While passing a balanced 2018-19 budget proposal, with no tax increase, through a first reading Thursday night, Elizabethton officials made the first step in making a sports complex a reality for the city.

City Council voted to enter in a conceptual planning and feasibility agreement with Thomas Weems Architects worth $16,900 to develop a sports complex plan for 15 acres of property located off of Cherokee Park Drive. The planning agreement is expected to be funded out of the 2017-18 budget with alternative bond funding. Officials voted, on a first reading, to make an amendment to the current fiscal year budget, moving funds from one line item under the Capital Project Funds budget to the planning and design.

According to city officials, Elizabethton could have an opportunity to obtain the property, which is currently owned by the city, if a plan is in place for usage of the space. Previously, the property was being discussed as a possible site of a fish hatchery.

Information provided by City Hall shows that CHA, a design/construction firm working alongside Thomas Weems, notes that plan will include three to four baseball/softball fields and one to two rectangle fields with “appropriate amenities to support them.”

CHA’s proposal to the city indicates, “the purpose of this study will be to evaluate various sports facility development options of this parcel. The study will address the optimal layout and location for the sports facility development.”

Mike Mains, Parks & Rec director for the city, recently told the Elizabethton Star that a sports complex has been on the table, as far as discussions go, for years and that attention for the project is being focused at the Cherokee Park Drive property.

If plans go accordingly, officials already have options on the table to fund construction for the facility.

During two budget workshops held in April, Councilmen agreed unanimously to use bond proceeds for the 2018-19 fiscal year to address several projects within the community, including the development of a complex. Currently, the 2018-19 budget has $250,000 budgeted in bond proceeds to go to the development of the project, if the property purchase receives a green light from the state.

Keeping up the theme of recreational opportunities for residents, Councilmen also voted Thursday to abolish the Elizabethton Golf Course Board. Moving forward, Hampton Golf, the management firm now operating the facility, will answer to the city manager.

While discussing the course, Councilmen Sam Shipley and Wes Frazier told attendees they’ve heard from constituents, that previously opposed a firm coming in to operate the course, who have enjoyed the way the course has been operated since Hampton became the management firm of the facility.