Three new soccer fields at Todd Park are one step closer to becoming a reality.

The new facilities would complement the three fields that exist now.

On Wednesday, the Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry board unanimously approved bids for the purchase of fertilizer and its application for the new fields and the purchase of grass seed, which will be applied by parks and rec staff.

Both bids were awarded to Rochester Service Co. out of Rochester for the amount of $5,661 for fertilizer and its application and $3,444 for grass seed.

The soil and drainage portion of the project was approved last October, and Kim Underwood, parks and rec director, said that work is slated to be completed by June, with the fertilizer and seed work to be finished shortly after that.

The entire project is tentatively scheduled to be finished by 2012 and is being funded by a $250,000 Hormel Foundation grant in the form of $50,000 a year for five years.

Underwood said the existing fields simply aren’t enough to accommodate parks and rec, Austin Youth Soccer, adult soccer and everyone else who uses the fields.

“Because of the field usage, we’ve grown out of the three,” she said.