Productive First Meeting at City Hall


New Fort Worth City Hall, Photo by Rachal Dolira

Attendees

Dave Lewis - Parks and Recreation Director, City of Fort Worth
Allison Porter - Greenspace Initiatives Manager, City of Fort Worth 
Deanne Kearney - SSNA President
Adrienne Taylor - SSNA Secretary, and her daughter

Occurred

Dave Lewis's office at Fort Worth City Hall on Thursday, March 6, 2025


Points of Interest

* The city is already planning to develop Casino Beach into a recreational area soon
* The city will be sending out RFPs later this summer
* The city has a new Green Space Initiative program, looking to preserve existing natural lands

Summary of Meeting

Deanne's take away: "It was a very productive meeting. I believe we gained some credibility with the city at this meeting by not meeting them to complain, but to partner with concepts/ideas which we brought to the table."

Dave Lewis, the city's new Parks and Recreation director, opened the meeting by sharing with us the slides which he will be presenting to the neighborhood at our meeting on March 27th.  Next, Deanne shared a slide presentation reviewing our ideas for Casino Beach and also the highlights of our previous meeting with the FW Nature Center Director, Jared Wood.

Dave and Allison's ideas for Casino Beach very closely aligned with the ideas SSNA has already gathered: pickleball courts, kayak rentals, a community center with bathrooms, and food vendors of sorts.  They've already been working towards developing Casino Beach into a new city recreational area, and plan to send out RFPs for community involvement and private industry investment in exactly what will be installed at Casino Beach.  Deanne suggested involving the other Lake Worth neighborhood associations in the project, to have some good community cohesion on its development.

We also met the city's manager of the newly established Green Space Initiative program, Allison Docker.  She explained the city's plan to preserve 10,000 acres of green space over the next 5 years.  Adrienne and Deanne drew attention to the undeveloped city owned land in the middle of Peninsula Club and north of North Lake drive.  We learned these lands are actually owned by the city's water department, in a proactive measure to protect quality of the lake water.  It is unlikely the water department would sell these lands for development.  Funds would need to come available for the Green Space project to be able to potentially buy those lands from the water department for permanent protection from development.  

In conclusion, we are entering an exciting time for our area.  Mayor Mattie Parker's and city Councilwoman Macy Hill's green space initiative under the management of Alison Docker is just what we need to preserve our current beloved green space.  Park and Rec Director Dave Lewis's excitement over the development of Casino Beach into an enjoyable family friendly outdoor recreation space is just what many of our neighbors have been hoping for.  Even Director Jared Wood's vision for the future preservation and business plan for the Fort Worth Nature Center is aided by the green space initiative and by the healthy recreational development of Casino Beach.  


Comments

  1. Love Circle ResidentMarch 14, 2025 at 9:08 AM

    Thank you for the notes I did see any discussion notes regarding Love Circle. Since I live there that is of interest to me. The road of Love circle has been an issue always. It is to narrow for traffic and with the large trucks and the water department work it is in bad shape. Also the parks department does not maintain the park well. There is growth on the power lines which the power company will not fix. Also when the lake was dredged love circle received none of it nor stumps cleared. Yet our property taxes are just as high a sore subject

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association 2025March 25, 2025 at 8:46 AM

      Thanks for reading and leaving your feedback. We have a meeting this Thursday, and it would be great if you could attend. There will be an opportunity to ask questions.

      Delete
  2. Love Circle ResidentMarch 14, 2025 at 9:15 AM

    I think they should fix what is there first before they spend money on new stuff

    ReplyDelete

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