| LCRA to upgrade
park
By William T. Wood
Bay City Tribune
Published August 13, 2003
BAY CITY — The Lower Colorado
River Authority will revamp and maintain Jetty Park on Matagorda Beach
under a lease ratified by Matagorda County Commissioners Court during
its regular session Monday morning.
The court passed the measure over the strenuous objections of Precinct 2
Commissioner George Deshotels, who voted against it.
“This court has always had a tradition of supporting the commissioner
whose precinct is involved in an issue like this,” Deshotels said after
the vote was taken.
“That tradition was broken here today and I’m sorry to see it happen.”
The contract calls for LCRA to build new restrooms, outdoor showers,
picnic shelters, a group picnic pavilion, parking areas, roads, beach
access facilities and a promenade on the county-owned park’s 10.4 acres.
The county still will own the property, but it will be maintained by
LCRA under the 25-year lease.
The Jetty Park renovation is the first phase of a larger park project
LCRA plans for 1,600 acres it owns at the mouth of the Colorado River.
Over time, LCRA plans to build a nature center, hiking and kayaking
trials, fishing piers, an observation platform and other facilities on
its property.
The Jetty Park lease begins the day ground is broken, said Kirk Cowan,
LCRA’s park project manager.
“We hope to have most of the work at Jetty Park done within 18 months,”
Cowan said.
The work will be done in phases, and LCRA will keep the park open during
construction, Cowan said.
Deshotels said he supports the LCRA nature park, but cited three main
reasons why he voted against the Jetty Park lease.
“I would have preferred they lease just the three acres of the park, not
the entire 10 acres, so that the county still controlled the
beach-access points,” Deshotels said.
“I also object to the 25-year lease without any provision for periodic
review so that we can take a look at it from time to time and see if we
want to continue.
“And I really don’t want to see the existing structures torn down. They
were built with money raised from selling county bonds back in the 1980s
and I just don’t think it’s right to not keep them there. I’d like to
see LCRA add to what we have and not tear anything down,” he said.
Cowen said he is sympathetic to Deshotels’ concerns and will work with
him to address them.
“I’ve been with LCRA for 24 years and never once have I seen a situation
where a county judge or commissioner asked to meet and work out a
solution if they have an objection to something we are doing. They are
the governing power in their community and we have no intention of
getting in the way of that.” Cowan said.
Cowan also said that by law, LCRA cannot control access to the beach,
even though it will be maintaining the access points.
“The Open Beach Act prohibits anyone from controlling public access to
the beach,” Cowan said.
“We just want to add something to the park that people will be very
proud of,” he added.
Editor’s note: The complete text of the Jetty Park contract between LCRA
and the county can be found on the Bay City Tribune’s Web site.
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