The Bradfield Park trails project includes a pedestrian bridge over a tributary of Onion Creek connecting the open space to downtown Buda. The Hays County Commissioners Court allocated $310,000 for the project this week. (Artist Rendering)
by KAY RICHTER
The Hays County Commissioners Court on Tuesday allocated $450,000 for two Buda parks in the last rush of appropriations from the $30 million parks and open space bond package approved by voters in 2007.
The city will receive $310,000 for improvements to the Bradfield Park trail and $140,000 for construction of a skate park. The court also allocated $800,000 to expand the Purgatory Creek greenspace in San Marcos and $447,256 for the Hays County Youth Athletic Association’s sports complex, all but emptying the pool of available funds.
“I do not want to take away the importance that we have some really good projects throughout this county. The process has been very difficult and there are winners and there are losers and sometimes you just can’t get it good enough for some people as much as we have tried but that is the service that we are in,” said Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley who moved to fund the Purgatory Creek and athletic association projects.
Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton attached an amendment to Conley’s motion for the Buda projects and the measure passed unanimously, a rarity for a court that splits major votes regularly.
The Bradfield project includes construction of one mile of six-foot wide decomposed granite trails and nearly a mile of concrete sidewalks, connecting neighborhoods along Goforth Road and the Bradfield Village subdivision to businesses to the east and west and to Stagecoach Park across Main Street. The total cost is estimated at $668,400.
The second project envisions construction of a 10,000-square-foot skate park near the water tower on FM 967. The project will include handrails, grinding boards, stairs, half pipes, quarter pipes, fun boxes, pyramids and banked ramps.
The project was conceived by a grassroots coalition of mostly younger skaters who lobbied the Buda City Council to submit the project for consideration. The total cost is estimated at $300,000.
DOWNLOADS
» Grant application for Bradfield Park trails [pdf]
» Grant application for skate park [pdf]
