Haslet — The Haslet Community and Economic Development Corporation spent a substantial portion of its Nov. 19 meeting discussing a project to replace playground equipment and improve the safety fall zone at Nance Field (Haslet Community Park) and whether an adjacent parking lot should be paved in concrete or asphalt.

Board member Leah, who attended a playground industry conference, said she collected catalogs and heard vendors recommend turf as a durable fall surface. "I've got catalogs stacked this high," Leah said, and added that the board and parks department should coordinate to ensure the city buys the right equipment.

Mr. Swanky reported engineers’ cost assessments for surfacing the parking lot and recommended a cautious approach given an upcoming master parks plan. He told the board a permanent concrete parking surface would be expensive and cited prior local costs for comparison; he recommended asphalt as a temporary, salvageable solution that could be reused as base material if the master plan later reconfigures parking. Mr. Swanky referenced an asphalt price of $58,000 for part of the work and said the engineer estimated about $120,000 for the remainder of site work related to drainage and access; he stated that a $200,000 asphalt budget could be sufficient for a temporary, dust‑controlling surface.

Board members expressed concern about spending a large permanent amount before the master parks plan is complete. One member said spending $200,000 only to have the surface removed later would be unacceptable. The board discussed two paths: (1) approve the playground resolution (equipment) and hold the parking‑lot surface discussion until the council weighs the master parks plan, or (2) pass a modified resolution that uses asphalt rather than concrete so council discussion in December can consider the lower‑cost, reusable option. Mr. Swanky said he would update the staff reports for council to reflect the EDC’s interest in considering asphalt.

Procedural actions: the board took no funding action on the parking lot or playground resolutions that night. The board did, however, move and unanimously approve sending an agenda item to an executive‑session training by legal counsel under Texas Government Code section 551.071; the open meeting was closed for the executive session at 7:37 p.m. Routine minutes were also approved earlier in the meeting by unanimous vote.

What’s next: staff will revise council staff reports to note the EDC’s discussion and preference to consider asphalt as a salvageable interim solution; the City Council is expected to discuss related resolutions at its December meeting, after which an approximately 60‑day public comment period may begin.