape architect Dennis Sims briefed the council on the city's $2.17 million sports park project off FM 580 West.

The park's first phase will feature two regulation-size soccer fields, two baseball fields -- 315 feet from home plate to center field and 265 feet to the left and right field walls -- a picnic pavilion, a playground, a restroom/concession building and a paved parking area.

The parking lot and all four fields will be illuminated. Ball fields will have lighting in areas where players do warm-up drills, and the fields will use "cut-off" lights designed not to shine past the playing area, Sims said. This should prevent light from bothering property owners near the sports park, the architect said.

Bid documents should be ready by mid-December, and bids likely will be due by the end of January. Construction prices have decreased in the last few months, Sims said, so the city might receive particularly competitive bids if it bids the project soon, he said.

"We would like to try and get this bid out to take advantage of that," Sims said of the construction price drop. "We're seeing some pretty hungry contractors."

Council member Wanda Bierschwale asked if Lampasas could receive a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant for a second phase of recreation facilities at the park. Sims said grants are possible but may be more difficult to obtain than the grant for phase one. In phase one, the city included a wetland area that helped the project gain points with TPWD, but Lampasas will not be able to count the area again for phase two.

In a regular-session item, the City Council unanimously approved a 25-year agreement with Lampasas County for an animal control facility to be built on 1.7 acres of city property at 205 College St. The agreement is renewable for five-year periods after the initial 25 years.

The city and county will share surveying, architectural, construction, maintenance and operation costs, including salaries for the two city employees who will operate the facility and care for animals.

"This will be, for all intents and purposes, a city-run facility," Stoldt said.

An invitation to bid on the project should be ready by mid-December, and bids will be opened near the end of January, the city manager said.

"We still hope to be under construction in February some time," he added.

In other business, the City Council unanimously approved an agreement for $611,375 with Lansford Company Inc. for design build services related to a 10- unit hangar project at Lampasas Municipal Airport.

The Texas Department of Transportation will not award the final $150,000 of grant funds to Lampasas until it holds its aviation department meeting in December, Stoldt said. TxDOT already has earmarked the funds, however, and department officials have assured the city manager that TxDOT cannot give the money to another entity.

Stoldt said any risk of underfunding is extremely minor, and he encouraged the council to approve the agreement with Lansford Company.

Parks and Recreation Director Micky Tower said the city already has 23 people on its waiting list for a hangar.

In another item, the City Council OK'd a public utility easement agreement with Fred and Evelyn McDonald. The city will pay the McDonalds $12,384 for a 20-foot easement across their property to extend utilities to the new high school.

An appraisal valued the permanent utility easement and temporary construction easement at $8,384, but the city agreed to pay an extra $4,000 because of the high number of pecan and oak trees to be removed and because of anticipated damage to the McDonalds' fence. Upon completion of the electric distribution line, the city will replace the affected sections with a seven-strand barbed wire fence.

The council also unanimously approved a 25-year non-annexation agreement for 63.637 acres of agricultural land the McDonalds own. The agreement will become void if the property loses its agricultural status.

In other business, the council voted 7-0 to purchase 34 banners from Salisbury, N.C.-based Downtown Graphics Network Inc. to advertise downtown Lampasas. The banners, which the council voted to designate as "official signs," will cost $6,766.

A Texas Department of Agriculture GO TEXAN Rural Community Beautification Program grant for the project totals $9,064, including $4,532 of matching private funds raised by Vision Downtown Lampasas!. The city's electric department will install the banners, which should be placed on city poles in the downtown area by Christmas.

Also at the recent meeting, the council:

• voted 7-0 to pay HDR Engineering Inc. $46,850 for engineering services and other activities associated with a Community Development Block Grant wastewater project.

The total project budget, which includes $250,000 in CDBG funds, is $300,000. An area south of Central Texas Expressway and east of U.S. Highway 183 -- including Vine, Main, South Chestnut and Peach streets -- will receive replacement six- and eight-inch sewer lines.

• voted unanimously to use Police Department capital expenditures funds to purchase two in-car cameras for $8,294.

• approved a Police Department request to advertise for bids for two Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars. Stoldt said he rarely asks a department to seek City Council approval to advertise for bids, but because of national economic conditions he may begin doing so more frequently to give the council additional opportunities to evaluate city spending.