Parks advisory committee weighs Bowden Point artwalk while pressing to prioritize Dawn Circle park

The Lago Vista Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee spent its May 7 special meeting considering Keep Lago Vista Beautiful(KLVB)'s proposal to build an ADA-accessible art-and-garden walkway at Bowden Point while also pressing staff for a funded, phased plan to develop Dawn Circle as a neighborhood park.

David Montgomery Scott, the city's parks and recreation director, opened the discussion by describing two parcels the city owns at Dawn Drive (about 2.2 acres total) and reviewing conceptual site constraints, including an informal rear access used by an adjacent property owner that would need to be addressed in design. "If we're designing to eventually build the complete park, design first and phase construction," David told the committee, urging a full concept so later phases do not require ripping out earlier work.

Janice, president of KLVB, said her group's priority is the gallery-style art-and-garden walkway and that the swing set remains under internal consideration. She told the committee KLVB had sought earlier funding and that the group's current packet shows a roughly $78,000 figure for the walkway and that a previously approved $9,000 allocation for a footbridge was later estimated at about $11,000 once ADA changes were required. "We are contracting that out," Janice said, adding KLVB does not plan volunteer-built construction when ADA engineering is required.

Committee members pressed KLVB on usage, parking and safety. Several members noted Bowden Point functions as a pocket park used mostly during daytime and lacks site lighting; one member cited an older traffic count and asked for a contemporary traffic-safety review before adding playground equipment near a busy road. "Safety's number one priority for me," said committee member Dawn Niles, urging consideration of fencing or a traffic study if active play is included.

The committee and staff also discussed cost and scale. David presented two design concepts for Dawn Circle: a minimal park with basic amenities and a more complete build that included a playground, restroom and parking. He said one contractor quote in the packet put a basic build at roughly $1.4 million and a more elaborate concept at roughly $2.1 million, and that a phased approach with an initial, smaller budget would be more realistic. David also said the city currently shows about $903,000 in the tree mitigation fund and that council has signaled openness to using cash-on-hand for design work, subject to the fund's primary purpose of replacing lost tree canopy.

Several committee members pushed for equity across the city, noting much of Lago Vista's east side lacks a neighborhood park. Committee member Carolyn read a letter from Mark Douglas urging PRAC to prioritize Dawn Circle as the "shovel-ready" park and to follow PRAC's role under City ordinance 9.16; the letter also referenced a 2008 traffic count near Bowden and cautioned against splitting contracts to avoid competitive bidding thresholds.

Tensions surfaced briefly when Janice said she felt the KLVB group had been criticized; members responded with apologies and emphasized a desire to work collaboratively while distinguishing KLVB's beautification role from PRAC's park-development advisory function. "We can work together," one committee member said, proposing a joint presentation to City Council.

The committee asked staff to circulate the full presentation and cost attachments ahead of its May 13 regular meeting and agreed to prepare a joint recommendation to bring to City Council on May 21. David agreed to send the materials and the committee scheduled time on its May 13 agenda to finalize top priorities and a recommended phased approach to funding and amenities.

The meeting adjourned after scheduling follow-up items and confirming the process for submitting materials to the council agenda.