{"id":7297,"date":"2020-04-27T19:21:02","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T23:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=7297"},"modified":"2020-04-27T19:43:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T23:43:12","slug":"city-commission-votes-unanimously-to-open-parks-trails-boat-ramps-beginning-may-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2020\/04\/27\/city-commission-votes-unanimously-to-open-parks-trails-boat-ramps-beginning-may-1\/","title":{"rendered":"CITY COMMISSION VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO OPEN PARKS, TRAILS &#038; BOAT RAMPS BEGINNING MAY 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/three-park-trail_6.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/three-park-trail_6.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/three-park-trail_6.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/three-park-trail_6.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Lakeland City Commission voted 7-0 in a specially called City Commission meeting to open passive recreation facilities including parks, trails and boat ramps starting May 1<sup>st<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tennis courts and Cleveland Heights Golf Course will also open the following safety protocols. \u00a0Bob Donahay, Director of Parks &amp; Recreation said, \u201cBoth the PGA and USTA have published a set of safety protocols for social distancing and we will make sure we follow their guidelines as we get facilities ready for operation and a May 1<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0opening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">City Manager Tony Delgado said, \u201cWe do have some concern with playgrounds and manned facilities like our libraries and recreation centers at this time. The staff has been meeting on a regular basis and we have come up with a game plan to get passive areas open to the public with the goal to get facilities open as quickly as possible.\u201d He added, \u201cRecreation Centers and playgrounds will remain closed until further notice but could be part of a phase two opening in the near future as long as we meet Federal and State safety requirements.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The meeting started with a vote\u00a0to support the Lakeland\u2019s Coronavirus Aid for Rent &amp; Expenses (CARE) Program. This program will be managed by the Community and Economic Development Department using reallocated or additional Federal low-income housing funds. The rent assistance program will launch Monday, May 4<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0with an online application that will be prominently displayed on\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.lakelandgov.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.lakelandgov.net<\/a>\u00a0and there is a dedicated information hotline 863\/834-CARE (2273).\u00a0 Both the dedicated phone number and the online application will be live at 8 a.m. on Monday, May 4th.\u00a0 The following criteria must be met in order to be eligible for the rent assistance program:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Eligible recipients must be a City of Lakeland resident<\/li><li>Eligible recipients must be delinquent on rent and\/or public utilities<\/li><li>Show verifiable loss of income related to COVID-19 impacts<\/li><li>Household income \u226480% AMI ($47,050 for family of four)<\/li><li>Maximum award of three months or $5,000, whichever occurs first<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;During the meeting,&nbsp;the Lakeland City Commission also heard from the business community on how COVID-19 has impacted everything from small business to future development. The following business groups were part of the meeting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Chrissanne Long &#8211; BRIDGE Local founder and small business advocate<\/li><li>Julie Townsend \u2013 Lakeland Downtown Development Authority<\/li><li>Larry Mitchell &#8211; Central Florida Business Development Council&nbsp;<\/li><li>Cory Skeates \u2013 Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce<\/li><li>Steve Scruggs \u2013 Lakeland Economic Development Council<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0A survey has been developed by BRIDGE Local in partnership with the City of Lakeland and other area business organizations to help gather specific information about the status of individual businesses in the community. The survey will help identify the challenges businesses are facing and the impacts that current COVID-19 safety protocols are having on the Lakeland economy. Businesses are invited to take the online survey by visiting:\u00a0https:\/\/fs26.formsite.com\/dYKzXI\/covidsmallbizcentralfl\/index.html.\u00a0The City of Lakeland was incorporated in January 1885 and has grown to become one of the largest inland communities in Florida.\u00a0 Lakeland continues to grow with the current population over 100,000. It has been designated a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area by the US Census Bureau for over 30 years.\u00a0 With tourist attractions and gulf beaches only an hour away, Lakeland capitalizes on its ideal central Florida location along the I-4 corridor.\u00a0 The City owns and operates Lakeland Electric, the third-largest publicly owned utility in Florida and it was one of the first to offer power in the Sunshine State 115 years ago.\u00a0For additional information about the City of Lakeland, please visit\u00a0www.lakelandgov.net.\u00a0 Citizens are also invited to follow the City on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo, Snapchat, and Nextdoor.\u00a0 Citizens can find the City of Lakeland on these social\u00a0media\u00a0platforms by searching lakelandgov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lakeland City Commission voted 7-0 in a specially called City Commission meeting to open passive recreation facilities including parks, trails and boat ramps starting May 1st. Tennis courts and&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}