$4.9 million Lake Wylie park plan gets nod

A trimmed park plan for Crowders Creek will get its $4.9 million recommendation from county hospitality tax money.

The York County hospitality tax advisory committee voted 6-3 Aug. 18 to take the plan to York County Council, which will make the final decision. The county owns about 50 acres on Crowders Creek, long planned for a recreation complex. The York County Sports Complex Committee formed to get the park plan moving.

Park planners brought an $8.5 million proposal to the advisory group earlier this summer, but returned Aug. 18 asking for $4.9 million for construction. Planners cut $1.6 million but added $1.9 in a phased-in plan relying on community donations and not relying on hospitality tax funding.

“The signs we’re getting is $8.5 million is too pricey,” Lake Wylie Athletic Association vice president Ron Domurat said. “There’s a lot of things we can do in phases.”

The latest plan still includes three multipurpose, and three baseball or softball fields. Cut are artificial infields for baseball, a facility access road and synthetic turf on one of the fields.

“We still want to have a usable facility we can hold tournaments with,” said Perry Johnston, sports committee member. “We want a high-quality facility.”

Johnston said the scaled down park is not what the group wanted, but the plan can allow for future growth.

“We didn’t want to cut any of it,” Johnston said. “We want to build a top-notch, first-class, ready-to-go facility. (But) we wanted to get something we could get approved.”

A key to getting hospitality tax money, which comes from a 2 percent charge on food and drink in unincorporated areas like Lake Wylie, is generating tourism and putting diners into local restaurants. Money must go to projects that will generate tourism. While the new park is for recreational play during the week, the plan is to draw baseball, soccer and other tournaments throughout the year on weekends.

Having one sod and two artificial multipurpose fields as opposed to all three artificial should not impact the ability to draw tournaments, Domurat said. Nor should the dirt infields, which would have been artificial.

“We need tournaments to operate,” he said. “It’s going to compromise practice play. We don’t want to beat up a grass field.”

The plan still includes one full-time and one part-time maintenance position. Clover School District will partner with maintenance on the synthetic fields. Walking trails, a picnic shelter, a press box and other items are included, but park planners will need to raise the $1.9 million needed.

The $4.9 million construction plan will have the park game ready for tournaments. Some items will be included with expansion possible, like lighting. Initial construction will make it possible to add light towers to some fields later.

Tom Smith, a tax advisory committee member who worked for years on the park plan in Lake Wylie, said the latest proposal fits with what his current group is tasked to do.

“They want to build sports facilities,” Smith said of the group’s directive from York County Council. “That’s part of our mission. They’re not cheap.”

The county has about $5 million available in hospitality tax funds, with the ability to bond about $10 million more. The advisory group also has a request pending for more than $3 million for fields in Fort Mill and $1 million for a movie studio on the Catawba Indian Reservation. The group, and then Council, approved $1 million earlier this year for the aquatic center on Crowders Creek under construction by the Clover School District.

Some tax advisory group members supported the sports complex plan without reservation, while others questioned recommending the full amount. Some expressed concern with losing one synthetic field to grass.

“We have a greater asset out there with all turf fields,” said Chairman Watts Huckabee.

The committee will present the plan to the county finance and operations committee Sept. 8. The next step is council approval, which requires one positive vote. Park planners say they are ready to begin construction soon after funding is secure.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "$4.9 million Lake Wylie park plan gets nod."