City council suspends entry fees for Bandera City Park

The Bandera City Council voted unanimously to suspend the weekend entry fees to Bandera City Park during their meeting on August 2.

The council discussed the drought’s impact on the water level and activities at City Park and possible actions.

According to Mayor Suzanne Schauman, the revenues collected at the park decreased exponentially in just one month.

Beginning on the July 9-10 weekend, the city collected $3,100, then $1,700 the weekend after, $850 the next weekend, then $20 in the last weekend in July.

The labor cost for the city is $700 when the park is fully staffed, $200 when it’s not.

“We all know the river is not flowing. So I’m not suggesting that we close the park, but I am suggesting that we stop charging,” said Schauman.

Councilwoman Toni Kunz added, “I think the painful reality is that we still have people going into the park regardless of whether they’re going into the river. The reason for the charge is to supplement the fact that they don’t pick up after themselves and then we have more influx of traffic. The charges are probably decreasing the traffic but if we don’t charge, then people will go in there, and so what’s the balance? Who’s picking up after them if we don’t have anyone down there on the weekends?

City Secretary Jill Shelton told the council there is only a few weeks before the park stops charging and attendance typically goes down once school stars.

“Park attendance has already gone down; I mean no one wants to swim in that water,” said Shelton. “And the trash that is there hasn’t been that much. We have an on-call person that we are paying two hours a day. We can have him make a run through the park during that two hours. We’re also paying $600 a month on the porta-potties. We can get rid of that cost. Labor Day is the last weekend. Maybe get staff just for that weekend.”

Mayor Pro Tem Rebeca Gibson made a motion to suspend the park entry fees with the condition that the administration can make the decision to reinstate as they see fit.

Council voted all in favor, none opposed, to approve the suspension.