Barton Springs Pool could be seeing some construction after Austin City Council approved variances April 11 that would allow work on the Barton Springs Pool General Grounds Improvement Project.
Variances approved by City Council included a permit to have construction done within the critical water quality zone and changes to existing impervious cover which already exceeds the 15 percent maximum coverage. Changes in the plan include construction of an Americans with Disabilities Act–compliant walkway from the parking area on the south side to the pool, paving the parking lot on the south side, installation of an underground irrigation system and installation of new perimeter fencing.
Impervious cover does not allow water to be absorbed or filtered through the material.
"We would like to take what we currently see at Barton Springs and bring it back to its former glory," said Kimberly McNeeley, assistant director with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
Some of the concerns McNeeley pointed out were turf conditions, health of the heritage trees, eroding of the south side trail and water quality.
Residents at the City Council meeting where the item was discussed raised concern about the city's transparency in developing the grounds improvement plan.
"I'm just saying many of the plans have not been clearly spelled out," Austin resident Karen Kreps said. "So in many ways we're operating in the dark."
Kreps laid out a list of details she would like clarified, including plans for water quality features, the amount of maintenance required for a proposed overlook path and if there will be any landscaping changes done to the north side of Barton Springs Pool.
Bill Bunch, executive director with the Save Our Springs Alliance, agreed about making more information easily available to the public and implored the council focus more on water quality issues.
"We should not be hiding the ball on things like this, but that said, we've gotten back to a place where it comes back to what is most important,," Bunch said. "The biggest problem we have with Barton Springs is preserving the spring flow, the quality and quantity of the spring flow. We still don't have a good solution for that, and I urge you to pay attention to that."
The SOS Alliance is a group that tries to protect the Edwards Aquifer and the springs and streams associated with it, focusing on Barton Springs.
Councilwoman Laura Morrison proposed to move a walkway and overlook to an area closer to a proposed ADA-compliant walkway that will be constructed from the south gate down to the pool. Initially, the walkway stretched onto the south lawn, and Morrison said the overlook might not get as much use there because it was in the sun.
"What we were hearing was the way it had been positioned had a big impact on the natural, left-alone environment and atmosphere of the south lawn," Morrison said.
Jennifer McPhail, member of Adapt of Texas in Austin—an organization that promotes civil and human rights for people with disabilities—said she supports the proposed changes and the addition of the ADA-compliant path on the south side of Barton Springs Pool. During the public discussion, a question was raised about having the pathway on the south lawn when it isn't required by law.
"It's really simple," McPhail said. "You're doing more than the basic requirements of the law because it's the right thing to do, because beauty enriches the soul [and] because for too long, too many of us have been locked inside, trapped in our homes, trapped in segregated areas that were designated accessible recreation centers for disabled people only. Those types of things only degrade the soul of the city."
The site plan will next go to the city's planning commission for approval, and construction on the improvements is expected to begin in October.
