PARD’s Town Lake concessions will be continued one more year

Every year the city’s Parks and Recreation Department presents the Environmental Commission with a financial overview of the concessions in Butler Park (formerly Town Lake Park) with which it holds current contracts to determine whether to continue or terminate the existing agreements when they come up for renewal. This year at its Nov. 15 meeting, the Environmental Commission voted to continue the contracts with the current concessions – with one notable caveat. The commission directed staff to investigate if the acquisition of watercraft could be limited within contracts. For concessions along Lady Bird Lake that rent and use watercraft, the number of boats has doubled since 2013. The commissioners expressed concern regarding the potential overcrowding this could cause if this increase continues. “If there’s ever an emergency and the rescue boat must go, there’s going to be a lot of wake,” said Commissioner Pam Thompson. She explained that a lot of wake being pushed into the lake filled with people could be more dangerous than beneficial. Patricia Rossett, the business process consultant for PARD, assured the commissioners that the department would seriously consider implementing this limitation when boathouse contracts are subject to renewal.