SAN ANTONIO \u2013 During KSAT\u2019s Town Hall at Don Pedro\u2019s restaurant, longtime South Side neighbor Lucia Saenz said she loves to visit Concepcion and Confluence parks.<\/p>\n
Saenz said the scenery is beautiful and attracts many people from beyond the South Side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen tourists there,\u201d Saenz said. \u201cRecently, I saw some young graduates using the beautiful scenery as a backdrop, so I was very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
With an increase in visitors at Concepcion and Confluence parks, Saenz asked KSAT whether the San Antonio Police Department would increase their patrols of parks during the summer.<\/p>\n
In an email sent to KSAT, a department spokesperson said park police typically do not increase patrols during the summer.<\/p>\n
Park police maintain high visibility, the department spokesperson said, using a combination of vehicle, bicycle, foot and ATV patrols, but do not use drones.<\/p>\n
Park Police\u2019s Community Operations Resource Education Unit assists with park patrols at community centers at city parks, especially during the Summer, Spring Break and holiday camps when a lot more people use the parks.<\/p>\n
Saenz also asked KSAT why vegetation at the parks is overgrown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some overgrowth where the weeds have become big plants with stickers and thorns on them,\u201d Saenz said. \u201cThey\u2019ve overlapped into the trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department handles landscaping for Concepcion Park.<\/p>\n
The park is mowed every 21 days, a department spokesperson said, but rain and extreme heat can throw off the schedule. Recent rain made the ground too wet for their equipment.<\/p>\n
The San Antonio River Authority handles vegetation maintenance for Confluence Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not looking,\u201d Saenz said, \u201cyou can get an eye poked out or stumble and fall.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Tommy Mitchell, the river authority\u2019s watershed and parks operations manager, said some of the overgrowth is part of the park\u2019s design.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the vegetation does get relatively tall when it becomes fully established and mature,\u201d Mitchell said, \u201cbut the intent is for it to be a restoration landscape.\u201d <\/p>\n
From its inception, Mitchell said Confluence Park was designed to have a restoration landscape of vegetation from different ecosystems native to regions across Texas with the San Antonio River running through it.<\/p>\n
In order for the plants to take root, Mitchell said the vegetation needs to go through its natural life cycle, including its growth pattern.<\/p>\n
Therefore, these areas are considered no-mow zones, but he said their growth is monitored.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll back those off potentially maybe 10 feet off the trail,\u201d Mitchell said, \u201cjust to make sure that folks aren\u2019t interacting with them on the trail itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell said river authority crews mow the short grass buffer to provide a four-foot buffer normally adjacent to the trail for visibility and safety along that part of the river.<\/p>\n
Mitchell said, however, rain has also interrupted their landscaping schedule and once it does dry up, crews will get in to start mowing in those areas of Confluence Park. <\/p>\n