Copperfield Greenbelt Park Development

**************************UPDATE April 7, 2013*************************

HARK! HARK! We're getting a park!

Good news! Linda attended a pre-construction hearing about our park and PROGRESS! woo hoo! See her notes below. Thanks for going Linda!

From: Linda Jones

I went to the pre-construction meeting for the park yesterday and it was quite a big deal. The meeting really illustrated what an incredible effort this has been and what a tremendous amount of work, collaboration and coordination there is to still accomplish before the park is a reality. There were 10 people there (and a number absent) including representatives of the park department, the design consultants and the contractors. The "notice to proceed" will be issued on April 15th and that is when the contractor is planning to get started. The contract itself was about 4 inches thick! They have 180 days from the 15th to complete the project. They went over the major provisions and the plan in general and talked about some of the issues - like the time it takes to order and receive the manufactured pieces, how much of the native terrain around the trees to leave intact, etc.. The contractor intends to have an onsite construction trailer which they were trying to figure out where to place. There will be weekly progress meetings onsite every Wednesday at 10:00, starting on April 24th. The contractor also mentioned that he'd been out to the site and was very impressed with the lack of trash. He said it was very unusual.

I will plan to attend the first progress meeting and will determine then how often we need to show up to keep tabs on the park development.

Hark, hark!! There really will be a park!!

Yay us!!

**********************Update October 4, 2012***********************

Gary Gregson called today with an update about the Copperfield Greenbelt Park.

The bidding for our park project was supposed to close last week, but Parks department received questions from several contractors. So, they extended the bidding until this Thursday, the 27th and bids are required to be in by 9 am. Then, City of Austin Contract Management will open the bids and select the lowest bidder(s). Those bids will be reviewed by the Small and Minority Business department to make sure the bids meet City requirements in that area. That review will take about two weeks. After that process, the bid will be awarded to one of the contractors. The funding approval is on schedule to go before council in November. If there are no council questions, our funding approval will go on their "consent agenda" which is approved without public comment. That is the best and easiest approval. If anyone on council has questions, then our project would be put on the itemized agenda that goes for public comment.

**********************Previous update March 1, 2012***********************

On Thursday, February 23rd, Gary Gregson from City of Austin Parks Planning presented an update on the Copperfield Greenbelt Park Development. 14 neighbors attended.

The development is moving along, but very slowly! Gary said part of the slow down last year was because of budget cuts at the city. They have to have money in the budget for the ongoing maintenance of the park and they couldn't expand the maintenance budget last year. But, the funding to construct the park is still there - the 2006 Bond package is funding the park construction. They have now gotten the go ahead from higher up to proceed with the development.

Gary has a meeting with his supervisor on Tuesday of this week. Then, the project will go out for bids in March and that takes approximately 6 weeks. Then, as long as the bids come in within budget, a construction company is selected.

The next step is to get project funding approved by City council and that can take up to 2 months depending on what else is on the council agenda. Then, the lawyers sign the contracts with the construction firm (another few weeks) and then FINALLY construction can begin! By this time 2013, we should have swings!

The playscapes and pavillion and other features are still the same as what we saw in the past meetings. They have made slight modications to the design (width and slant of the sidewalks and walking loop) so that it complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

During the meeting, neighbors brought up the concern with lack of sidewalks and the speed of traffic along Yager. Gary is going to check with transportation to see what can be done regarding signs (slow traffic, pedestrian crossing, or such).

We discussed tree planting and ongoing maintenance - PARD will mow and empty the trash bins. Volunteers will maintain the butterfly garden.

Landscape plants and trees will be provided by the construction company, although there is space available for additional trees if we want to add more.

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Our Park is still moving its way through the gears of the city. The site plan permit was issued in January and now the park plans are going through the Building Permit process. Below is an email dated April 6th from Gary Gregson, Parks Department Project Coordinator:

"Once we have the building permit, we can submit our plans to the City’s Program Management Office and the Contract and Land Management Department for reviews. These reviews will likely take four weeks. Once we’ve addressed all the concerns raised in those reviews, we can post the project for bids for construction contracts. The “Bid/Award/Execution” phase usually takes about four months for City projects by the time they get to City Council for authorization. Having said all that, we should be breaking ground right at six months from now."

So, if all goes smoothly in the City's approval process, sometime late fall we'll have a ground breaking! If you want to look at the progress of the permit online https://www.ci.austin.tx.us/devreview/a_queryfolder_permits.jsp , the case number is SPC-2009-0371C.

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Click here to see the Playscape Slide Show.

On August 13th, approximately 60 Copperfield neighbors participated in a community meeting to view the designs for the play scape and picnic pavilion for our Copperfield "pocket" park that is in development by the City of Austin. The attendees met with designers, heard about the various options, and gave feedback on the proposed designs. The design team has put a lot of thought and effort into creating a public space that our neighborhood can enjoy.

The presenters were:

Gary Gregson, Project Coordinator from the City of Austin Parks Planning Department Gary.Gregson@ci.austin.tx.us

Larry Halford and Veronica Castro de Barrera from MWM Design www.mwmdesigngroup.com

Zac Tolbert and Jason Cheng from Land Design Partners www.landdesignpartners.com

Neighbors expressed tremendous enthusiasm at the meeting and are looking forward to the grand opening of our Copperfield Greenbelt Park. Be patient, though, it is still over a year away!

Congratulations to Elissa who won the door prize, a bromeliad, donated by Mica. Thanks to all the neighbors that donated the cookies, punch, and ice cream that we enjoyed during the presentation. And, a special thanks to Otis Fields of High Pointe Baptist Church for allowing us to meet in their Jourdan Crossing building that is next to the park.

At this preliminary stage of design, there are no drawings or pictures to post and share, but here are recollections from some of the neighbors that attended the meeting.

Elissa - I really liked Beth's idea about putting in road markers on Yager to notify people of the park. When people come together, SO many good ideas get thrown around. I think the park will be the best park in Austin.

Jeremy - To me it seems that 16 parking spots (plus an apparent expansion area for 8 more) for a 9 acre park is far too many. I firmly believe they could get away with 1/3 that and spend the extra money on more playground equipment or whatever. ...Other than that, it exceed what I thought we were going to get (now we have water/electric and a pavilion!). I see the butterfly garden ended up in there, too <chuckle>.

Rob - Regarding the artificial turf product... The product is called “Burke Turf” and a link to the website is www.bciburke.com/burketurf.html.

Michael - Just free flowing recollection: water fountain with dog bowl, heavy duty bbq pits, feng shui design -- the covered patio open to some element of the park in each direction but still shady (I hope they got the sun's arc correct), butterfly (natural plant area) garden, both concrete and crushed granite trails, minimal disruption to land. ADA compliant -- accessible with wheelchairs fitting under the picnic tables easily. Trail through existing trees for shade, and goes near "pond". Some, flat, grassy areas to play in (but not a ton).

Jack - We started this project 3 years ago at Blakeney, so it is nice to see progress happening.

Cody - The park will sit off the road. There will be some lighting in the pavilion. The pavilion will have 4 tables within it allowing for one big party or four separate gatherings. The play scape will accommodate kiddos from 2-12. There will be a sitting wall around the play scape that can serve two purposes -a place to sit and a kind of protective barrier. There will be a water fountain that will have a dog fountain as well. There will be a grassy area for free play but no set soccer fields or basketball courts. The path will be part cement and part decomposed granite. There will be a butterfly garden. That is all I can remember right now. Oh there will be shade canopies at first and trees will be planted that will eventually provide natural shade. They will have another meeting at some point to talk about colors for the play scape.

Trudy - I do remember someone requesting that the pavilion have electricity. I know there was some discussion on the surface of the play area, but not sure anything was decided.

Alice - The park development will take approximately 9 acres of the greenbelt at Yager Lane. 16 spaces in the parking lot. The park will be ADA compliant. There are several options for play scape base materials and pros and cons for each: pea gravel - radiates heat; rubberized surface - recycled tires so concerns about it being toxic; recycled styrofoam - increased cost; an artificial turf product (see Rob's comments above). A seat wall will be along one side of the play scape. We saw several pictures of play scapes with different features - one had a blue orb in the middle that apparently kids sit in but not sure if it spins around or not. One play scape was tan/neutral colors with a curvy slide. The third picture was of an orange/yellow play scape. And there was a fire engine thing, but I am not sure what kids do with it. Many neighbors expressed need for shade. Some of the kids said they would like things to climb on. And, a vocal group of adults (including me!) want swings. I remember seeing a picture of a recycling bin as well as hearing that the water fountain would have a filter in it that would need to be changed every 3 years. And, like Trudy's comments above, I remember the request for an electric outlet under a lock box. And, electricity would be great feature to have because Cindy, Copperfield Fun club, could then organize Movies in the Park for us! :-)

Beth - I remember swings, water fountain with bubbling dog water bowl, grills, picnic benches either recycled or wood and accessible to disabled, pavilion that would have 4 picnic benches and great shade, picnic bench by playground, raised hill area area around the play scape where you can sit along top of it and is a boundary for kids when playing in that area, mulch/pea gravel/rubber surfaces we get to choose, sidewalk leading from parking lot to pavilion and playground area will be concrete, kiosk with map of entire greenbelt and park area, need mutt mitts for dogs, 16 parking spaces, lighting will be in pavilion only, trash can/recycle can, city maintains park..mowing, watering etc.... A few more things about the meeting: slides on the play scape, city is doing survey on traffic condition at the entrance of the park/parking lot, they will get with us again to make final decisions about equipment etc., grill, water fountain, 1/4 loop with probably crushed granite and the city will maintain, some kind of structure to place maps/city numbers to reserve park for parties and other important info from the city, irrigation will be installed to maintain the manicured lawn area of the park, will add some trees and other vegetation.

Maeve - Regarding "paths of desire" ... It's when builders/planners don't put in paths until a building has been in use for some months, and then they put the paths where people are walking. The idea is that people will walk where they want to walk, regardless of the paths. Now that probably wouldn't work for the park, because the City will want to do it once, not come back to redo it. But looking at the curved path from the parking area to the shelter, I could well imagine that people would cut through the short way. Maybe it doesn't matter. I think they decided on the layout they did with the idea that people would leave the parking lot from the middle, but every time I looked at it I could imagine them cutting across. I was really impressed with the park, and the park people. It's going to be really nice.

If you have more comments you would like to add or you want to get involved and help the Friends of Copperfield Nature Trails with our neighborhood park project, please email contact@copperfieldtrails.org

***** UPDATE AUGUST 20, 2009 *****

I spoke with Gary Gregson to get clarification on a few questions that have come up since the meeting:

How long will it take? At least a year longer…

The park is now in the design phase.

When the design is further along, PARD will submit the site plan to City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review. Their review could take up to 6 months and the result will be an approved Site Plan Permit.

Once the Site Plan is approved, contractor bids will be solicited for the project. That can take approximately 3 months.

Once the contractor is selected, the construction contract goes before City Council for their approval.

After City Council approval, then PARD will issue a notice to proceed to the contractor.

The contractor will then schedule the construction to begin.

Whew! Sometime before that last step, our volunteer group will do a “plant rescue” in the area that will be disturbed by the park construction. There are several lantanas and verbenas and other native plants that we can transplant to other sections of the greenbelt.

Can we (the City) afford all the amenities we saw? Part of MWM Design’s goal is to design a park that can actually be built within the budget PARD has set for our pocket park. There are ways to offset the costs if funding runs short during the park’s development (PARD construction of the walking loop, neighbors donating trees, etc) but we hope there will be enough funding to cover it all!

Why 16 parking spaces? Gary is going to get with Marty and they will fill us in on how it was decided to have space for 16 cars in the parking lot.

Will we have access to electricity? Yes, electrical outlets are possible. Gary spoke with Jimmy Cone and the most feasible way is to have the electrical panel itself locked. Then, groups will arrange with PARD to unlock and turn on the power for scheduled events. So, the locking feature would be on the panel, not on individual outlets.

Do we get both swings and play scape?

If we get swings, then the play scape will be one unit combined to accommodate all the age groups.

If we don’t have swings, then there could be 2 play scape structures. One unit for the 2 – 5 age group and another structure for the 5 – 12 age group.

The play scape pictures we saw at the meeting are actual play scapes installed in City of Austin Parks . Gary will be sending me the location of them so we can visit them in person. Gary mentioned the fire engine feature is for ages 2 – 5 and is located in Davis White park off Loyola.

What color will the play scape be? Well, it seems we didn’t come to a consensus decision on that last Thursday. MWM Design and Gary will be meeting regarding the manufacturer selection for the play scape and the pavilion. The manufacturer will determine the actual colors available for these features. And, they will want to coordinate the color of the pavilion with the play scape. So, once the color options are narrowed down, Gary will do an online survey regarding the color choices and hope we’ll reach consensus opinion that way.

***** UPDATE September 17, 2009 *****

Notes taken by Mica Hanchey

Marty Stump with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) began his presentation showing the “Cartoon” and the revised “Construction” drawings. The Construction drawing, Site Plan C101, showed the suggested changes made at the Ice Cream Social Meeting. Those changes included:

· Swing set including 6 swings – 4 belt and 2 bucket

· Parking lot was reduced to 6-7 spaces with the ability to expand if needed for the Trailhead

· Playscape age appropriate for 2-12 with a cool topper

· Playscape area will have 2 picnic tables

· Wood fiber for the Playscape area ground cover

· Stairs from the pavilion were replaced with a sloping walkway

Features that will remain unchanged:

· Steel framed Pavilion with views over meadow and pond

· Butterfly Garden with irrigation

· New plantings and grass area with irrigation for 2-3 years to grow in

· Grass areas will use native grasses around Playscape and be mowed by the City on a two (2) week schedule

· Garbage will be picked up by the City regularly

· Lights will be in the parking lot and pavilion timed from dusk to 10:00 pm (when park closes; flexible)

· Electrical outlet in pavilion with a lockbox managed by the Adopt A Park

· Kiosk with posted park hours, Trailhead map and rules, including Adopt A Park contact information

· Water fountain with doggie bowl

· Looped walking trail

It is estimated that the “Schedule Permit” issued for bidding purposes will take six (6) months. Construction will begin in 2010 wrapping up by the end of next summer. By Thanksgiving 2009 the drawings will be completed and the park will go to “Schedule Permit”. During the “Schedule Permit” we will need to choose the colors and play features for the children’s Playscape. It was suggested that a “Survey Monkey” be sent out to the neighbors to find out their choices.

It was also noted that PARD conducted a traffic study on Yager and the speed was determined to be safe for the park entrance.

Park signage will be provided by PARD during construction and a final sign for “Copperfield Greenbelt Park”.

It was suggested that:

· Plant Rescue take place before the construction begins

· Looped walking trail could be linked to the Atterbury Trail entrance (It will be a consideration if there is enough money based on a unit price for the trail construction.)

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