Commission Agenda Item No. 6a
Presenter: Dana Lagarde

Action
Local Park Grant Funding
Urban Outdoor Recreation
August 20, 2015

I.       Executive Summary: The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State and Local Assistance Program, and the Large County and Municipality Recreation and Parks Account (Urban Parks Account) provide matching grants to local governments for the acquisition and development of outdoor recreation areas and facilities.

II.     Discussion: Urban Outdoor Recreation Grants are made available to Texas local governments of greater than 500,000 in population for the acquisition and/or development of outdoor recreation sites.  Funds available include $414,462 from the LWCF, and $2,660,056 from the Urban Parks Account.  As of March 31, 2015 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department received 5 eligible Urban Outdoor applications requesting $4,225,000 in matching fund assistance.  Staff is recommending support of 4 projects in the amount of $3,074,518.

Exhibit A ranks the projects in descending order based on the scoring criteria adopted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

III.    Recommendation:  Staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

"Funding for 4 projects listed in Exhibit A in the amount of $3,074,518 is approved.”

Attachments – 1

  1. Exhibit A – Priority Listing

Commission Agenda Item No. 6a
Exhibit A

Priority Listing
# Score Applicant Name Project Name Total Project Cost Requested Funding Recommendation
1 38 City of El Paso Futureland Park $574,400 $225,000 $225,000
2 38 City of Houston Squatty Lions Park $3,141,416 $1,000,000 $1,000,000
3 37 City of Dallas Bachman Lake Park $2,875,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000
4 36 City of Austin Waterloo Park $3,750,000 $1,000,000 $849,518
5 19 City of San Antonio Martin Luther King Jr. Park $2,000,000 $1,000,000  
Total $12,340,816.00 $4,225,000 $3,074,518