League City right to continue pursuing Bay Colony sports complex

League City council should follow through with a plan to pursue grants as it works to secure $35 million to develop Bay Colony Park, a sports complex with an initial price tag that made officials balk.

To their credit, though, city leaders haven’t dropped the project because of the steep cost, but have instead tried to come up with creative ways to get it done.

Among several items related to the sports complex, the council today will consider a resolution allowing city staff to go after about $750,000 in Texas Parks & Wildlife grants for park amenities.

Most of the sports complex, planned for the intersection of Ervin Street and Calder Road, will be paid for with 4B sales tax revenue and bonds backed by 4B sales tax, which is used specifically to help communities with economic development and infrastructure needs.

Part of the purpose of the new sports complex is to meet the city’s growing demand for sports fields, specifically baseball fields, officials have said.

Progress a year ago stalled on the west side sports complex after council members saw the project’s projected $37 million price tag. But with grants and sales tax as revenue sources, plans for the complex are advancing.

Proposals call for 11 baseball fields, two soccer fields, a disc golf course, tennis courts that can be used as pickleball courts, batting cages and more.

Bay Colony Park was first proposed at a city council meeting in November 2020. Besides price, council members also took issue with the number of fields — they wanted more — and that original drawings didn’t take into account parking or water detention.

“There are a lot of issues with the land, which is why we have changed the design so many times,” Councilman Nick Long said. “Along with wetlands, there is also a giant pipeline we had to take into consideration.”

In the latest park designs, water detention is accounted for, officials said.

Changes in design and the use of sales tax to fund the project has made Long and others more optimistic.

“We are feeling pretty good about the funding now,” Long said. “I think some of the first designs for the park were not ideal.”

Adjustment to plans and clear funding paths have helped to put some council members at ease, Mayor Pat Hallisey said.

“We got off to a rough start,” Hallisey said. “We turned it down initially, but I think they have finally hit the right spot.”

The city council today will consider several items relating to the Bay Colony Park development, including the grant application to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and considering and taking action on the finalized master plan and park design project.

“We have actually gone after a lot of these grants,” Long said. “This one in particular will help us out with a couple amenities in the park.”

Seeking the grant and earmarking economic development sales tax revenue both are appropriate to this project.

League City has ambitions to attract businesses that would provide commercial tax revenue, easing the burden on residential payers, and local jobs.

Good parks and recreational facilities are as important to success in that effort as any other kind of public infrastructure.

The bottom line is that companies worth having aren’t going to move to a place that can’t deliver a high quality of life to its employees.

City leaders were right to pursue funding this project by other means and should move ahead.

• Michael A. Smith