The boat ramp is a popular feature at Clear Lake Park on Lake Lavon, one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers parks that may be turned over to the city of Princeton. Bob Wieland/C&S Media

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has held public hearings on a draft plan to improve park quality while addressing long-term maintenance and funding challenges for recreational facilities around Lavon Lake — or Lake Lavon, as it is popularly known. 

Hearings to gather public and stakeholder input were held Tuesday, April 29, at the Princeton Municipal Center and Thursday, May 1, at the North Texas Municipal Water District Operations Building in Wylie.

Under the plan, many recreation areas currently managed by USACE will be transitioned to local municipal control, permanently closed or retained with modifications.

Jim Wehmeier, the chief executive officer of Princeton’s Community Development and Economic Development Corporations told the city’s Friday, May 9, strategic retreat that the leases would give the city eight square miles of extraterritorial jurisdiction and 36 miles of shoreline.

“We become a lakefront community,” Wehmeier said. “That is an entirely new concept for our city. We are Princeton on the lake … a progressive, parks oriented, recreation-oriented city.”

To read the full story, stay informed and support local journalism, subscribe to your community newspaper The Princeton Herald today!

By Bob Wieland | [email protected]