KYLE — Kyle City Council members voted unanimously to begin full design services for parking lots at Waterleaf Park and Steeplechase Park at its Jan. 7 meeting.
Director of administrative services Rosie Truelove noted that both Steeplechase Park and Waterleaf Park completed their preliminary engineering reports in December 2024. Following this, the city is looking at one lot for Waterleaf Park, located on Abundance Lane, and three parking lots for Steeplechase Park, which would be at the basketball court, playground and splash pad and the dog park.
According to Truelove, both designs will include 100% of the design, construction administration and geotechnical services.
Waterleaf Park
Currently, the parking lot is made of caliche, with no striped parking, sidewalks, ADA areas or electronic vehicle charging stations. Additionally, staff noted that it had limited and outdated landscaping, as well as no lighting.
The future lot aims to include 57 parking spaces, which is an increase of 40-50%, ADA and electronic vehicle parking, sidewalks and connectivity, landscaping and lighting for a total of six months of design and permitting and five to eight months of construction.
Steeplechase Park
According to the presentation, two out of three parking lots in Steeplechase are in the floodplain — the basketball and dog park — and similarly to Waterleaf, there is no striped parking, ADA spaces or electronic vehicle charging stations, lighting and it also has limited and outdated landscaping, though, the dog park lot is made from asphalt.
For this park, council members were presented with several construction options. The first of which was an asphalt design. Truelove explained that this would have an increase of 40-50% of spaces, totaling 122, add ADA spaces, charging stations, sidewalks, landscaping and lighting. Due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) review and approval, the timeline is lengthened, with 12-14 months for design and five to eight months on construction. Truelove noted that FEMA could deny and require additional engineering studies, which could increase the cost. The estimate of probable construction cost is listed at $1,157,034.68.
The second option focuses on a permeable design for the basketball court and dog park area: “Due to our floodplain requirements, installation of permeable materials might be possible, which provides for more rainwater penetration and reduces the impervious cover in the floodplain and it would only require city permits,” said Truelove.
This design would provide fewer spaces, amounting to 100, though it still would have the additional elements of the asphalt design, including ADA spaces, lighting and more, and has an estimated cost of $1,409,794.80.
The playground and splash pad area would still be built with asphalt in this scenario.
Discussion
“I actually like scenario two, the permeable design. One reason [is] I’m thinking about the heat. So, it’s better; it doesn’t radiate the heat that asphalt does … We’ve got kids out there — running, playing — [so] anything we can do to mitigate that [is great],” said council member Robert Rizo.
Council member Lauralee Harris shared the same sentiment, adding that she requests native plantings to be used in the landscaping, as well as potentially a cooling asphalt for the playground and splash pad lot.
Rizo also stated that in regards to lighting, he wants to use down lighting to make sure it is still Dark Sky friendly.
“I do not think the [electronic vehicle] charging stations make sense at these two parks. The reason is, I agree with putting them in mixed-use areas —the parking lot of La Verde [Park] is going into a mixed-use area … These are neighborhood parks. They’re not going to be used,” said Mayor Travis Mitchell. “I think you can save money there and still get the absolute best out of the parks.”
In response, Rizo stated that having these stations could be an encouragement for community members to use the Vybe Trail, as both parks will connect to it.
Council member Bear Heiser suggested looking into companies that install these charging stations to see if they would be interested in paying the city to lease out a space, which could potentially offset the monthly prices of them.
Ultimately, council members decided to table the charging station idea and have staff look into costs, installations and possible partnerships at a later date in the construction and bidding process.
The item was approved 7-0.
Kyle City Council will meet next on Jan. 21.
