Columbia aldermen voted 4-1 in a special meeting this week to do an environmental study regarding a sportsplex on R.A. Johnson Drive.
Dungan Engineering will prepare the study at a cost of $17,500.
City officials are debating where to put the youth sports facility that will be funded by a 3 percent dining and lodging tax that voters approved in a referendum earlier this year.
At the request of Mayor Justin McKenzie, City Engineer Jeff Dungan presented several different maps Tuesday with different options of layouts at both R.A. Johnson Drive and the Marion County BusinessPlex. The city owns the property on R.A. Johnson Drive, while Marion County owns the BusinessPlex, which is part of the former Columbia Training School.
Dungan said by building the complex on R.A. Johnson Drive, it could save the city nearly a million dollars by working in agreement with the Columbia School District in building three regulation-size soccer fields and a giant parking lot.
“You’re pretty solid in knowing what your revenue is going to be. Unless there is growth you are going to receiving $60,000 a month or $750,000 a year,” the engineer told aldermen. “If you take $250,000 a year and support downtown, you can easily spend that on keeping events going downtown, that leaves a half a million. If you take another $250,000 to manage and maintain a sports complex, which you will definitely do if you have one, that leaves $250,000 for debt service. If you finance it for 20 years with bonds that will leave you about $4 million. I think it is important to note that there is a ceiling in what you can do.”
Aldermen Anna Evans, Wendell Hammond, Jason Stringer and Mike Smith voted to do the environmental study, which McKenzie recommended, while Alderman Edward Hough voted “nay.” Hough has repeatedly expressed concerns about putting the sportsplex on R.A. Johnson Drive.
Hough said he has two reasons he doesn’t want it there, especially with softball and baseball. First, he said he doesn’t believe people would want to come from out of town and sit and look at the back of Walmart or a retention pond. He said he has been to several ballfields in the last three years and all are in isolated areas.
Second, Hough said the road on R.A. Johnson Drive is higher than the ground and the field was more of a hole, causing concerns for him about drainage. Hough presented pictures of the lower sections of the land.
“I believe it would be astronomical to build up, and we have to have drainage,” Hough said.
Hammond asked Dungan, “Did you consider building it up in this?”
Dungan said yes and noted the cost of the dirt work at the BusinessPlex would probably be more. He said both locations have their share of challenges but said they can be met.
Dungan said the board needs more information before making its decision and that if Hough is basing his opposition on the stated reasons it may be premature. The engineer said until there is a further study of the land, it will be hard to determine cost estimates and how much work it will take to prepare for a sportsplex.
