Council aims to unlock state, fed funding via new Parks & Rec board

One of the most powerful boards in Austin is its Parks & Rec panel – they hold the purse-strings on a sizeable pile of public dollars, Kevin Clark told his colleagues and constituents last week.
Gladewater’s not crafting that kind of entity, he added, but city leaders here do aim to expand local outdoor offerings, especially by using state and federal funds.
Those monies aren’t available without first establishing a local P&R board to administer them, and council members last week took further steps toward creating one.
“The creation of the board is us getting ahold of the leviathan before it gets too big,” Clark said Feb. 20. “We need to get a hand on these projects and get them under one umbrella, but we also need to control what we’re letting loose.”
Everett Park, Bumblebee Park, Lake Gladewater Park and the city’s baseball and softball fields are the most obvious amenities that will fall under a new Parks & Recreation effort. There are plenty of to-dos tied to each.
For example, “We are going to obviously upgrade Bumblebee,” Clark said. “We’ve already started with security,” angling to curtail repeated vandalism before investing more public funds in the property.
The initial plan is to craft and consider new codes that will establish a Parks & Rec board (that will absorb select city boards in the process) and to staff it with key residents.
Flanagan thanked all the volunteers who currently serve on city boards: “You use your time and talent and the know-how you have to help us make decisions.”
Three existing boards are legally required: Gladewater Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors, the Gladewater Board of Adjustments and its Planning & Zoning Board. The airport board, lake board and beautification committee are not mandated.
The city will likely keep the airport panel considering the “specialty knowledge” of the group – “There aren’t a lot of us who know about aviation,” Flanagan said – while the lake and beautification boards may be folded into Parks & Recreation.
“There’s a lot to be considered with the creation of this board,” Clark said. “It offers all the benefits we’ve talked about,” including oversight of the current parks system, expanding existing facilities and pursuing grant funds to make it happen.
“The acquisition of land for new parks – they have that kind of power if we want to give it to them… And, we can use state inmates for maintenance.”
Council members and city staffers aren’t warm to the idea of empowering the developing board to acquire land. As discussed last week, the board will be tasked with managing parks, playgrounds and similar spots as well as advising city leaders on further development.
All things considered, Clark said, “With great power comes great responsibility, and we need to decide what we want to do.”
Council member Teddy Sorrells says the creation of a P&R board will benefit the city, ideally under the supervision of its public works director – Brian Smith was eager to sign-on to the effort. Some employees, i.e. mowers, are already at work in that area.
“I think it would behoove us to have someone on our staff in the Parks & Rec Department that has that ‘supreme authority,”” Sorrells said.
Gladewater City Clerk Judy Van Houten will templates from Clark’s research to develop a first draft of relevant local regulations for review in March.
“This can evolve,” Flanagan said. “It can start out as an advisory board.”
“There’s a number of oversight things we can implement. They’re as varied as we can come up with from our imagination,” Clark agreed. “This gives a month for Gladewater as a population to really starting thinking this over. The people who get put on this board are vital to the success of parks in Gladewater.”