Wylie City Councilmembers at their Tuesday meeting approved some concept plans to upgrade East Fork Park and Avalon Park at Lavon Lake.
Elizabeth McIlrath from Dunaway Associates, a consultant on the project, spoke to the council about its options with the parks during a joint work session with the city’s parks and recreation department.
In 2020, the city council adopted the newest Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan. The plan identified priorities for parks and recreation facility development based on resident, city council, parks and recreation board and staff input, according to city officials. Two areas of development that people wanted are various aquatics amenities and park development in and around Lavon Lake. City Manager Chris Holsted said there were multiple ways to fund the improvements, depending on which improvements are recommended and the cost of those improvements. A bond issue is one way to fund the improvements.
On Tuesday, April 27 councilmembers chose between two plans for both parks, with each plan showing several features. McIlrath described the plans and answered questions during a PowerPoint presentation.
Plans for both parks also featured different site patterns. In a council vote of 7-0, East Fork Park would have a camping focus with supporting activities: an equestrian loop, cabins and nature trails, boat ramp, reconfigured RV loops, shoreline day use, primitive camping, parking and boat ramp and glamping. Glamping is essentially camping without the “roughing it” element and is growing trend.
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By Don Munsch • [email protected]
