Starting Monday, the public can weigh in on the 158 capital improvement projects included in the city’s upcoming, $850 million bond package, the largest in San Antonio’s history.

Already, one park project in District 10 is stirring up controversy: the McAllister Park friends group is fighting a proposal to use $2 million in bond money to build a new facility for Capitol Park Little League in the 976-acre park. The baseball fields would be closed to the general public.

Voters will get their say on the slate of bond initiatives May 6. Residents have the next two months to debate which projects ultimately make it onto the ballot, by attending a series of public committee meetings. City Council members have each selected three members to serve on each of the five committees, one for every bond category, which are headed by two resident co-chairs.

The committees will meet from October through early December at the Central Library Auditorium to consider the proposed bond projects and whether to add new ones and delete others. Monday night’s meeting will address parks projects.

More Information Committee meetings All of the 2017 bond committees will meet at the Central Library Auditorium, 600 Soledad St. Parking is free and the meetings are open to the public. The meetings will run from 6 p.m.-8 p.m., with one exception: the Oct. 4 Facility Improvements meeting will take place from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Parks, recreation and open space bond committee meeting schedule: Oct. 3, Oct. 17, Oct. 31, Nov. 14, Dec. 5 Facility improvements bond committee meeting schedule: Oct. 4, Oct. 18, Nov. 1, Nov. 15, Dec. 6 Neighborhood improvements bond committee meeting schedule: Oct. 6, Oct. 20, Nov. 3, Nov. 17, Dec. 8 Streets, bridges and sidewalks bond committee meeting schedule: Oct. 11, Oct. 25, Nov. 7, Nov. 29, Dec. 13 Drainage and flood control bond committee meeting schedule: Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov. 10, Nov. 28, Dec. 15

Read More

In January, City Council will finalize the list of bond projects that will make it onto the spring ballot.

The bond packages, which usually go to voters every five years, are an opportunity for the city to fund big-ticket items outside the scope of the annual budget.

The city unveiled the list of proposed projects Wednesday, dividing them into five categories: $450 million for streets, bridges and sidewalks, a category that takes up more than half of the bond funding; $144 million for drainage and flood control; $116 million for parks and recreation; $120 million for facilities; and $20 million for neighborhood improvements, a new category that will involve using bond money for affordable housing development.

Some of the projects with the highest individual price tags include: $43 million for Broadway Avenue improvements; $27.6 million for Prue Road improvements; $24 million for drainage work at Port San Antonio; $21 million for Hemisfair Civic Park; and $20.6 million for a new center city San Antonio Police Department substation and park police headquarters. The bond dollars are relatively evenly distributed among the 10 council districts.

Some of the larger projects are considered “citywide,” such as improvements at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, Brackenridge Park and Hemisfair.

The Capitol Park Little League fields proposed for McAllister Park are also categorized as a citywide project, although the facility would only be open to those who play for the team. Players must live within the Little League team’s approved boundaries.

The city has proposed setting aside the $2 million in bond funds to build the fields, though the team is its own nonprofit. About 500 kids, between the ages of four and 17, participate in the league, said Sharon Gallardo, Capitol Park’s player agent and the interim secretary.

The team currently plays on land off Bulverde Road that belongs to Capitol Aggregates, a construction and cement company and subsidiary of the Zachry Corporation. About three years ago, the company informed the team it wanted to use the land for other purposes, but the company has committed to helping the team find a new home, said Rob Foster, Capitol Park Little League board president.

The league doesn’t want conflict with the park users, Foster said, but just wants a home for the team.

“It’s not us against them,” said Foster, later wondering how many of the park users have children in Little League.

District 10 Councilman Mike Gallagher indicated the company is planning to give the team some kind of financial help for the move but he would not disclose the amount.

At a Thursday night meeting at McAllister, organized by the Friends of McAllister Park, Gallagher said the location for the fields is not set in stone. He implored the attendees to help him find an alternative location for the field, which must be within the Capitol Park Little League boundaries.

“Find me a place to put this ballpark,” Gallagher said.

McAllister Park Little League, another team in the area, already has a field at McAllister. It too is closed to the general public.

Although Gallagher said the idea to build the new little league fields at the park is only a proposal, his chief of staff, Paul Jimenez, said that McAllister Park Little League was interested in Capitol Park moving into the park so the teams could host regional tournaments.

All of the larger Little League teams in San Antonio play on city-owned land, Jimenez said.

The Friends of McAllister Park organization is frustrated partly because the park itself received no money in this bond, though the group put in a request to help fund construction of a new pavilion, a pedestrian bike path and other general park maintenance, said Laura Matthews, a member of the organization.

But group members are even more upset about the fact that adding the Little League fields would mean destroying some of the park’s natural habitat and part of its trail system. The park is incredibly popular among cyclists, who say the trails are among the only safe places to bike in the city and one of the only legal places to bike safely at night. At least two people at Thursday’s meeting said they bought their homes because of the proximity to the park and its trails.

“There’s dozens of people here all the time,” said John Banks, Jr., with Friends of McAllister Park and South Texas Off Road Mountain-Bikers.

Due to incorrect information given to the Express-News, this story originally misstated which Little League teams play on city-owned land.

vdavila@express-news.net

Twitter: @viannadavila