City, Parks & Rec seeking resident support signatures for grant submission

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press 

The City of Copperas Cove along with its Parks & Recreation Department is hoping to get residents to sign a letter of support for a Texas Parks & Wildlife grant application that could bring the city as much as $200,000 in funding for City Park improvements, namely for constructing a half-mile section of walking trail in City Park. 
Residents can sign the letter of support at the city’s tourism office during business hours Monday through Friday, The office is located at the Copperas Cove Civic Center. 
Also, Parks & Recreation Director Joe Brown said staff will be taking a roster for residents to sign at youth basketball games which start this week. 
Brown said anyone who’s a citizen of Copperas Cove and engaged with the city’s quality of life programs and facilities can sign. 
“We are still working out the details for this year’s application as it will change slightly, but serve the same purpose, i.e. trails,” Brown said. Last year’s application was for 2, 750 linear feet of concrete trail, or half a mile, which costs approximately $200,000, he added. For this particular grant program, funding must be used for trails. 
“Currently there is NO trail located in Copperas Cove City Park, said Brown. The trail is phase 1 of a planned trail network. It will be an ADA compliant, six to eight feet wide, four-inch thick concrete trail over a 4-inch sand cushion. 
Brown also said the bridge beside City Park pond will also be renovated as part of the trail project, and the trail can be accessed from several existing and proposed parking areas. 
“The City plans on utilizing all funding for the construction of the trail which will also include mobilization, bonds and insurance. Grass sod will be installed along the borders of the trail to provide erosion protection. Four instructional interpretive signs will be installed along the trail route. Temporary and permanent signage acknowledging the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s participation in the project is also included.”
The City of Copperas Cove submitted an application last year, but was denied and requested by TPW to re-apply for a grant in 2018. The city will learn if it receives the funding in May. 
Brown noted that the authorization to apply for and receive the TPWD grant will be going to the Copperas Cove city council for approval at its January 16 meeting. 
The grant-funded project will supplement a larger project for trail construction in City Park that is set for this year, as part of the multiphase $3.6 million in improvements planned for the city’s park system through the year 2020. 
In addition to this year’s plans for trails and monument signs, the future improvements planned include ADA compliance, new pavilions, bathroom remodeling, shade canopies erected over playgrounds, lighting systems replaced/updated, water fountains, new playgrounds, fitness stations, pool filter systems updated, a splash pad, athletic field fencing upgrades, outdoor basketball courts resurfaced, seating areas re-established or created and bridges.