Improvements coming to Boat Dock Park

During its Aug. 21 meeting, the Waxahachie City Council approved a $4 million contract with J&K Excavation LLC for improvements to Boat Dock Park, located at 91 Lakeshore Drive.

The project will remove existing infrastructure and construct a new parking lot, boat ramp, and other amenities, according to the city staff report.

“This project aims to enhance Boat Dock Park through various improvements and additions,” Kyle Cooper, senior director of Parks and Recreation, said.

The city staff report also noted that the improvements aim to increase boater and swimmer safety and to provide organized parking.

The parking lot will hold about 87 parking spaces and 27 dedicated boat trailer parking spaces. Cooper said the hope is to limit the overcrowding at the Boat Dock Park and Lake Waxahachie. With a specified parking lot, the Waxahachie Police Department will be “able to easily enforce on those illegally parked to include towing of vehicles, if necessary,” according to the city staff report.

The improvements come from recommendations in the Lake Parks Master Plan, which was approved by the council Oct. 18, 2021. The master plan, developed by La Terra Studio over the span of 10 months, sought to give the city’s three lake parks, Spring, Jetti, and Boat Dock, their own unique amenities.

The Boat Dock Park improvements went into the engineering and design phase in August 2022 with Westfall Engineering. The project first went out to bid in March 2023, but the bids received were priced higher than expected at almost $8 million, Cooper shared with the council. The project was then revised and redesigned to reduce costs, and another bid was sent out in June 2023.

The new concept removes the installation of a floating pier, which would have designated a swimming area and increased the safety of boaters and swimmers.

The base bid of J&K Excavation LLC is $3,356,050.50. Cooper noted that staff recommended several alternate bid items to enhance the “overall quality” of the park, including three beach pavilions, a pavilion for the boat ramp, concrete for the pavilions, light poles, and site furnishings like picnic tables, grills, and trash receptacles. With these additions and a recommended 5% contingency, the total project cost is $4,018,340.03.

The project will be funded by the 2021 Certificates of Obligation Parks Bonds, 2022 Certificates of Obligation General Bonds, and $717,000 from the Waxahachie Community Development Corporation’s unrestricted fund balance.

Boat Dock Park will be closed during the project, which Cooper said is starting immediately and will last about 210 days.

Resource:

The Lake Parks Master Plan was adopted in October 2021. Here is a link to that document:

https://cms7files.revize.com/waxahachietx/Binder2.pdf.

Originally published August 25, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/news/local/improvements-coming-to-boat-dock-park/article_85ae5352-4366-11ee-833f-8780794e3511.html