By Steven Snow, P&R vice chair
Three members of the Lakeland Municipal Parks and Recreation/Natural Resources Board attended the monthly meeting Tuesday (11.12.19) at City Hall: Chairman Mark Donley, Vice Chair Steven Snow and Member Chad Reynolds. Also attending were Commissioner Michele Dial, Board of Commissioners (BOC) liaison; Kevin Rooney, Parks and Recreation director; Shane Horn, city manager; Vice Mayor Josh Roman; and Dr. Ted Horrell, Lakeland School System (LSS) superintendent. Absent were Board Members Scott Robbins and Mark Mangone.
The meeting began with an addition to the agenda to allow LSS Supt. Dr. Ted Horrell to speak to the Board with an update on the long term plan for athletic fields at the LMPS (Lakeland Middle Preparatory School)/new high school campus. The school system received a tract of land generously donated by the Wiles family which facilitates access to the land where four multi-use athletic fields were to be located. That makes the addition of the fields a more short-term possibility.
Considering the critical need of the City for more athletic fields and the problems that have developed with the Athletic Complex Property on Memphis-Arlington Road, Dr. Horrell believes there may be some benefit in a cooperative effort to accelerate the time frame for the construction of the fields at the school.
After several questions and much discussion among Dr. Horrell and the Board Members, it was decided to forward to the BOC a recommendation for the city manager to pursue discussions with the Board of Education on a possible MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to allow both the city and the school system to share the athletic fields.
(A motion was made at the Nov. 14th BOC meeting by the Vice Mayor to direct City staff to process the initial high school funding loan with PNC Bank of $40 million plus soft costs plus enough to fund the fields project of $3.2 million. The vote was 4 yes with the Mayor abstaining. The first high school is scheduled to be built in Lakeland adjacent to LMPS and begin serving students in August 2022)
Zadie E. Kuehl Memorial Park
While there had been a decline in the incidence of littering at the park in the past few months, it has recently become a problem again. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has been contacted to increase patrols and checks of the area in an effort to combat the problem
The construction of an inclusive playground is on schedule for early 2020 and the city received news from the grant agency that they have additional funds for the makeover of the children’s playground area. This means the reimbursement time for the funds will be dramatically shortened. The City will shortly begin to send out requests for proposals to redo the playground equipment.
Dog Park
The BOC approved the P & R Board’s $200,000 recommendation to upgrade the driveway, parking lot and lighting at the proposed Bark Park within Zadie Kuehl Park. Plans are progressing for construction to begin in early spring.
Athletic Complex
The most recent plans coming as a result of the protection of the wetlands are for two soccer/multi use fields, with an additional smaller field for practice and warmup. The remainder of the land will be ribboned with natural and unpaved trails to highlight the scenic beauty of the area. Preliminary design plans will begin in December with a projected completion date of March 2020. Following approval of the finalized version construction should begin in late next spring or early summer.
Windward Slopes
There has been vandalism at the tennis courts where the new benches had the bolts removed. The benches have been repaired and measures taken to prevent future problems
IH Park
Winterization of the gardens and shrubs has been completed.
The decision was made to continue the current policy of free rental for Lakeland school groups, with the exception of Saturdays.
Lakeland Senior Center
Director Rooney reported that the attendance at the Senior Center for October was 402
Creative Aging’s Community Development Block Grant is offering senior centers outside of the Memphis area 12 musical performances and/or hands-on one-day (usually an hour) workshops, as well as four Senior Studio (multi-session: 4, 6, or 8-Week class). All supplies are provided and instructed at no charge to the Center.
The first event under the Creative Aging (CA) Grant Program started Nov. 7th. The four-Class Pottery Studio will run through Dec. 5th. A dozen participants had fun painting their very own ceramic-pumpkin picture frames during the first Pottery Studio instructed by Adam Loeffel, a potter and owner of Seize the Clay in Memphis. Mr. Loeffel took the finished pieces of art with him to fire. The seniors absolutely loved the hands-on project. There are more participants signed up for the next studio classes simply from word of mouth.
The Center must provide CA with a copy of the sign-in sheet of all participants at each class. In addition to signing in, each participant joining a CA grant-funded activity for the first time must fill out a Client In-Take form. An evaluation of each activity is also required. Once participants have filled out the Client In-Take form, they are not required to fill out another form during the 2019-2020 FY. All grant-required paperwork from the first activity has been scanned and turned in to Creative Aging and the evaluation has been completed. CA is responsible for sending this paperwork to Shelby County/Urban County Consortium Board.
This is a huge benefit to the Lakeland Senior Center, said Mr. Rooney. “It allows us to offer seniors projects they may never done before but always wanted to try, as well high-quality entertainment. If the program goes well at the Center outside of the Memphis area, there’s a good chance the grant awarded to CA will be extended for another five years. I will do my part in getting the necessary paperwork back to CA in a timely manner after each and every activity.”
Plans for the annual Seniors Christmas Dinner Dec. 13th are underway. Tickets are available for purchase at the Senior Center.
The River City Boppers Dance Club announced they will have a fundraiser for the Senior Center at their December Dance.
For additional information on events and activities at the Center, contact Kim Odom or go by the Center at I.H. Park on Canada Road.
Sports Leagues
The tackle football team finished with six wins and only two losses and advanced to the playoffs where they lost to Arlington in double overtime. The future looks bright for this group as they were a very young team and many will be returning for next season.
The flag football playoffs for the 5-to-7 year-olds and the 7-to-9 year-olds went well and consideration is being given to adding additional age groups next year.
In basketball news all three age group teams reached their limit during registration. Practice has begun in earnest for the season which will begin December 7th with the league games being played at St. Paul’s, Lakeland Elementary School and LMPS.
The cheer squad finished 3rd in the recent UCA competition and there are currently two cheer squads for basketball. One for the Friday night games, and the second for the Saturday games.
For additional information on registration contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 867-5407.
… Photo by Lakeland Currents
