Part of Smithville’s long-range plan to have river access from Main Street and a possible 12th park in the city along the riverwalk is closer to fruition after Lower Colorado River Authority employees cleared brush along the river’s banks last week as part of the company’s annual day of service.

"Public river access from Main Street to the Colorado River is something we’ve been wanting to do for decades," Mayor Scott Saunders said. "We want to take advantage of one of our resources – the river – it’s an underutilized resource."

City Manager Robert Tamble said river access from Main Street in the city was identified in the 2012 Comprehensive Plan as something the community wanted to see happen.

"We’ve been looking into it but we have budget limitations," he said.

Last year, some trees on city property below the overlook were taken down when private work was done on nearby homeowner’s properties, Tamble said, which refocused his search for river access on the property.

The proposal got a second jump start after LCRA employees cleared brush at Main Street Park as part of the company’s Steps Forward program, which allows workers to complete dozens of community projects in towns in the company’s service area.

About 50 people volunteered March 31 to complete the two projects in Smithville. Employees choose their project out of those listed on the LCRA website.

"Most of them are Smithville boys," Dowell Garrison, LCRA project coordinator of the riverbank brush cleanup and a fellow Smithvillian, said. "They and I chose this project."

The first project involved trimming trees at the end of Main Street where the old bridge used to cross the river until the 1950s and clearing brush along the riverbank with the use of heavy equipment.

City officials said the work paves the way toward gaining river access from Main Street and a possible park along the water, if funding can be found.

The plans include an American with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp that would zig zag down to the grounds below Main Street, and possibly some outdoor seating.

Tamble said that another park would add to the maintenance component of the city and budget, so funds would have to be found to build maintain it. Tamble said he is talking to LCRA officials about a possible partnership for the park.

"The only thing holding us back is time and money," he said.

After the heavy brush was cleared from the top of the overlook, the city put up a temporary barricade to prevent anyone from falling and will extend the railing soon. City crews still has to remove the large brush piles near the river because burning is not allowed in the city.

The second project involved repainting the pipe fence, livestock chutes and holding pins at the Smithville Youth Rodeo Association’s (SYRA) rodeo arena at Riverbend Park. SYRA, as the main user of the arena, maintains it for the city.

"This is our most ambitious Steps Forward Day yet," LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson said.

Without LCRA’s volunteers, these projects would not have been done due to costs and staffing issues, Tamble said, praising LCRA for their partnership and gift of "significant cost savings" to the city.

"Collectively, I estimate more than 350 man-hours were spent by LCRA supporting these projects," Tamble said.

On March 31, more than 650 LCRA employees worked on about 40 community projects from the Hill Country to the Texas Gulf Coast during the Lower Colorado River Authority’s third annual Steps Forward Day.

Most towns were beneficiaries of one project, though Smithville, La Grange, Brady and Round Rock had volunteers working in two areas.

Two LCRA parks in Bastrop County were also updated. Workers installed nature trail signs and improved the trail at South Shore Park near Bastrop and built a wildlife-viewing blind and bird feeding area and improved a demonstration garden at McKinney Roughs Nature Park along Texas 71.

"The towns we serve are really special to Texas, and we wanted to help them with projects they might not have time or staffing with their day-to-day schedules," LCRA Chief of Staff Clint Harp said.

"LCRA Steps Forward is an employee volunteer program launched in 2015 to give back to communities in LCRA’s service area," Harp said. "LCRA supplies the labor and many of the materials needed to complete the projects."

LCRA started Steps Forward Day because it wanted to find a way to serve their customer cities by helping with community projects that might otherwise go undone, Harp said.