A special MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

December 8, 2016

A meeting of the Lake County Board of County Commissioners was advertised for the Parks and Trails Public Meeting on Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the Eustis Community Center, Eustis, Florida.  Commissioner Leslie Campione was present at the meeting.  Others present were:  Jeff Cole, Public Resources Director; Bobby Bonilla, Parks and Trails Division Manager; and Angela Harrold, Deputy Clerk.

Commr. Campione welcomed the residents in attendance and explained that it was the first of five public meetings to gather input on the Parks and Trails Master Plan. She thanked the City of Eustis for allowing the facility to be used as the meeting space. She reminded everyone that the dates and times of the additional four meetings to be held in January 2017 were available on the Lake County website, www.lakecountyfl.gov. She introduced the representatives from the Tindale Oliver and Associates Design Group who would be facilitating the meeting.

Ms. Ginger Corless from Tindale Oliver and Associates thanked all of the residents for attending the meeting and noted that it was a very good turnout. She reviewed the Lake County Parks and Recreation Master Plan and noted that the parks and the trails master plans work together. She outlined the schedule for the master plan and listed all of the County’s passive and recreational parks. She went over current and upcoming park projects.

Ms. Jennifer Bartlett from Tindale Oliver and Associates thanked everyone for their attendance and reviewed the Trails Master Plan. She relayed that there are local and national trails in Lake County.  She stated that it is a goal of the County to work on connecting many of the trails and listed some of the named trails located in Lake County.

Ms. Corliss asked each table to work as a group for thirty minutes to gather a list of recommendations for updates and new ideas that the residents would like to see implemented at the County-owned parks and trails.

Some of the ideas recommended by the residents included more connectivity within the trails system, maintaining the existing facilities, making use of existing right of ways to expand trails, finishing Pine Meadows and East Lake Parks, creating wildlife corridors and larger areas for conservation, creating smaller trails that run through towns allowing children to walk to school or for errands to be run, and filling in the existing gaps within the trails system where needed.

Commr. Campione thanked everyone for coming and commented that it was a very good start. She reminded everyone that there would be four more meetings taking place in January 2017.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Timothy i. sullivan, chairman

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

 

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NEIL KELLY, CLERK