SAN ANGELO, TX - Yesterday, City Council members met at the McNease Convention Center to discuss several new construction projects for San Angelo. Some of them are already under way, while others are still in the proposal stage. A few housekeeping items were discussed as well.
New Parks, Buildings, and Schools
One of San Angelo’s main attractions, the International Waterlily Collection is located in the heart of San Angelo’s Civic League Park. According to the International Waterlily Collection website, it “has been designated by the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society as a premiere collection of waterlilies in existence.”
At Tuesday's meeting, Roger Havlak, Senior Parks Manager, presented to the City Council a conceptual three-phase master plan to “facilitate [the construction of] an official botanical garden.” This conceptual master plan includes the removal of three trees causing maintenance issues for the park staff, with prospects of replanting them somewhere else. It also tentatively plans for a learning center with parking and ADA access to the lily gardens and trails, and to several garden sections such as desert landscape, xeriscape beds, native plants, rose gardens, and turfgrass landscapes. From the learning center parking lot, visitors would also have access to various amenities, including a gazebo near the lagoons. If sufficient funds are available, Havlak hopes to also include a bridge for pedestrians “that would connect to [the existing] trail system,” and possibly allow the San Angelo Civic League Park to connect to the Santa Fe Golf Park.
The City Council voted against the removal and replanting of the three trees that cause maintenance issues because the replanting of the trees would not assure the trees’ survival, and it would cost the city approximately $2,000. Instead, the City Council voted to cut the trees down. However, Roger Havlak and his team plan to come back with a new master plan in the near future. The budget of this master plan will include new trees to be planted in lieu of those that will be cut down.
Another major remodeling project in San Angelo is the annex, the newest addition to the Municipal Auditorium behind City Hall. The annex is currently under construction. Tuesday, David Knapp, San Angelo’s Construction Manager, went before the City Council seeking approval to use the previously budgeted and approved funds – approximately $12,368,530 - for the completion of the interior building. The funds provided would allow construction workers to complete “the annex at stage level,” which means they could finish the construction of “the loading dock and crew areas, essential to accommodating traveling shows [… and] dressing rooms with showers and restrooms suitable for local and traveling shows.”
It is important to remember that--as of right now--no additional funding will be required to complete this project. The annex, which had a proposed finishing date of April 2017, is now slated to be completed by early July 2017.
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Fort Concho Elementary School was also mentioned in today’s City Council meeting as Planning and Development Service Director Jon James presented the Council with a new ordinance that would request the elementary school to be considered a Planned Development Zoning District. This new classification would allow Planning and Development Services to improve Fort Concho by adding new classroom space as well as recreational and sports facilities. It would also enable Planning and Development Services to add sidewalks along Burgess Street and East Highland Boulevard, to construct a new parking table and to develop a new landscape plan for the area. This new construction and remodeling of the school will not impact the surrounding neighborhood, nor will it lead to an increase in the total number of students attending Fort Concho. Thus, residents living close by can be assured that this upgrade will not lead to an increase in traffic or noise.
Other Agenda Items
Lastly, the Council discussed parking zone issues within the city of San Angelo. Currently, if business owners or individuals want to install, modify, or remove parking spaces, their request must be approved by the City Council. Today, the Council approved Traffic Operations Superintendent Ryan Ward’s request to amend an ordinance that would allow the City Manager or his/her designee to have full authority to approve any changes or modifications to street parking throughout San Angelo.
The Council also approved an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016-17 budget that would allow for the inclusion of grants, contributions, and capital projects. The total budget amendment totaled $988,426 according to Morgan Chegwidden, Budget Manager.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for November 1 at 8:30 A.M. at the McNease Convention Center. The meeting will also be open to the public.
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The morlock city council is at it again , spend spend spend . The flower park is not as big an attraction as the city would have you believe . If it were up to me I would dry it up , there what do you think about that ! Over the years a lot of money and time has been spent on this project . The place looks like a rhino pen . I know that this is the way the city chooses to protect the water plants . What an eyesore , its not worth the investment . Folks this is west Texas , trees are valuable in this part of the country , some of those trees are very old . I think that before the city calls the guy from the Texas chain saw massacre to come in and take care or the trees , like thy did before, they should incorporate any trees , that are already there ,into the plan . It is only because of the efforts , of the white glove society , that so much effort is wasted on this park . This should be a private project . Now then if the city wants to spend the shrinking tax revenue on something worth while , there are a gazillion projects to consider , fix the roads , fix the schools , raise wages for all city employees , and lower their insurance premiums etc. There is something that is sorely needed in San Angelo , a zoo , if the city has a bundle to blow , why not consider a zoo . We have a ton of land that is not being used , and i'm not talking about land on the west side of town or way out east of town , its right here smack dab in the middle of town. When i ask my grand kids , where would you like to go to today , they never say , the flower garden . Abilene is the closest place to San Angelo that has a zoo , it's just a little bigger than San Angelo . They have a very nice zoo , with numerous attractions , they are constantly improving it . May be it's a worth while idea .
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PermalinkAmazing..... Simply amazing that these idiots on the council for the second time now, have lied to our police officers by breaking not one but two of their contracts with lies of, "Oh sorry, we didn't budget this so therefore we can't uphold your contract with us" yet they can miraculously find hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to build that stupid arts center or whatever it is in the lavishly refurbished Coca-Cola building and now they've found even more socked away money for this stupid garden that will require even more money to keep it going and groomed.........
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PermalinkSo, the roads are like a de-militarized zone in the middle east. No raises for employees. Three weeks back they were wringing their hands and turning in circles screaming "we're broke!". Now we suddenly have money for a botanical garden. I'm sure P.T. Barnum referenced the citizens in San Angelo when he said there's a sucker born every minute.
And let's make sure to check everyone for weapons of mass destruction at the entrance using average Joe city employees who dig around in little girls purses like they did at comic-con.
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PermalinkOmgoodness! I can't believe this is happening again. Water Lily pond, City Auditorium, Performing Arts Center, Small Business Center...etc. How many millions of dollars have been spent on these projects? And we still can't drive down our streets without being knocked silly. It's pathetic. I would like to know how much yearly revenue the city receives from the International Waterlily Collection? How much revenue is expected to be generated from the Performing Arts Center, City Auditorium, and the Small Business Center? It's one thing to build it, but it takes tax payer dollars to maintain it. Or are all these 'projects' just another way to spend our hard earned tax dollars?
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PermalinkLove this new project--already the Water Lily Garden is a major tourist attraction. Maybe the city will be able to also find some private donors willing to chip in for this worthwhile project. Downtown San Angelo has turned into such a nice area and many families like to stroll along the Concho River. Looks to me like the City Council is trying to be cost effective, weighing the pros and cons of cutting down trees.
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PermalinkDoesn't a garden require water? Judging by the smell of what comes out of my tap and the craziness that goes on around here during shortage, it seems like we should fix the water issue first and only then build things that require even more of it.
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PermalinkThey can't even get the repairs or whatever they are doing along the Houston Harte finished and they want to do something else? Thought we were in a budget shortage as well as a drought. I say get rid of the whole council
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