The Fayette Citizen-News Page
Friday, October 23, 1998
Tyrone to impose fees to build new field

By JOHN THOMPSON
Staff Writer

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And in the end, both soccer moms and baseball dads will have a place in Tyrone to watch their children compete on a field of dreams.

With the town of Tyrone getting ready to embark on an ambitious capital improvement project over the next five years, representatives of Tyrone's athletic community asked the town council to consider adding a baseball field to the town's list of projects.

The town's more than $3 million of improvement projects includes two new parks, a soccer field, bike paths, a new library and a new public safety and administrative complex.

The projects will be partly funded by impact fees the town is getting ready to impose on residential development, and town manager Barry Amos said the town can only use the fees collected for projects that are a direct result of the growth.

Since the town does not currently have a soccer field, Amos said a new one needs to be built to accommodate all the children who currently play the sport and also to accommodate the needs of future residents.

But Carlos Vasquez, who works with the town's baseball association, said the town needs to look at more pressing needs before building a soccer field.

"We need a ballfield for our 13- and 14-year-olds, so they won't have to ride to Fayetteville to play ball," he said.

Vasquez pointed out the town does not have a soccer association and that the town had previously made building another ballfield as one of the town's top recreation priorities.

In discussing approving the capital improvement list, Councilman Ronnie Cannon suggested replacing the soccer field with a new baseball field. Amos said the council could choose that route, or they could simply add a field to the project list. If a baseball field was added to the projects, Amos said the impact fee on a residential lot would rise from a proposed $995 a residential lot to $1,075 per lot.

The council decided to add the baseball field and forwarded the project list to the Department of Community Affairs. After the town receives the department's approval, Amos said the town will draw up an ordinance to start collecting the impact fees and get ready to proceed with the new projects.


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