By Edmond Ortiz
Bexar County is moving forward on a trio of park and recreational proposals while Garden Ridge is proceeding with plans to develop a trail at its biggest park.
Bexar County
County commissioners voted April 28 to advance three separate measures that are related to the county’s overall goal of offering more public park and recreational spaces in downtown, on the far West Side and near Boerne.
Through a consent agenda item, commissioners approved a professional services agreement between engineering firm Bain Medina Bain and Bexar County for architectural, engineering, planning and design services to develop a 50-acre park in the southeast corner of Talley Road and Medio Drive.
More than a couple of years ago, the county allocated about $3 million toward creating a public park on a vacant tract surrounded by growing west Bexar County neighborhoods such as Alamo Ranch.
What county officials tentatively call Talley Road Park is part of the county’s 2021 master parks plan, and the county’s $690 million capital improvements program.
Some residents previously expressed concern about the park’s location or that the park could exacerbate traffic and noise in the area. The planning study is to be conducted at a cost not to exceed $302,661.
County officials, including Pct. 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, who represents the area, have said they will continue to engage neighbors about the planned park, which will be developed in two phases.
Through another consent agenda item, commissioners granted county staff authority to negotiate with Pape-Dawson Consulting Engineers to study the feasibility of developing a sports complex on Alamo Colleges District property near Boerne.
The community college district owns 145 acres along Interstate 10 close to the Bexar/Kendall county line. That is also where the district is working with the Boerne Independent School District to develop the Northwest Education and Training Center, a 42,000-square-foot facility that will offer technical and academic programs and community services.
According to a memorandum of understanding, ACD would transfer 18 acres to Bexar County if the study team determines for the land suitable for a public sporting complex, which could accommodate up to eight youth baseball fields, four soccer fields and 200 parking spaces.
If all works out, ACD would rent the property out to Bexar County, which would build the athletic complex and operate the facility as a public county park complex.
Commissioners also approved a reorganization of a deal with Designated Bidders, the ownership group behind the San Antonio Missions minor league baseball team, which plans to build a $160 million ballpark downtown.
The restructured part of the agreement allows the Missions owners to pay a yearly 4% rate on a $10 million county loan in exchange for giving the county two plots of land adjacent to the new stadium site and nearby San Pedro Creek Culture Park.
Bexar County looks to develop a linear park to complement the planned ballpark, San Pedro Creek, and connect current and proposed public county parking garages in the immediate area
As part of the deal, the county will release its share of guarantee from the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, one of the funding sources for the stadium project.
Commissioners previously asked Weston Urban, the local development company that is collaborating with Designated Bidders on the ballpark project, to see if it could accommodate affordable housing on the parcels that the firm acquired in advance of stadium development, which also would be complemented by two residential highrises and a hotel.
Randy Smith, a Designated Bidders board member and principal of Weston Urban, told commissioners April 28 that development of new affordable housing is an admirable goal, but not on the parcels that will be part of the overall stadium redevelopment site.
“Within the footprint of the ballpark, the finance mechanism does not allow for (affordable housing), but we have ample opportunity around that to continue working with the county to help deliver more of that,” Smith said.
Garden Ridge
Garden Ridge City Council voted May 11 to authorize its city manager to solicit bids for construction of a .56-mile natural surface trail at Paul Davis Park.
Local officials said the new trail will help to boost walkability around the town’s main public park. The city awarded a nearly $134,000 grant from the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife to fund the new trail.
According to city officials, if all goes as planned, construction of the new trail will start this mid to late July.
