Committee discusses improving LaFayette Parks and Recreation

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

LAFAYETTE — The LaFayette Parks and Recreation and Cemetery Committee met on Friday, Dec. 5, to discuss goals and improvements needed to increase community involvement in local sports, along with other issues. The Committee included District D, Charlene Story; District A, Emily Milford; and District B, Kim Langley.

With a goal of growing the LaFayette Parks and Rec program, Story said she would like to learn more about the possibility of hiring a full- or part-time Parks and Rec director.

“Right now, we do not have a Parks and Rec director, so right now, everything is being done voluntarily,” she said. “One thing I did want to ask of the Finance Committee — and it's down the line here — is that we really need to budget for a full-time or a part-time Parks and Rec director, because the person that's currently doing our Parks and Rec, he's been doing it for 15 years without any type of pay, any type of stipend, any type of incentive, nothing. And he's to the point now where he's going to take a step back, because his career is moving forward — and when he does step back, we're going to lose somebody that we’ve really been counting on.”

Milford said she sees LaFayette benefiting if the Parks and Recreation is improved, locals will stay in the city to enjoy recreation options and the facilities within the city would be conducive to local sports and recreation programs.

“That's something that we were talking about yesterday, keeping youth activities in a small town like this is vital — because it's going to bring people in, bring the activity and it keeps your people around to play sports,” she said.

“They’re going to play sports, and they're either going to play them here or somewhere else. We've got the facilities for it, within the city, within the different school systems or the public areas, we have places — we have the facilities.”

Langley said he has heard from locals that many would prefer to have parks and rec programs within LaFayette so families do not have to drive to larger cities.

“I've had a lot of people reach out to me that they want their kids to be able to play right here, so they don’t have to drive to Opelika, drive to Auburn or drive to the Valley,” he said.

Through the intentionality of building city programs, like the Parks and Rec, Milford said LaFayette could attract more businesses interested in moving — helping the community to grow.

“Businesses and industries, not just within the city or the county limits, but when you're talking about the corporate business, [like] Jack’s or another fast food restaurant or something, they look at your infrastructure and they look at the family environment,” she said. “If [a city] doesn’t [have that family environment], then they're gonna go down the road to somewhere else. So that, to me, is worth shifting a little bit here; sometimes you've got to spend a little to make a little.”

With the LaFayette Parks and Rec baseball and softball season beginning in the spring, the committee discussed ways to ensure the baseball field is kept in game-ready condition. Langley said a full update to the fields would help LaFayette increase visitors by enabling the hosting of tournaments, of which three fields are required. Finding a grand writer to search for available grants to fund renovations was later concluded to be a solution to pursue.

“How do we go about getting a state-of-the-art field up there?” he said. “I just see us kind of putting lipstick on a pig, and I’m not much on putting lipstick on a pig. I'd rather go out and get a new pig — we'll put the other one out in the pasture. But that takes money, everything takes money.”

Story said she has noticed some confusion over the verbal agreements regarding cemetery plots, and she said she believes moving to a more concrete written agreement would reduce said confusion.

“I don't have any updates on plot sales [or] the mapping update, but I do know from a burial procedure that when someone purchases a plot, right now, it's all verbal, and since it's been verbal for so many years, there’s been some confusion,” she said. “Like when someone is experiencing a loss in their family, like I wouldn't want to go and say, ‘Okay, this is where I want my person.’ They send someone else in that place, and when they send someone else in that place, that person might feel some confusion. So I think we need to come away from verbal, we need to come away from verbal everything that is dealing with the city of LaFayette, everything needs to be black and white.”

For updates regarding LaFayette Parks and Recreation programs, visit the City of LaFayette, Alabama, on Facebook. Future Parks and Recreation and Cemetery Committee meeting information is posted on the city’s Facebook page.