Lakeway City Council decided on a $19.5 million limit for the parks project bond and re-evaluated its priorities at a Jan. 16 meeting following resident feedback.

The two-minute impact

The park projects bond, which was originally $24.6 million, will revamp several Lakeway parks, recreation centers and major greenbelts.

Results from the weeklong virtual town hall, which garnered over 250 responses, identified the new Butler Rough Hollow Park, Lakeway City Park, Lakeway Swim Center and Live Oak Tennis and Pickleball courts as top priorities.

The specifics

With the virtual town hall, residents had the most negative feedback about the Live Oak Tennis and Pickleball court improvements, which originally included the addition of 10 pickleball courts.

The new proposed plan will only involve adding one pickleball court while reconstructing the five existing tennis courts.

What's next

After four years of planning, council will decide on the final bond proposal Feb. 5. If approved, the bond will then go before voters in the May or November election.

Cost to residents

Some council members expressed fears that residents have "bond fatigue," and a more conservative bond would be palatable.

City staff estimated reducing the bond from an approximate $25 million to $20 million would reduce the monthly cost to residents from $10 per month to $8 per month.

Another detail

Council members also discussed the possible implementation of a new reservation software for recreation amenities.

The new system would use geofencing software to ensure Lakeway residents are using the facilities as well as update inventory in real time, improve communications about cancelations and identify ongoing maintenance issues.

Due to numerous other ongoing software updates to city systems, council will discuss the issue further at the regular meeting in March.