Houston parks commission asks city to find and protect public access to lakes

Houston's parks commission on Thursday asked the City Council to find, restore and protect the city's public access points to its lakes, which the commission's chair says can disappear into private use when they aren't maintained.

The city has many public easements leading to its lakes and rivers, Chair Adam Rein said. When they aren't maintained, "people tend to forget and they turn into driveways and things get built on them."

"We want to identify the accesses that are available to the rivers and the lakes," Rein said. "If there's junk cars and there's things, if there's houses on them, then we start the process."

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission approved the resolution by voice vote. It isn't binding. It names only lakes, but Rein said the commission will look for all public accesses, including to rivers, find them on a map, mark them on the ground and possibly put up signs.

The commission plans a work session Nov. 18, where Rein said he wants to put together a packet for the council showing the accesses it has found.

Thursday's meeting was the commission's first since April. It had lacked a quorum, Rein said, and two of its five seats are vacant. Members elected Rein chair and Jennipher Jenner vice chair.

The city also has new winter gear. A snowmobile bought with a Rasmussen Foundation grant is in storage, and a trail groomer is on the way for a new city trail-grooming program this winter, city staff said. Rein said the commission wants to work out what it would take for volunteers to use city-owned equipment.

Another partnership is already running. A nonprofit, Alaska Healing Hearts, has rented the city's firewood processor for $1 and is cutting and delivering wood to seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, city staff said. Close to 100 names are on the list, and Rein said the group has cut and split about 200 cords so far.