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When the Lewisville Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan and Master Park Plans were adopted, the idea was to integrate the vision and aspirations of the community for recreation needs for years to come.

That included approving a project for Jack Warren Park in last month’s town council meeting that includes a nature trail with connector paths and sidewalks, an 18-hole disc golf course and an outdoor event space proposed as an amphitheater.

Then in the August meeting, the council took a step in another direction by officially moving forward with plans to construct approximately 1.9 miles of a multi-use path along Lewisville-Vienna Road.

Stacy Tolbert, the town’s assistant town manager and planner, said that the path along Lewisville-Vienna Road has been a goal since 2017-2018.

“We are excited to finally be able to move the project forward,” Tolbert said. “It will consist of a multi-purpose path stretching from the existing sidewalk along Lewisville-Vienna Road near the downtown area all the way to the intersection of Lewisville-Vienna Road and Robinhood Road, where a roundabout is currently being designed.

“We hope our residents will benefit from the new path, even our younger residents who live in the area and may wish to walk to Lewisville Middle School.”

The town was awarded a federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality) grant for $1,413,162 (80 percent) to do the path (with a local 20 percent match of $353,291), which will connect single-family housing to the existing sidewalk network.

The breakdown of the $1,766,453 total for the project includes $1,512,128 for construction, $154,325 for preliminary engineering and $100,00 for right-of-way/utility relocation.

“We recently signed an agreement with NCDOT, which now allows us to solicit engineering firms that will guide us through the preliminary engineering and design phase of the project,” Tolbert said. “With this design phase comes a schedule. We hope to be ready to hire a consulting firm in the coming months.”

In other business on the agenda, the council approved the Beroth Circle Subdivision. a preliminary major subdivision in RS-30 zoning, with 27 large lots on 33.88 acres.

Since the existing zoning for single-family homes was already in place and allowed by the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), no public hearing was required.

Also, in the meeting, the town heard a presentation from Kelley Klepper of Kimley-Horn on the details of the rewrite of the Unified Development Ordinance.

Tolbert said: “We wanted to hit the ground running and have a kickoff and see what this project is all about to continue to guide growth and do what is right for our residents.”

In other highlights from the Aug. 10 meeting, the council:

• Selected McGill Associates of Hickory for the design of the contract for engineering and related services for the Jack Warren Park improvements project with a total fee of $116,500, which includes the design phase, bidding and construction phase services. McGill Associates was selected as the highest-rated firm among the four responses.
• Heard that the Town of Lewisville was awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. Pam Orrell, finance director, accepted the award.
• Approved authorizing advertising of electronic auctions by electronic means only.
• Approved the appointment of Andrew Flanagan to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and Miriam Selby to the Lewisville Beautification Committee.
• Received an update from Town Manager James Ayers that Chicago Rewind, a Chicago tribute band, will be the next concert at Shallowford Square on Saturday, Sept. 9, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.