By Chad Reynolds, P&R Board member
The Municipal Parks & Recreation/Natural Resources Advisory Board met Wednesday 93.4.20) at City Hall
Link to agenda: https://tn-lakeland.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/918
The Board started the evening off by swearing in our newest member, Amber Sawyer.
The Board discussed briefly our vision for Parks and Recreation in Lakeland over the next five years. Each Board member will bring their own ideas to the next Board meeting.
Commissioner Michele Dial, liaison from the BOC (Board of Commissioners) mentioned the possibility of committed funds for Parks and Recreation to be added to the budget in the upcoming fiscal year.
We then looked at possible plots of land that could be acquired by the City for athletic fields. A 22-acre plot of land off of U.S. Highway 70 was agreed on by the Board as the best option for the BOC to consider acquiring.
June 13th has been selected as the Saturday for the Tennis Fundraiser with a rain-out backup date of June 20th. School of Rock has informed us they are available to perform at the fundraiser.
Before Alex CiFuentes, co-founder of Little Superstar Soccer and International Futbol Academy, presented his vision for soccer in Lakeland, Commissioner Dial took a moment to clear up any misconceptions there may be regarding bids being open to outside soccer organizations to run the Lakeland soccer program. Commissioner Dial continued to remind the Board members and the audience that the city evaluates all of our sports programs each year to ensure we are moving in the direction we have envisioned for our community.
After she explained the purpose of bringing Mr. CiFuentes in to share his vision and state of his program, he went into detail on how he and his wife Viviana have developed the Lakeland soccer program from nearly nothing to not only a recreational soccer program but also a competitive program. There was also time after his presentation that audience members were able to share their appreciation for what the CiFuentes family has brought to Lakeland.
The Board wrapped up the evening with discussion of the new designs for the ADA-approved playground that will be installed at Zadie Kuehl Memorial Park. At our previous meeting the Board asked for the designs to be modified to add color to the PlayCore playground and max out the budget on the Recreational Concepts structure to ensure we are comparing apples to apples between the companies. Further design modifications were requested during the March 4th discussion so the updates will be brought back to the April meeting.
… Photos by Lakeland Currents
