Bastrop County acquired 24 acres of parkland on Monday when it took ownership of the Lost Pines Nature Trails south of Bastrop, bringing its inventory of parks to three, including Cedar Creek and Stony Point.

The parkland will be a new asset for the county, granting it 2 miles of scenic nature trails as well as a jumping off place for boats and kayaks onto the Colorado River. The park runs along Riverside Drive south of the Tahitian Village subdivision and serves as the trailhead for an adjoining 90-acre nature preserve.

"It is a good investment for us," County Judge Paul Pape said Monday. "That river is one of our greatest resources. I wanted to be sure that this access point was available and developed to its potential so that people can continue to use the river."

The county did not shell out any money for the land. It was donated by Bastrop County Water Control Improvement District No. 2, which had owned it since 1988.

Since the water district could not use its own funds collected through road and water fees from its customers to maintain the park, many had complained over the years that the site continued to fall into disrepair. For a long time, it was known as a haven for drugs and crime, officials have said.

In 2014, volunteers led by the nonprofit Keep Bastrop County Beautiful stepped in to make improvements to the trails with the county’s help, upgrading roads and infrastructure and adding a security gate to keep out nefarious visitors. Since then, volunteers from the Lost Pines Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists and Tahitian Village residents have maintained and kept the park clean.

Water district Board Member Sam Kier said it became apparent to the district a permanent steward for the park was needed.

A survey by the National Parks Service conducted last year recommended the county take over the trails.

"Having the ownership and management of the site held by a public government assures it is open for public use in perpetuity," the Friends of the Lost Pines Nature Trails group wrote in a plan submitted to commissioners in May 2016.

The county had been poised to take on the park at that time, but the decision was stalled when officials noted several title issues and deed restrictions on the land. Those have since been resolved, Pape said.

Still others were concerned about how the county would pay to maintain the park in the future.

"We’ve got some other needs in the county," former commissioner John Klaus said last year. "We need to consider this when we consider taking over another park."

Commissioner Clara Beckett agreed that the county was doing a poor job maintaining Cedar Creek Park, which was its only park at the time and had been ravaged by flooding. The county has since acquired another park in the Stony Point neighborhood in Del Valle. It, too, had been neglected, unkept and overrun by criminals, residents said.

The county earlier this year stepped in to help clean it. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative installed safety lights to cut down on crime.

But Beckett said both parks require a different level of commitment by the county.

"I don’t anticipate spending a lot of money to make improvements," Pape said of the trails. "It’s a nature park, and it needs to be kept as such."

The Parks Service survey estimated maintenance costs for the trails would run about $11,000 per year. That cost could rise to as much as $70,000 annually, it said, if the county moved forward with a suggested plan to add signs, kiosks, an outdoor pavilion for classes and solar-powered restrooms and entrance gates.

Pape said that wasn’t in the cards right now.

The general services budget could see an increase in the upcoming fiscal year to help pay to maintain the trails. Pape said that would be considered during the budget process this summer.

In fiscal year 2016-17, the county upped its appropriation for general maintenance, which includes parks maintenance, from $75,000 to $85,000 for the year. Officials also approved spending $18,000 on a new riding lawnmower and trailer, freeing up the old ones for park maintenance only. Additionally, the county added two half-time staff members dedicated to parks: a custodian and a security officer. Pape said it is possible this fiscal year he will make both positions full time.

In the future, it is likely the county will need its own parks department, Pape said.

For now, the master naturalists have agreed to continue cleaning and maintaining nature trails, minimizing the county’s responsibility.