BRENHAM PARKS AND REC BOARD HEARS PROGRESS REPORT ON BRENHAM FAMILY PARK

  

Planning continues for the design and construction of the first phase of the Brenham Family Park.

Brenham Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members met this (Wednesday) afternoon with representatives from Jones Carter Engineering, who went over the history of the project and gave an update on its status.

Public Works Director Dane Rau said the city is at a point now where it can start moving forward with engineering contracts and amenities that the community expected in this park through previous master plan meetings.  He said the city has “really solidified some things” and is “getting really close to settling in” with some major park decisions.

Jones Carter Client Manager Erin Williford said after the city’s initial plan of one large on-channel detention pond was denied by the Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth, discussion shifted into having several smaller ponds at the park.  She said talks to make those ponds a reality, along with many other proposed developments at the site, are still very much active.

 

Currently, four ponds are being considered.  Two of the ponds would be located on the east and west sides of the park, and would each be about five acres in size.  A third pond on the north side would be roughly two to three acres.  A potential fourth pond to the south would be about one acre, but Williford said it may end up getting incorporated into one of the larger ponds.

Rau said the city did not envision having more than one pond initially, but this plan “gives us what our community was asking for.”

The park will be located on 106.8 acres of land donated to the city by Ed and Evelyn Kruse in December 2013.  The land is located just south of Highway 290 off South Chappell Hill Street, north of the Brenham State Supported Living Center.

After meetings with the Kruse family, Williford said the intent is to have the land on the west side of the property be used for residential development.  However, the specific layout and other details of that development is undetermined at this time.  She said one of the goals of the park was to provide the detention needed for the land the Kruse’s are developing.

Phase I(a) of the project is projected to cost $1.7 million and span 32 acres.  In August, the city was approved for a $750,000 grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.  The city is providing a total contribution of just over $1 million for the project using funding set aside by the Brenham Community Development Corporation (BCDC), which receives funding from local sales taxes.

Rau said the city plans to place a professional services agreement with Jones Carter before the BCDC board at its meeting in January.  Construction on the first phase is estimated to begin in August 2021 and conclude in February 2023.

Also at today’s meeting, Parks Superintendent Casey Redman provided a recap of sports tournaments held in 2020 and an update on tournaments planned in 2021.  According to Redman, a total of 34 tournaments featuring 695 teams were held at city fields in 2020, despite the city closing fields from mid-March through mid-June.  In 2019, the city hosted 36 tournaments and 583 teams.  Redman said there are 62 tournaments scheduled for 2021 so far.

Click here to view the agenda packet for Wednesday's meeting.