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.

For the full story, see the May 5 issue or subscribe online.

By Don Munsch • [email protected]