Parks advisory committee to compare draft master plan with 2022 recommendations, schedules work session before council review

The Lago Vista Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee agreed to prioritize a side-by-side review of the city’s draft parks master plan and the committee’s 2022 recommendations, and scheduled a work session for Feb. 26 to develop a prioritized work plan for City Council consideration.

Committee members expressed frustration that the current draft master plan lacks detailed cost estimates and implementation steps. Mark Douglas said the draft feels more like a high-level brochure than a project implementation guide and urged the committee to assemble cost estimates and a sequence of priorities the council can act on.

The committee set a Feb. 26 work session (6:30 p.m.) and agreed the next regular meeting will fall on March 12; members asked staff to circulate the draft master-plan materials and the prior 2022 recommendations ahead of the work session. Robin Burkhart offered to email hard copies and members agreed to visit parks in person to better understand topography and conditions before the meeting.

Committee members discussed meeting cadence and decided to meet monthly (second Wednesday) going forward, with additional special work sessions as needed to meet the council and budget timelines. Staff and the liaison reiterated that the council is prioritizing infrastructure (water, sewer, roads) in the short term, and the committee should prepare targeted, costed recommendations if it wants council allocation for parks work in the next budget cycle.

Paul Prince, the committee liaison, said the draft master plan is likely to be largely unchanged before April but that committee feedback can be submitted; he reminded members that the draft already includes some elements and that council requested revisions based on prior feedback.