Bastrop council directs city manager to develop comprehensive plan for Mayfest Park and rodeo arena

The Bastrop City Council on Sept. 3 voted to direct the city manager to compile a comprehensive plan for Mayfest Park and the city’s Rodeo Arena, including community input, engineering layouts and funding options.

Council member Meyer moved to “direct the city manager and staff to consider all of the comments regarding their Rodeo Arena in Mayfest Park tonight… and come back with a comprehensive plan,” and the motion passed unanimously, according to the meeting transcript. The motion asks staff to return with a layout, opinion of probable cost and recommended next steps for the council and parks bodies to consider.

City manager Sylvia said engineers are already working on cover and drainage design and that the staff will compile an opinion of probable cost and return to a public hearing in about 60 days. “We’re probably looking at 2.5 to $3,000,000. That’s a minimal. The cover itself is about 1,200,000,” Sylvia said, framing those as back-of-envelope estimates that will be refined when the engineers finish their work.

The motion asks staff to incorporate public feedback collected via a recent survey and in-person comments at the town-hall session. Sylvia told the council the public survey produced 77 responses, and separate input from 29 industry stakeholders reinforced demand for a covered arena, improved parking, and electrical/RV infrastructure to support larger and more frequent events.

Next steps outlined at the meeting include completing engineering layouts, returning an opinion of probable cost at a public hearing, coordinating with the planning and zoning commission and parks board, and developing funding scenarios for council consideration.