Council seeking closer ties with Vision 2020 over rec center

Published 12:01 pm Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Austin City Council wants to know more about Vision 2020’s Community Recreation Center project.

Council members discussed meeting with Vision 2020 members at the council’s work session Monday as the city looks to get more involved in Vision 2020 projects.

“The city is a partner, so I think we need to be more involved in how the project is progressing and what the city portion would be,” Council member Janet Anderson said.

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Anderson expressed concerns about the city being more of a funding source than a true partner during the Monday work session, but said she wants to strengthen ties between the council and Vision 2020 so the city can have more input on the project.

Vision 2020 officials say they’re more than willing to meet with the city to give an update on the project.

“When the city council wants us to report, we certainly will,” Community Rec Center Committee co-chair Matt Cano said. “They’re a big part of it as well.”

Council members and Vision 2020 have met repeatedly for months concerning the rec center, but progress on the project had seemingly slowed down in recent months as Vision 2020 volunteers determine whether the rec center should be located at the former Austin Utilities downtown power plant or near the Austin Post Office.

Though negotiations between Vision 2020 and Austin Utilities for the power plant site have gone on for months, nothing has been decided yet. Despite that, Vision 2020 volunteers are working on other aspects of the rec center, from a community fundraising campaign to potential amenities and layouts.

“We have a lot of other pieces that are kind of just waiting on that,” Community Rec Center Committee co-chair Tanya Medgaarden said.

Council members plan to meet with Vision 2020 soon to give their input on the project thus far.

“I think there’s room for discussion on this,” Council member Steve King said.