Dear Councilmembers Cole, Martinez, Leffingwell, Dunkerley, and McCracken,
It has been our recent pleasure to visit personally with all five of you regarding financing for Town Lake Park. I am encouraged to have heard from all an intent to pursue a track that will restore the City’s foresaken commitment to fund Phases III and IV of the park’s construction at levels committed in a 1999 agreement and at a pace to restore some time slippage relative to the 1999 schedule.
For the record, here is a summary of the short term targets we have discussed:
- For the 2007-2008 fiscal year:
- funding for the design and construction of automated traffic gates to implement the street closure policy for Riversibde Drive, which is to close the central link of the street within the park on weekends, holidays, and after evening peak traffic hour on nights when there are events in the park
- funding for a Phase III design effort
- securing landscape restoration by AustinEnergy due to damage from the ongoing power line construction, perhaps adjusting to programmatic changes resulting from AustinEnergy’s revocation of previously approved landscaping designs and uses under the power line path
- remedial funding for the purchase of artwork in the Phase II area if possible
- For the 2008-2009 fiscal year:
- funding for construction to implement the Phase III design plan
- remedial funding for the purchase of artwork in the Phase II area if not previously achieved
We think these are all reasonble goals, and that the time is right for achieving them.
We sincerely appreciate the spirit with which you all have heard our requests and committed to pursue some resolution.
Town Lake Park Community Project Stakeholders:
Larry Akers — Friends of the Parks
Jeff Jack — South Central Coalition of Neighborhoods
Ellen Johnson — South Central Coalition of Neighborhoods
Sean Kelly — South Central Coalition of Neighborhoods
Kaye Trybus — South Central Coalition of Neighborhoods
Friends of the Parks of Austin Blog 