Megan Navarro
WIMBERLEY — Residents now have an opportunity to submit their feedback on what they would like to see for the future of public swimming options in the city of Wimberley.
In February, Wimberley City Council selected Kimley-Horn and Counsilman-Hunsaker as the highest scoring bidder, through a request for proposals process, to conduct an aquatics feasibility study. The goal of the study is to evaluate community needs, potential facility options, estimated costs and operational considerations related to the possible development of an aquatic facility, as previously reported by the News-Dispatch.
The idea for an aquatics feasibility study came from the Parks Master Plan a few years ago, when the consensus was that the community wanted to see more public swimming options.
“They wanted more swimming recreation, whether that be more creek or river access or a public pool, just something like that just kept popping up,” explained Wimberley Parks director Erica Flocke. “The community wanted to see us do an aquatic feasibility study, specifically.”
Currently, the only option that is operated by the city, while also being public, is swimming at Blue Hole Regional Park. However, according to Flocke, there are several public pools within Wimberley — such as those at Cypress Creek Lodge and Wimberley Inn — that allow people to utilize for a fee.
The first step for the study is gathering feedback from the community through an online survey, which received more than 300 responses the first day of its launch.
Residents have a chance to have a voice for the future of their city through the survey, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, according to Flocke. The questions include the type of aquatic amenity they would like to see, if they have visited a pool within 45 minutes of Wimberley and more.
“It's there to determine whether there's enough demand to support a facility in Wimberley and what types of aquatic features are even realistic here … how much it would cost to build, how much it would cost to operate [and] where it would go. It asks questions like all of that to the community,” the Parks director said. “Really, the big part of the study is hearing from the community, so that input matters more than anything else. We need to know the realities of what people want because we're not making any decisions just ourselves. We want the community to have a say … so that's why we're asking these questions now.”
The survey will be available through roughly Monday, May 11, but there is a chance that the deadline will be extended, Flocke shared.
Learn more about the study and fill out the survey at bit.ly/4dijz2i.
