Lago Vista parks staff say Sunset Park entrance work underway; project budgeted at $542,000

David Montgomery Scott, the city’s new parks and recreation director, told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee that work on a new entrance to Sunset Park has begun and that crews have been clearing the site.

"It is underway. They, actually, last week, began to clear," Scott said. He described the work as a roughly 90-day project and said, "So we hope by the end of the year that that new Africa sunset department will be fully in place and drivable." (transcript wording preserved.)

Scott also raised cost updates for other planned park improvements. He told the committee the entrance is "a $542,000 project." He said shade structures estimated for bleachers at Sunset are now about $85,000, a figure he attributed to a more recent, higher quote: "the revised quote is 35% more than what we knew. So those 4 shade structures, at this point, are estimated at $85,000."

The discussion placed the entrance and shade structures among items included in next year’s capital plan and fixed-asset list for parks. Committee members asked about funding and whether the city bears the full cost; Scott affirmed the city is responsible. Committee members discussed the difficulty of finding budget spreadsheets online and asked staff to make budget information available in the agenda packet or on the finance web pages.

Committee members and volunteers raised the need for continued community support and public comment as the parks department refines the budget and seeks funding for capital items.

Looking ahead, Scott said staff will continue to refine cost estimates and present updated budget information to the committee and council as needed.