By LESLEE BASSMAN, Four Points News

Following a controversial move to charge admission to its nature trail, the River Place Limited District defined a policy March 26 that will govern the popular hike. Although board members discussed the trail regulations, they agreed to wait until their April meeting to approve the final policy.

“This was the first weekend we were able to finalize our contract for temporary help to man the trail with ticket takers,”  Limited District President Scott Crosby said of the March 23-24 dates.

During these two days, the trail saw 150 hikers on Saturday and 140 hikers on Sunday, he said, with board member Tim Mattox adding that traffic seemed lighter on these days than before the fee was implemented.

According to Jesse Kennis, general manager at River Place management company, Inframark, the Limited District collected about $1,500 on Saturday and $1,400 on Sunday from trail users.

“I would say that the first weekend was successful,” Kennis said. “We had competent and professional temps that were our ticket takers.”

He said some trail users disregarded the fees and used the trail anyway, with most comments from users being positive.

Last month, the board requested Zachariah Evans, of counsel to the McGinnis Lochridge law firm that represents the Limited District, draft a proposed list of trail policies for the board to discuss.

He cautioned the board to adopt both trail policies as well as park rules.

“We were considering groups that were applying for free access to the trail and the process by which they apply,” Evans said. “Those are policies for the board to follow and those are different from park rules. Park rules are more along the lines of who you charge and what you charge them. Those are rules that are applicable to the trail as a whole.”

Currently, the public can access the trail for free, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday through Friday. In April, the board plans to reconsider expanding those free hours of trail access once school is out.

During special events, such as South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, members leaned toward giving the ability to reduce those free hours to the general manager of the Limited District’s management company.

Upon reviewing Evans’s draft, board members agreed to only consider applications from nonprofit groups either registered in Texas or federally qualified 501(c) (3) organizations if the group is out of state, for free access to the trails, with group discounts possible for law enforcement and first responders.

During its March 11 special meeting, the board passed a resolution allowing Boy Scouts of America troops to train for free on Saturdays after 4 p.m. although no consensus was reached as to providing free access, if any, to volunteers.

The district issued two resident cards per Limited District household allowing access to the trail but, at its meeting last week, the board was divided as to how many guests of residents will be permitted to access the trail for free. Board Members Crosby, Art Jistal and Ivar Rachkind agreed that five guests per resident or household could be permitted without charge, with board members Mattox and Jennifer Mushtaler preferring one free guest for every resident of the Limited District.

An annual fee or seasonal pass may be in the works for Limited District nonresidents, both outside the community and those River Place residents not located in the District. with the latter possibly receiving lower priced passes than individuals who live outside of the neighborhood. Crosby said he has had requests from both non-River Place residents and residents of the neighborhood who live beyond the district’s borders to volunteer on the trail in exchange for free trail access.

“My hope is that when we come back in April—between tonight and April—we have some firm rules that you really want to adopt,” Evans said. “We can set those in place and they stay in place as long as the board sees fit.”

Committee to look at expanding River Place’s Limited District boundaries

Cortana Ridge residents Kate Holloway and Clarence West volunteered for a committee charged with investigating expanding the District’s boundaries to include River Place residents whose homes are located outside of its geographic limits. Cortana Ridge, as well as Merrywing Circle, The Ranch at River Place and Milky Way Drive are among the areas that lie outside of the Limited District but within the subdivision.

The board will bring back additional recommendations for this committee at its April meeting.

State, city officials take citizen comments

State Representative Vikki Goodwin (HD-47), who took office in January, and District 6 Austin City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan fielded questions about the area’s nature trail policy as well as groundwater conservation, water usage, traffic and development from members of the River Place Homeowners Association prior to the Limited District meeting. The HOA includes both residents and non-residents of the Limited District.

Mattox asked for the city to loosen its water restrictions requiring only once per week watering since Central Texas is no longer under drought conditions. According to Flannigan, Austin’s City Council won’t move these restrictions toward leniency.

“I don’t think we will ever loosen the restrictions, but for a very realistic reason—the water usage that happens in landscaping can represent up to 30 percent of the total water usage,” Flannigan said. “With a growing population…I don’t think it’s realistic to expect us to be able to water our lawns in that way (more than weekly) in the future… There won’t be the votes on council to release those water restrictions.”

Goodwin said that there’s concern the region doesn’t have enough water for its growing population.

“So I think you will see water restrictions not just in Austin but throughout the state,” she said. “Sixty percent of the aquifer water goes to agriculture. At some point, we have to (conserve) more than we have to maintain lawns.”

Goodwin said the state is coming up with new, “outside of the box” ideas for rainwater recapture as well as aquifer storage and recovery. This legislative session, she filed a bill to confirm the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District whose board has already been studying and monitoring area wells. The organization has not yet been ratified through an election that Goodwin proposed be set for November.

Holloway called for the HOA Board to cite water restriction violators. However, River Place codes, covenants and restrictions don’t address water restrictions, with neighbors needing to report such violators to 3-1-1 responders instead of the development’s homeowners association, Crosby said.

Eyeing more dense developments being approved by Austin and Travis County — including the Milestone residential project proposed off Milky Way — residents called on officials to get involved because this progress affects local traffic and classroom sizes in neighborhood schools.

Travis County has very little authority to reject projects proposed in the county’s unincorporated areas, Goodwin said.

Water issues may deter a new residential development. Goodwin pointed out a requested expansion of a new residential project off Hamilton Pool Road, Provence, was declined when the water provider rejected doubling the number of homesites from 700 to 1,400, a change that would have bankrupt the area’s water supply.

“The county can’t do much,” Goodwin said, adding she would be in favor of giving counties more authority to deny proposed developments.

For other proposals within city limits, she said the governing body must cite specific reasons to turn down a new project, she said.

“The big picture: Counties need more authority and I think we need to have the developers work on the infrastructure before the houses,” Goodwin said.