By Matt Ward —
Citizen input on future development and improvements at local parks is being requested by the City of Fredericksburg as part of an update to the city parks master plan.
Decisions made at the end of the update process will be considered as the city investigates a bond package to put before voters next year.
“We’ve gone through this process (updating the parks master plan) many times,” Jimmy Alexander, city parks and recreation director, said. “This is really a unique opportunity in this process because the city council has made a commitment that what shakes out of this process we’re going to put before the voters (in a bond election) and that’s pretty unique.”
City officials will take public comments on the parks system through Sept. 30. Additionally, a public input questionnaire is available online at www.fbgtx.org.
Special public meeting
The city held a public meeting to gather input from citizens about park needs on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
While improving and increasing existing sports facilities was a key component of the discussions, a large segment of the citizens who commented showed support for the development of trails, which the council opted to leave out of a recent sidewalk plan update.
“The more parks we have, the better,” Lorrie Hess said. “Personally, I believe the more that we encourage adults as well as kids to be outside, the better we are as a community. We’re healthier, more likely to interact socially, and discover new things.”
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