COURTESY OF DUNKIN SIMS STOFFELS INC./CITY OF LAMPASAS The Lampasas City Council on Monday awarded a bid for a sports park off Farm-to-Market Road 580 West. The facility will include four athletic fields, a concession area, trails and 32 acres of permanent open space. The Lampasas City Council on Monday gave final approval for a sports park off Farm-to-Market Road 580 West.

In a 4-2 vote, the council awarded a bid of $1.81 million to CWA Construction of Waco. The park will include two soccer fields, two baseball fields, hike and bike trails, and a concession area.

Mayor Judy Hetherly, Mayor Pro Tem Les Gerhardt and council members Wanda Bierschwale and Evan Stubbs voted to award the bid, while Councilmen Jerry Grayson and Brad Neely were opposed. Councilman John Cole was not present at the meeting.

The City Council rejected all bids on May 11 and rebid the sports complex with only the basic features needed to retain the $600,000 in grants from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Lower Colorado River Authority. Even with the new CWA bid the council accepted Monday, the sports park project exceeded its budget by $248,407.

As a result, the council voted 4-2 to approve a resolution transferring unspent appropriations from the 2007 capital fund to the sports park fund. The transfer includes a capital surplus of $154,493, as well as $93,914 made available by reducing funding for water and sewer improvements on Key Avenue.

With the sports park transfer, Key Avenue water and sewer funds decreased from $335,000 apiece to $288,043 each.

Gerhardt, Stubbs, Ms. Hetherly and Mrs. Bierschwale voted for the transfer, while Grayson and Neely cast "no" votes.

Stubbs, who expressed concerns about sports park funding during a workshop session, said he worried that Lampasas might not have sufficient funds for the proposed work on Key Avenue if the Texas Department of Transportation decides to begin the project in the upcoming year.

City Manager Michael Stoldt, however, noted that TxDOT officials have not said when the Key Avenue project will commence. Work may not begin until 2012 or later, Mrs. Bierschwale added.

In proposing the fund transfer, Stoldt said all but five of the 21 projects included in the $7.5 million debt issue in 2007 either have been completed or have had a contract awarded. Building the sports facility is important, the city manager said, because although the 2007 capital fund paid for water and sewer line extensions, the sports park will be the main tangible result.

"We have not done anything that enhances the quality of life and where citizens can say, 'My tax money paid for this,'" Stoldt said. "A water line just doesn't do that."

Debate also focused on cuts made to the original sports park project. Stoldt asked the City Council not to vote on soccer and baseball field lighting -- estimated to cost $352,339 but not included in the bid the council awarded on Monday -- until the completion in mid-August of 2009-10 budget workshops.

Neely said athletic facilities may not be used much if they are not illuminated.

"Who's going to use them in the dark?" he asked. "If we can't afford to build the fields the way they need to be, let's just use what we've got."

Echoing arguments he made during a recent civic center discussion, Stubbs said the city should try to complete construction in one step, rather than building in stages. Stubbs also said that funding a sports park might delay construction of a civic center, and he asked council members to prioritize the projects.

Stoldt told the council he will not ask for a civic center decision until after budget workshops end. The city manager said he considered the sports park the more urgent project to complete, as he said voting against the fund transfer and bid award would result in Lampasas losing its grants.

"If you wait until you get the money to do everything you want, you'll never do anything," he said.

"Doing nothing is not the best option," Stoldt added.

If the City Council had voted "no" on the park-related matters, the Texas Parks and Wildlife grant would have gone into the state general fund, and TPWD would not have been able to spend the money, said Dennis Sims, a landscape architect hired to design the sports park.

As a result, Lampasas likely would not receive large parks grants in the future, the architect said.

"[TPWD officials] really don't look kindly on that," Sims said of a city returning a grant.

Lighting can be added later, Stoldt said. The city manager admitted, however, that the additional parks and recreation staff needed to care for the new sports park would increase annual expenses.

CWA Construction's bid, opened by city officials on June 30, was to remain valid for 60 days. Grayson said he wanted to postpone votes about sports park funding and contractor selection until the City Council finishes budget workshops.

"I don't think it would be unreasonable, unless somebody told me we'd lose the grant the next morning, to wait until after we look at the budget," Grayson said.

Gerhardt, however, said that with the city projected to have $4.48 million in unrestricted reserves in 2009/2010, the City Council needed to proceed with a sports park. Inaction could be unpopular, the councilman said, as some residents consider the City Council an obstructionist body.

"I just don't think we have any choice [but to build the park] without looking silly," Gerhardt said. "We are not a bank. If we're going to keep all this money in reserves, maybe we better cut taxes and refund people's money instead of holding on to it."

As part of the bid award, the council authorized city staff to negotiate further cost reductions. Major savings are unlikely, though, Stoldt said.