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City of Willow Park

Council approves amending trail plan

May elections are set

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At its recent meeting on Jan. 24, the Willow Park City Council approved an amendment to the city’s 2019 parks and trails master plan.

“We had a plan in there, but it was just generic. It was just a concept,” said Toni Fisher, Willow Park Planning and Development Director. “We planned on having trails, but we weren’t sure where they were going to go.”

The council has been working with Larry Colvin, Senior Designer for Civil, Landscape, and Trails for Baird, Hampton & Brown, Inc (BHB). He is also the president of the Weatherford Mountain Bike Club (WMBC). WMBC will manage the trails and maintain, along with being involved in the designing and building.

Colvin was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Parks of Aledo Trail system and has spent many uncompensated hours for the past year and a half working with Willow Park Mayor Doyle Moss, Mayor Pro Tem Lea Young, and city staff with designing a single-track trail plan for the City of Willow Park.

BHB and the WMBC are working hand-in-hand on the project, which will be more than 25 miles when complete. This will include up to nine miles for Willow Park, which will also serve as a centerpiece between Weatherford and Aledo.

The overall trail will be a combination of single track and concrete designed for hiking/biking and walking/running. No motorized vehicles will be allowed, not even electric bikes, Fisher said.

“It’s not going to be a bunch of dirt bikes riding in front of your house,” Fisher said. “It’s green space. This is family friendly.”

Goals of the amendment include:

  • Identify areas on public and private lands that are suitable for trail development within the city limits and extra territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Willow Park.
  • Establish a framework of cooperation between the City of Willow Park, trail steward nonprofits, private property owners and land developers to create single track trails and bikeways.
  • Provide land developers with a concept plan for public/private trail development partnerships.
  • Identify bikeways within the city that connect single track trail networks with one another.
  • Create a forum to educate the public on the stewardship responsibilities of single track trail sustainability.
  • Partner with municipalities adjacent to Willow Park and the North Central Texas Council Of Governments to create a cohesive trail network in Eastern Parker County.

Along with Willow Park, nearby cities and communities such as Hudson Oaks, both Annettas, Aledo, and Weatherford will benefit, Fisher said.

“Everybody can plug a piece into this and be a part,” she said, noting that when the dots are connected it will be the East Parker County Trail.

In fact, Fisher said there is a hope that someday there will be a trail that runs from Dallas to Mineral Wells that will include this trail.

“Larry dreams this stuff up in his sleep. He’s incredible,” she said.

 

Election set

The council also set an election for May 6. There will be two council seats and the office of mayor up for election.

Currently, along with Mayor Doyle Moss, Council Member Place 1, held by Eric Contreras and Place 2, Chawn Gilliland, will be on the ballot.

 

Board appointments

Three commissioners of the Board of Adjustments were reappointed by the council. They are Michael Chandler, Place 1; Cynthia Neverdousky, Place 3; and Michael Caldwell, Place 5.

Reappointed to the Planning and Zoning Board are Rodney Wilkins, Place 1; Billy Weikert, Place 3; Jared Fowler, Place 5; and Zachary Walker, Alternate 1.

Parks Board reappointments are Lea Young, Ex-Officio, Place 1; James McKibben, Place 3; and David Wagner, Place 5.

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