Travis County Commissioners Court
March 9, 2010,
Item 2
Number 2 is public hearing to receiving comments related to the concept plan of the onion creek greenway and phase one project plan.
>> move public hearing be open.
>> second.
>> all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
>> good morning, a brief presentation on the subject of the hearing before conducting the here?
>> yes, sir.
>> good.
joe gieselman with transportation and natural resource department and wendy also with tn r.
in 2005 the voters approved $8.4 million to create a greenway along onion creek in precinct 4 within the unincorporated area.
that area is represented by this map.
it runs roughly from just short of I 35 on downcreek closer to why slaughter creek enters, and goes down to where it enters into the colorado river.
after the bonds were authorized we cash flowed the bond proceeds as we normally do over a five-year period.
and within this last year we actually began the project.
and part of what we were doing, not only looking at acquisition of properties for the greenway but we were also doing a plan for what this greenway should look like when we are finished.
in the planning process, we discovered that there were already major pieces of park land either owned by the city, the state or Travis County.
to be more specific, there were 12 pieces of park.
ranging intensity from the metro level park, the city, onion creek metro pork and also Travis County county has a park there.
in between we have other less intense wreck crakes the areas, one is--recreational areas, one is the preserve purchased back in the '80s by the city of Austin.
we have moya park, a community park down by the airport.
the city has any number of community parks and athletic fields also along the way.
of course you have the large mckinney falls state park.
what we envision is really a greenway that connects all these parks together.
we realize that $8.4 million may not be sufficient to do all of this at one time.
21 miles is a fairly long corridor.
what we wantd to do is have what we call a minimum viable segment.
that is, at the end of our bond program, that we have a segment of onion creek completed and accessible and usable by the public.
so when we went to look at the corridor, we decided probably the best way is to start at the confluence and work our way back and tie as much as we could together.
we went in and acquired the barkly tract, 50 acres of flood prone area on onion creek next to 71 and 130.
we also acquired two bird y'all --bird all tracts.
and these are transacts between a willing seller and the county.
we also had timber creek, a subdivision platted before the county had authority to regulate the floodplain.
as a resulted entire interaction is within the flood way of onion creek.
any time it rains all the homes go underway.
we have been--underwater.
we have been in the process of buying those properties out.
they became what we call a target area that came out of the six-year study with the corps of engineers, city of Austin and Travis County.
timber creek was if I wanted --identified as one of the areas that would be more cost effective to buy the properties than create some large dam structure upstream.
that was one.
the other is called yarabe bend in the corporate limits in the dove springs area.
those two areas are being bought out in combination with city and county bond money and then hopefully in the very near future, federal money through the corps of engineers.
when those two buyouts are completed, those subdivisions will become part land in perp too ty.
corps of engineers will build a park and turn it over to the county in case of timber creek and to the city in terms of yarabe bend.
instead of 12 we will have 14 park properties.
linking all this together then is a trail, a ten-foot concrete trail, for the most part concrete.
because it is in the flood way we realize when you pull a crushed granite or dolomite trail, when it floods they get watched out.
so we believe concrete is the way to go for most of the creek although there may be areas, otherwise crushed granite.
and amenities such as trail heads, a restroom at what we call the confluence park down here.
must also mention that part of the acquisition process is brought about by dedications of park land by new development in the area.
that is the case of water's edge.
about 60 acres of park land dedicated to the county once a final plat is made of that property.
and they are in the process of platting when the economy went into a recession, and they have held off until the market comes back.
we expect the gap along water's edge will be completed.
so what what we have, the county now owns all the property on the south sides of onion creek between the confluence and fm 973 which comes from 71 parallel to the airport.
that will become our phase one project.
we will begin to do engineering design on improvements and wendy is going to elaborate further on that phase one.
but what we envision for this entire corridor is the implementation of various types of activities.
we'll talk a little bit later this morning about one of the activities which is at the old satellite four road and bridge yard.
there are some wonderful things happening along this corridor.
you have, believe it or not, an old volcano called pilot's knob and it is a feature we hope to represent in our historical interpretation.
there's a dinosaur actually found on onion creek exhibited at the university of Texas.
we want to integrate that.
a lot of rich history about the early pioneers who came into southeast Travis County.
we hope to integrate all of that into how we convey this to the public.
then along the way you have recreation the opportunities, soccer fields, play scapes, overnight camping at the state park if you are so interested.
we also hope to connect the subdivisions as they are platted in this corridor to the greenway so this e have trails emanated from the greenway to es--residential areas and hopefully to the airport and large employment cluster at state highway 71 and 130.
so this becomes kind of a spine greenway that connects in not only the existing development that is occurring already in the city but along this corridor, developing corridor, that is in the unincorporated area right now but which we know will develop in the near future with state highway 130, this state highway 130 coming through southeast Travis County, that will be a magnet for future development in the area.
so we are a little ahead of the curve on the greenway and we believe it is a very important element of the overall development of this area.
with that I'm going to turn it over to wendy to explain the phase one project.
>> good morning, Commissioners.
>> good morning.
>> and judge Biscoe.
phase one, as joe said, extends from timber creek fm 973 down to the con flukes--confluence.
it will have the primary trail he described , the entire length not extending into the confluence park which is the recently purchased land.
along the trail there will be I believe four trail head parks, timber creek will have one, barkry med med ohs.
southeast metro there is already one and this one is at water's edge as joe describes.
what I want to talk about is the most eminent project, and that is improvements at barkly meadows project, 235 acres that we received a one million grant from parks and wildlife.
we will be starting with trail at fm 973 and bringing it over to sh 71 in this particular phase.
we will have picnic facilities in the existing pecan groves there are and developing an open play area.
and this is former pasture that has been left idle.
so we're having the first stage of plant succession, which is mesquite.
>> sorry, which one?
>> mesquide.
>> co.
>> that is going to be an open player.
and then we will bring people down to the pond which is a borrow pit from the construction of sh 130.
there will be fishing and places for people to bird watch.
a lot of birds coming through here because of the wetlands.
now, another big part of this project, and a goal overall in the greenway, is the restoration of the floodplain.
this is all floodplain.
and it was cleared for agriculture, as all those floodplains along the creeks in the colorado were, and further disturbed by the construction of sh 130.
so we're going to initiate a restoration project in which we will be restoring the bottom land woods and grasses that were there originally.
and this has, is an eke some system that has an important function in terms of water quality.
it helps mitigate the impact of flooding and it captures runoff from the surrounding area so that the water, the water can be filtered before it flows into the creek.
and it also by capturing, allows for the groundwater, it replenishes the groundwater.
so this is an exciting part of the project.
and we see this as something that will really help create a strong sense of place that we want people to appreciate as part of their recreational experience.
now, complementing that is also, as joe said, the historic resources that we have near sh 71 crossing.
and that is where the old Austin bastrop highway crossed.
you can see the road and the remnants of a bridge of the low water crossing the county built in the 30s and also a wonderful intact stone culvert.
lots of drainage channels that run through that are quite steep and dramatic.
so we will be interpreting that.
joe mentioned the skeleton found in the creek.
and it's at ut, displayed at ut, and we want to build a play area that is built around the idea of this prehistoric creature.
the city has a scale mold that --model that they had made and they have it at the nature center and we are going to piggy back and we feel it's appropriate since we are close to that particular site.
the project, the first phase, the one that is going to be going out on the street soon for design and ultimately construction, does include fifth and also extends to water's edge.
that entire stretch through southeast metro park, through water's edge to a small boat ramp at the confluence will be designed and constructed with the exception of water's edge parks improvements because we don't have that land yet.
the next phase of improvements, and we're not sure on the timing of this, and that is timber creek park.
>> before you move that, what do the red dots stand for?
>> the red dots are the elevation and the grant.
this is what we got the grant awarded on.
we will proceed providing trails.
it identifies each little piece.
k is the picnic table.
o is parking.
>> okay.
i see red dots.
>> sorry about that.
>> timber creek park, you're well aware of that project.
this is a park modeled on moya park, a very popular park in that area.
it has an on the of tree cover.
--a lot of tree cover, picnic tables, pavillion, play scape, restroom, and also a trail head for the main trail, the larger trail system.
quickly, we worked with the army corps of engineers on this design.
their landscape architect drew the drawn for us.
and once the court adopts, approves this, we will be in better standing for obtaining funds.
the corps calls this their ped, their preconstruction engineering design phase.
and it makes it shelf ready.
so it does help us in our standing on that particular project.
in summary, okay, you have enough?
we had two public meetings on the first and the third down here an at the east service center.
and in summary, we had 28 people at the first, 13 at the second.
and equestrian use was the issue most prominent.
their primary concern was continued use of the city of Austin park land at the upper end of the greenway.
which the city is well aware of and will be incorporating into their planning efforts.
and they also want access to more of the trail.
land acquisition.
a landowner wanted to make clear his concern that all land acquisition be a willing seller to buyer.
activities for children.
there's concern about getting children out into the parks more often because of what we know, you know, health issues that we are seeing now.
and interest in establishing partnerships between del valle, isd and the county.
disk golf, they came and want to have a disk golf course.
they say it's a facility that can go into areas that other uses aren't suitable for.
and they also made the case that it's a great family activity and another way to introduce children into that particular sport.
trail design and materials came up.
and there's interest in having a naturally surfaced trail, equistrians and mountain bikers wanted that.
mckinney falls state park employees came out with their concern about the pot hunters of the archeological sites and want to be sure that we secure those.
last, we had someone who does restoration work on wildlife habitat, talked about how botanists know this stretch of the creek that we are going to be working in has lots of rare plants.
not endangered but rare plants, and recommended that we do a survey, a botanical survey.
i can answer questions or we can open up the public hearing.
>> any questions from staff?
>> what was it basically the design, the ballpark?
>> excuse me?
>> ballpark when it hits the streets for design?
>> oh, when we start the consultant.
>> when will that start?
>> we sent that to purchasing this week.
i imagine it will take a couple weeks to put it out on the street.
>> four weeks?
>> a couple weeks.
>> a couple of weeks.
okay.
>> very soon.
>> okay, thank you.
>> how much of the $8.6 million do we have left?
>> roughly about two.
we have acquired properties.
we know we have some financial obligations for design work.
so we have some acquisitions in process.
so I would say roughly, and don't hold me to that, but off the top of my head I would say we still have about two million left.
>> okay, this is posted for public hearing.
if you would like to give comments during this public hearing, please come forward.
item number 2.
please come forward.
if you would give us your name we would be happy to get your comments.
>> hello, my name is penny wood.
i didn't expect to be speaking today.
i was won of the equistrians here last week for the meeting on Monday.
i guess I'm speaking for all of them.
we would really like to have some access to the trails this they are building.
most importantly, there's an area off onion creek behind left springs road currently used for horse back reading.
several barns that access that area for horse back riding and we'd like to keep what we have because there aren't many places to ride in this area at all.
and so that is kind of the consensus of the equistrians that we would like to keep what we have there on onion creek.
fan we could be having access to the new plans that would be wonderful as well.
that is about it.
thank you.
>> I did get some e-mails from folks who are interested in the equistrian angle as well.
i really don't see why we wouldn't be able to work together on including y'all as well.
>> I think so.
especially in that regional springs.
>> right.
>> that is something we have already discussed with the city of Austin.
>> yeah.
>> they are currently allowing the equistrians to use the metro park and we talked to them about integrating that use in the future trail.
>> absolutely.
it's obviously an area that children can have access to.
just adds more things to their activities so they don't just watch tv.
>> definitely.
>> right?
>> horse back riding is a fun activity for children.
they enjoy very much.
>> absolutely.
i have been reading all the e-mails and thank you again.
>> okay, good.
thank you very much.
>> thank you very much.
anybody else to give comments?
>> move public hearing be close.
>> second.
>> all in favor.
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank you, joe.
by the way, I will need another week on 7 b I don't see any problem with it.
but I have not had a chance to go over the backup as well as I would like.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 2:53 PM
