Baytown council prioritizes recreation, amenities wishlist

Improving the city’s trail system, building more sidewalks, adding zip lines and doing away with Nature Center fees were all part of the Baytown council’s attempt to prioritize outdoor recreation and amenities, which members discussed at a Friday retreat. 

“We are prioritizing council initiatives and things as a city,” Mayor Brandon Capetillo said. 

The prioritization is part of the city’s community-based strategic plan, based on feedback from residents about what they want to happen in Baytown. 

“It came down to the quality-of-life amenities, critical infrastructure; there were also economics and beautification efforts,” Capetillo said. “They are all good ideas, but which ones do we need to expend budget and effort on over the next year or two? That’s what today’s activities were about.”

Using colored dots, council members indicated which items should be considered first for outdoor recreation and amenities, one of the city’s strategic plan directives. 

One item that netted 24 points was about the Brunson Theater, now known as the Brunson Entrepreneur Center. Council should make sure the backspace of the Brunson is usable for events, Councilwoman Heather Betancourth said. 

“Right now, it is just not,” Betancourth said. “We have addressed what the fire marshal’s issues were so people could use it or rent it or have meetings and events there.”

Betancourth added that people cannot even use the back portion of the renovated theater for open-air events. 

Another item that racked up the points, a total of 51, was the addition of zip lines at Bayland Island and the Nature Center. Council will make sure these items are budgeted for the two parks, City Manager Rick Davis said.

One item that received 41 points was developing a kayak launch at the former property of attorney Andrew Lannie. The city paid $225,000 for a future park at the location, with hopes of using it for water park access and a kayak launch. 

“You want to make sure there is lots of water access with kayaks,” Davis said.   

Council also is looking for entry and exit points at East James, Councilman Mike Lester said.

“We’ve also talked about coming to the bay and getting into the bay at Lakewood and Goose Creek,” Lester said. 

Councilwoman Laura Alvarado suggested they could add paddleboats to the list. 

“Paddleboats would be most appropriate at this lake,” Davis said. 

Council members discussed doing away with fees at the Nature Center. Assistant City Manager Kevin Troller said council is looking at ways of budgeting the center’s employees’ pay without having to charge fees for the center. The fees are $4 for adults and $1 for children and seniors ages 65 and up. 

Council also put up 13 points for camping to be available at the Nature Center. 

Adding a pedestrian walk from Blue Heron Parkway to Jenkins Park also is a priority. 

Other items that council members put on their prioritizing list are increasing the pickleball courts in the city, adding sand volleyball courts, building more dog parks around the city, constructing a county park east of Cedar Bayou, having a city-owned shooting range, improving the grilling facilities in the parks and installing equipment for seniors and folks with limited capabilities as well as for mothers and toddlers. 

Council also looked at adding more trails in the city, not just for adults but also for small children. And it considered adding more wooded trails. In addition, it prioritized building more sidewalks north of Interstate 10.