Dripping Springs selects consultant for parks, recreation master plan update

DRIPPING SPRINGS — At its July 2 meeting, Dripping Springs City Council unanimously approved the consultant to update the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.

The 2014-2024 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan was approved by the city council in March 2015 and is due to be updated for 2024-2034. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was advertised in February 2024 and nine firms submitted Statements of Qualifications (SOQ). All nine SOQs were scored by city staff and two firms were selected for an interview. An interview panel of city staff and a Parks & Recreation commissioner conducted the interviews and it recommended to negotiate a professional services agreement with Halff Associates for the procurement of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan update was determined.

“We ended up selecting Halff for the procurement of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan,” said Parks & Community Services Director Andrew Binz.

The updated plan is intended to: serve as a guide for policy decisions; prioritize and balance demands and opportunities; and provide a framework to evaluate future land acquisitions, park improvement and other expenditures of public funds for parks and recreational activities.

The outcome of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan will be a long-range plan for park improvements that will enable multi-year planning for capital investments to occur, according to agenda documents.

The plan will also align new investments with a strong community-driven mission and vision that integrates Dripping Springs’ strong pursuit of parks, recreation, the arts and environmental education.

The Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan should be developed under working knowledge of several other plans completed within the city, including:

• 2011 Charro Ranch Park Master Plan

• 2014 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan

• 2016 Dripping Springs Comprehensive Master Plan

• 2017 Dripping Springs Ranch Park Master Plan

• 2018 Founders Memorial Park Master Plan

• 2020 City Wide Trail Plan

• 2021 Transportation Master Plan

• 2024 Dripping Springs Comprehensive Master Plan Draft – Reimagine Dripping Springs Initiative

Additionally, the council approved the selection of a bidder and the execution for the 2024 Roadway Maintenance Project Construction Contract between Brothers RDC Paving, LLC and the city of Dripping Springs.

Five proposals for the project were received at the bid opening on May 30 from: Bennett Paving, Inc, CK Newberry, LLC, Hayden Paving, Inc, Lonestar Paving Co and RDC Paving, LLC .

Proposals were evaluated and the lowest bidder was RDC Paving, LLC with the following bid:

• Base Bid: $300,450.61

• Add Alt 1 Bid: $91,933.14

• Add Alt 2 Bid: $7,452.47

• Total Bid Amount: $ 399,836.22

Due the budgeted funds remaining at the time of the bid, city staff also recommended including Change Order #1 ($73,779.06) to add a mill and overlay of Butler Ranch Road. With the original bid amount and the change order pricing, the award of the contract came out to a total of $473,615.28.

“We were able to include Butler Ranch Road in this project because of how it came in significantly lower than [what] we budgeted for fiscal year 24, so we were able to start one of the projects for FY25 with this project,” said Deputy City Administrator Shawn Cox. “After we received the bid package, we were able to change order the project as allowed by law, it was a small amount, that we could fit Butler Ranch Road in this year under the same contract and under what we had budgeted for FY24.”

Dripping Springs City Council meets next on Tuesday, July 16.