Proposed parks and open spaces for Dripping Springs, Hays County

The Hays County Parks and Open Space Advisory Commission (POSAC) made its recommendations to the Hays County Commissioners Court on July 28 for a potential bond package in the range of $75 to $80 Million to fund new parks, trails, open spaces, natural areas, habitat, water quality and flood mitigation lands in Hays County.

Over the past five months, POSAC received 18 project proposals from across the county that were reviewed and evaluated through the lens of the 2012 Hays County Parks, Open Space and Natural Areas Master Plan.

Six of those projects are in Dripping Springs. They include: a 1200 regional acre park ( for water quality management that will be located between Dripping Springs and Wimberley), Rathgeber Natural Resource Park (over 300 acre park located behind Headwaters), Dripping Springs Regional Skate Park, Dripping Springs Town Center, Patriots’ Hall (near Dripping Springs), and the Old Fitzhugh Road Trail.

“The thing with the Dripping Springs projects is they’re all so absolutely unique compared to the rest,” Walt Smith said, Hays County Commissioner-Precinct 4. “That’s the reason they scored so well. The Dripping Springs projects scored tier one and two.” A tier one and tier two project indicates it’s a higher ranking or recommended project. The remaining category, tier three, signifies a project that can be considered at a future date.

The total of the requests for funds was greater than $176 Million and included projects brought to POSAC by Hays County staff, as well as municipalities, nonprofit groups, and land trusts working with landowners. Each entity submitted their projects through the same online process by completing the Project Information Form.

“Dripping Springs has never really had representation on a county wide parks and open space masterplan like we do here,” Smith said.

The last Hays County bond for parks and open space was passed in 2007 for $30 Million with voter approval at 68 percent. Those funds were leveraged for more than $76 Million in projects across the County.

Smith noted that POSAC’s proposed projects will help with a couple of things.

“You’ve got projects that have really been in the planning stages for a number of years that have struggled some, like the Dripping Springs Regional Skatepark,” Smith said. “The one I’m most excited about, out of all those projects, is Patriots’ Hall. It’s specifically built to try to engage [Veterans and their] families. Having a facility like this could really be a crown jewel for our community.”

Given the rapid growth our county is experiencing, Smith said it’s important to take a look at such green spaces. “If we don’t try to conserve some of these things right now for our great grandkids and our great great grandkids, they’re not going to be available in five years,” he said. “If we don’t take advantage of it now, we may not have another opportunity in the future.”

In the past 60 days, a private group of conservation leaders funded a professional poll to test the level of support among Hays County voters for a bond package that would set aside parklands and open space for public use and benefit. The result showed 71 to 77 percent approval for a $75 Million bond that would not affect the County tax rate and included the Sentinel Peak Park and Preserve.

The Commissioners Court will consider the POSAC recommendations at their next meeting on August 11 in order to meet the August 17 deadline to call for a bond initiative on the November 3 ballot.

POSAC will host a one-hour meeting on Thursday, August 6, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. via Zoom Webinar technology. This free webinar is open to all Hays County citizens to learn more about POSAC’s process and recommendations. Advance registration is required at the following link: tiny. cc/POSAC_Aug-6

More information on POSAC and the meeting can be found on the county webpage: tinyurl.com/ HaysCountyPOSAC