COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Over the weekend, College Station voters said yes to approving $53 million athletic bonds for the district's schools after seeing the two be rejected in past elections.
Propositions A & B are giving CSISD athletics major upgrades to their facilities. Of the two that were accepted, prop B will provide renovations to A&M Consolidated High School’s baseball and softball stadiums, which the baseball team says has been a necessity for quite some time now.
A&M Consolidated Head baseball coach Ryan Lennerton explained that the upgrades were necessary, as the team had to make their own adjustments due to the field conditions being unusable from storms.
“For example, we got a lot of rain last week, so we missed two days of practice last week leading up to first round playoffs and we got rain on Sunday and we weren’t on the field on Monday," he said. "So just getting the days of practice that our opponents are getting is big for us, it’ll cut down maintenance needs who are stretched thin in our district and just provide a consistent playing field for our players.”
Although the teams are celebrating this $53 million upgrade, some residents are still not happy.
According to the district, the bonds will have an estimated two-cent increase to the current CSISD interest and sinking tax rate, but some homeowners are still unsatisfied, pointing at the results of the past two elections to emphasize that there was still a sizeable group that saw what it would cost them as an issue.
“Most people were probably shocked to see that the bonds will increase your taxes because the district kept saying oh it’s not going to well maybe the tax rate isn’t increasing but everyone’s tax evaluations are sky high,” said resident, Jeannine Smith.
According to baseball players who were at the polling locations Saturday, they encountered some angry neighbors, but with the approved bonds, their spirits are high for the future.
“There were certain citizens that were yelling, giving us the bird, there was a lot of opposition but also a lot of support. We’ll be able to practice more we won't have to go inside and throw foam balls and not get much better so that’ll help a lot,” sophomore pitcher, Owen Horrell said.
According to the district, the items in the two propositions are for:
- Renovations and additions to the existing A&M Consolidated High School field house
- Renovations to the existing athletic stadiums at A&M Consolidated High School and College Station High School, including:
- Resurfacing the track surfaces
- Expanding seating capacity
- Renovating and repairing the press boxes
- Adding restrooms and various site improvements
- Installing artificial turf and LED lights at high school baseball and softball fields
- Site improvements to the softball stadium at A&M Consolidated High School