By KALEY LYON

klyon@dailynews.net

It was standing room only in Hays City Commission chambers Thursday evening as approximately 50 people gathered to express support for a proposed sports complex development.

Bryce Young, a sports complex committee member and chief operating officer at Hays Medical Center, said such a facility could improve the local economy and quality-of-life issues.

"As a representative of Hays Medical Center, I mentioned the importance of recruitment and continued growth for the city of Hays," Young said. "We are finding it increasingly more difficult to attract as well as retain qualified individuals ... without continued development towards the quality-of-life standards we're striving for here in Hays."

The project is not headed by the city of Hays, and the sports complex committee was not requesting an endorsement.

Rather, the committee wanted to inform the commission on its progress and ask that a quarter-cent or half-cent sales tax to fund the project be placed on the November election ballot for citizens to decide, he said.

The committee also asked if the city could pay for half of an initial $35,000 engineering study.

Commissioners declined to place the item on the ballot by commission action but encouraged the committee to continue pursuing the "grassroots" project.

"If you want it on the ballot, you have time to get a petition together," Mayor Barbara Wasinger said. "If you have the support you believe you have, you won't have any problem getting the signatures."

Wasinger said that, while the project could benefit the quality of life, it's important to remember the city has millions of dollars in projects needed for city services, such as roads and sewer improvements.

The sales tax, if passed, would eliminate the city's ability to use a short-term sales tax to fund the other projects, she said.

Wasinger also encouraged the committee to continue fundraising efforts to produce the remaining half of the money needed for the study.

Vice Mayor Ron Mellick and Commissioner Allan Lytton, however, said that -- while the commission as a whole would need to decide -- they are not opposed to the idea of helping fund the study.

Mellick said the Wild West Fest committee also had a "grassroots" beginning, and the city offered support in the beginning phases.

However, both commissioners said there are several unanswered questions and agreed the committee should pursue a petition to get the project on the election ballot.

"I concur with Barb on the grassroots movement and that you guys are the ones who need to take the petitions out," Mellick said. "What really bothers me about this is this has come upon us so fast. There are so many details that I'm not comfortable with."

The committee is considering two possible locations for the project, the first of which is located at the south end of Hays. Landowners have agreed to sell land in this area for the project.

The sports complex committee also has received an offer of partnership from Fort Hays State University regarding the endeavor. The university's soccer facilities, to be constructed by fall of 2010, would be included in the project, said FHSU President Edward H. Hammond.

This project would be located northwest of town on university-owned farm ground near the U.S. Highway 183 bypass.

"The sports complex, I think, seems to have become even more important as gas prices go up," Hammond said. "We need to provide them the opportunity to have those kinds of facilities right here in Hays."

Hammond also pointed out that, should the sewer facility be expanded in the near future, the current ball fields near that location could be removed.

This also alleviates concern of land-locking Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course, should the FHSU soccer stadium be built in the originally considered location, he said.

"There seems to be a lot of things right now that leadership just needs to step up and say let's do it if we're going to do it, and let's do it right," Hammond said. "That piece of land is probably ideal-suited for what we're talking about doing."

Gina Riedel, executive director of the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce, said this morning efforts to collect signatures for a petition already are underway.