We are lucky to have as much parkland as we do in our neighborhood. Ever since I have moved into this area almost 20 years ago, I have been impressed with the efforts of scores of neighbors who maintain and improve our green spaces. While we tend treat them as “our” parks, though, they are belong to all citizens of Austin and are under the stewardship of the City’s Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD). PARD has been woefully under-staffed and under-budgeted for many, many years and generally is both appreciative and supportive of neighborhood associations that adopt parks in their areas. BCNA has a good working relationship with PARD: we submit plans for any new projects we might have; once PARD approves them, we discuss them at the general neighborhood association meetings, and then begin implementation.
Below is an update on all current parks projects:
Ricky Guerrero Park (Bordered by W. Live Oak and W. Mary, South 6th Street & South 7th Street)
PARD bid out a project to install a water feature last fall and a contractor was selected.
Currently, the water features are being manufactured and the electrical design finalized. While PARD could not give us a firm start time, they anticipate work to begin this summer and last for about three months. To view a design of the water feature, please go here
Nicholas Dawson Park (Bordered by W. Gibson, South 3rd, South First and East Bouldin Creek):
A lot of improvements have been made to this park over the years, mainly thanks to the efforts of Tony Forschage who designed and planted the beds on the South Third / James Street entrance several years ago; James Talbot who created the tiled trash receptor and Matt Coldwell, overall caretaker and tireless worker. Recently, neighborhood landscape designer Stephen Breaux designed plans for the South Third/James Street entrance to the park that will eliminate non-native plants and replace them with native ones; define borders between public and private property, and provide an overall inviting place for neighbors to hang out with their families and pets. You can view the drawings here.(large PDF file - 4.76 MB) Much progress has been made over the last three months: trees, bushes and rubble were removed; some trees provided by Keep Austin Beautiful have been planted and the area has been mulched. We still need to complete fencing between the duplexes on the north side of the park and the parkland, establish borders to the beds and plant more bushes and trees in the fall. Currently, we are limiting most of our efforts to the north side of the park, since the Austin Clean Water Project is scheduled to commence their sewer work sometime in late summer. At that point, the main trails will be blocked; some trees will be removed and a large bore hole will be drilled close to the creek to connect four sewer lines. Earlier in the winter BCNA participated in lengthy negations with ACWP to ensure minimum damage to the parkland and maximum protection for existing trees as well as adequate financial compensation to permit restoration once the project is completed. While the money will be paid to PARD, we as a neighborhood will have input into deciding how it should be spend.
West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt (bordered by railroad tracks, Annie, Post Oak Street and South 6 Street)
Last June, the BCNA general association meeting passed a resolution directing the BCNA Parks Committee to find a solution for different user groups to share our 54 acre greenbelt. The committee was also asked establish guidelines for the use of bike rides and a plan for maintaining existing bike jumps, as well as a plan environmental remediation, including the eradication of non-native plants and their replacement with native ones. The committee was asked to report back to the general association in June of 2008.
The good news is much progress has been made. The Parks Committee has been meeting monthly since last summer, and initially formed a sub committee dedicated to WBGB issues. We contacted both PARD and the Watershed Protection and Development Review Department (WPDRD) to ask for guidance in establishing in the process. Watershed Protection showed great interest in the well-being of the greenbelt; they were especially concerned about erosion problems along the creek banks. After some discussion, the department offered to fund an environmental assessment study of the whole area, followed by stakeholder meetings in which the best use of area would be discussed, and a subsequent master plan for the green belt. It was a generous offer, considering that these studies cost upwards of $50,000, and both BCNA and PARD gladly accepted. Watershed Protection does not have staff to perform the work themselves; rather, they will contract with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to do the assessment. A similar arrangement has worked well for Pease Park in the past. Now for the not-so-good news: the assessment was scheduled to start in early spring, at the beginning of the growing season, and be completed by the end of May. However, the Wildflower Center became part of the University of Texas system last year. As a result, a new purchasing agreement and contract needs to be worked out between the two entities. With two legal departments involved (CoA and UT) the process has been excruciating slow. The last update from WPDRD indicated that the assessment might be completed by October – with stakeholder meetings and the master-plan development this will take us to the end of the year.
Even though we had hoped for a much quicker resolution, the Parks Committee feels is worth the wait to have the assessment completed properly. It will be of invaluable help in our planning for years to come. We will therefore ask the general association at the June meeting to grant us a one-year extension to the motion approved last year. While we hope to be done much earlier than June 2009, we are dealing with several factors and timelines outside of our control.
Parks Committee meetings take place the fourth Thursday of every month, 6:30 p.m. at 704 W. Gibson. I would like to invite interested neighbors to get involved either by attending meetings or helping out on work-days in either of our parks. Work days or generally announced though the BCNA group e-mail list.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can get in touch with me directly at urpprods@earthlink.net or call at 443-8141.
Ingrid Weigand
BCNA Parks Committee