Marble Falls parks master plan sent to city council for vote
One recommendation in the Marble Falls parks system master plan was renaming all the downtown parks, including Lakeside and Falls Creek, as Johnson Park. File photo
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — During a special meeting of the Marble Falls Parks and Recreation Commission on Feb. 20, commissioners approved recommending to the city council that it adopt the comprehensive parks and recreation master plan.
The council is expected to take a vote on the adoption March 8.
Halff Associates senior planner Matt Bucchin and planner and landscape architect Gail Ferry presented parts of the master plan to the commissioners.
Most of the unveiling was about the high-priority goals, which are recommended to be done within the next two years.
Those goals centered around downtown Marble Falls and improving the area for a proposed hotel and conference center. They include developing a trails master plan, prioritizing a new trail system in downtown Marble Falls, and developing a brochure with information about the project.
Bucchin said the immediate goals of the master plan reflect the downtown parks system’s objective of supporting development of the hotel and conference center, redeveloping Lakeside Park as part of greater downtown park development, and considering consolidation and renaming the four downtown parks — Lakeside, Falls Creek Park and Skatepark, Hays Addition, and Johnson — as all Johnson Park.
One reason is because of the history and reputation of Johnson Park, which has been around for more than 130 years and is only one of 29 parks in the state to receive a Lone Star Legacy Park designation from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society.
“Because of that, it will have a draw and a much better name recognition,” he said.
The immediate goals also included that city leaders ensure adequate resources to provide a well-maintained park system; consider hiring a recreation supervisor who would be the liaison between other youth leagues in the state, work with many of the city’s community sports leagues, and represent city hall at various functions; and improve access to water-based activities.
“A recreation supervisor is important,” Bucchin said. “That one position is doing the coordination. That one position makes a big difference in recreational offerings.”
A comprehensive plan outlines the vision of the parks system for the next 10 years with short-term goals or high-priority goals to be done within the next 24 months; moderate goals to be done in the next three to five years; and longer-term goals to be completed in the next five to 10 years.
Bucchin encouraged the commissioners to make it a point to look at the plan a year from now to move goals up or down the list depending on what was accomplished and the current needs of the city.
“At five years, you start the process all over again,” Bucchin said about creating another master plan.
jfierro@thepicayune.com