well i to begin being a public works general manager and you have a specific signing duties and one of the main ones is overseeing the landscape in parks division also oversee the solid waste of vision the municipal and pa park auditoriums as well as special events get involved with capital projects and as i always say whatever my director needs done understand how many parks that we have in the city of sarasota county have fifty while we know that parks have always been important to this city and in the past we haven't been able to give as much attention as we'd like to to parks and that is changing tell us about some things that are going on with parks well that's true it's really kind of an exciting time you know coming out of the downturn it's kind of exciting to see the focus going back on the parks we've had a lot of challenges several programs taken away and now the community is really behind the city trying to activate and get our parks going up again and we have several projects in line for the current year i peas capital improvement program one of them includes doing a needs assessment for arlington park where we're going to get to get with the community and review the current conditions of arlington park as a whole including the facade these are there engage the community to see kind of what they'd like to see happen there might tell our viewers about the new bridge in arlington part oh yes we just completed right before the christmas holiday break we were able to get the new bridge put in its nice collaboration with the community they had some desires they'd like to see in some basic needs and i think we're able to mesh together with getting a lot of the things that like they have you know still stay in budget with what we had plant removal program that we've kind of started there as well as the us to work program coming in with the grant and helping with us taking out many invasive just to open up the park and create more vistas and views that weren't there before and we're actually moving forward to with the colony and doing some storm water water quality improvement projects there so you'll be seeing within the next year or two some other enhancements to improve water quality but also to beautify  i have had a chance to walk whittaker by you park recently and notice the wonderful new addition to that part tell us about that well that you know that's very nice that new playground we're able to put in there unfortunately like a lot of infrastructure it gets old right and unfortunately got out of compliance so we had to shut down the playground for safety concerns and then we went ahead and put in new playgrounds for five to twelve and then the to the five year old so that we assessed and reviewed and some of the many have to be replaced or they'll have minor repair or excuse me me have some minor repairs done to them to help improve and actually enhance with some potential lighting as we look at planning for parks and dislike with other departments there's a process to determine which park receives priority what the needs are you talked about it needs assessment what's being done from a step perspective to kind of bring that in alignment so that we can have a clearer picture from the city as to what's going on in the parks well a few years back what we did was an inventory of all the amenities in all our parks and we try to put together a matrix of hierarchy of need within the repairs and replacement of those parks and we'll be coming back to the commission in the c r p capital improvement program process with them and talk about some of the suggestions of where we see a need to get improved moving forward and then again as well as mention some of the programs that have gone by we're going to present those to the city commission for their reviews well and whether he did it case staff that will be solely assigned to take care of parks and parks direction that's the goal we would like to do that we'd actually like to go back to where we had it seven days a week coverage for our parks so that would include we care coverage again so that we emphasize the importance of having clean presentable safe park areas for people but now we want to take it not showed up a little bit and be able to have pick patrons have any questions asked or answered from our staff as well as try to give a little bit more of a sense of proper activities occurring programming here and as well as having the staff there to help with any monitoring teachers any challenges that may come up and in the park that's one of the requests that we've received from concern residents  neighbors is that they would like to see more programming in the parks and not just for youth but also for seniors and for families so that would be a wonderful addition to have an infrastructure in place to where for those facilities that head the equipment and the manpower that program could be added to the parks definitely definitely and it be nice to actually get the programs in place that would actually mengelberg both groups because it's such importance to create those relationships and be able to tie  youth with the delta and older adults when can we expect something in the way of a master plan or what's going to be the document that kind of guides us as to what parks looks like in the future i think that's going to be the goal that the city will have to go forward with to try to keep on top of all the new nuances of parks and to better prepare ourselves and to engage with the community to make sure we're meeting their needs are there other areas of need that you've identified in some parks that you can share with this is to if you had if your wish list could be checked off to parks in the city well i think besides the programming part of that would be to also look at adding some more adult fitness type amenities into our parks their community has really been excited about some of the things that have been done it some of our parks but the adults are saying what about us right so would be nice to be able to get some small fitness stations set up where they can go and when their kids are playing on the playground  can do a few push ups or set ups or some other type of stretching activity and or even a way finding that this shows you how much you've walked within the park absolutely are small things that can be done that could be helpful you know absolutely and try to identify some of our past a little bit better so that they came going to recreate i think north watertower park did a really good job of clearing it out so that there is more visibility whether walking might talk to us about that ringling causeway and some things that we could look forward to in the future there well the ringlin causeway park we're going to look at trying to prove upon especially by bertie park adding another section of the multi use recreational trail which will be on the south side between bertie park and you go towards a small bridge that'll help people to come actually directly right into the ringling causeway bridge down below where there has been some talk in communication as it relates to enhancing those parks along with how bird he is set up by adding lights right so that there is more activity as it gets darker at night because our parks are up until eleven but as well in the wintertime because of the hour change it gets so dark so soon right and people coming home from work would like to take a walk and mr whirling about adding some other potential items into the park and we're very appreciative of this efforts of helping really activate that park and it's so important for our residents to have you know low cost activities that you know bring the family together help with the extra size relieve the stress and the tension and just help us to appreciate you know the wonderful parks that we have in town so i that's really exciting to hear that those things will be coming you know to the commission in the future and things that our neighbors can look forward to what i understand is that as you have begun your exploration of a needs assessment for the parks that there are some parks that are our community that a lot of our residents don't know about correct one it was secular is a fruit for road park talk to us about that but it's a very very good very good topic to know what's interesting with it even though it's located on food fill and uneven one of our major roadways i think the community doesn't actually realize that it is a park help us understand where it is because a lot of times where and if you're trying to there is a trail right kind of divides the two parcels of the park that can actually take you towards the golf course but on jones golf course you know i mean your community and neighbors have a particular interest in that park why don't you tell us about how you got involved with th it's hard to get to the park and mean you can't get to it from field you can't get to it from beneath it you have to go to service and if you don't know that it's a park you keep driving by so yes the trail the circus trail that goes through there is actually  used very heavily we have bikers we have joggers we have people who walk their trail on a daily basis trickly from my community so i know that well but you're right there is no connection between the trail and the actual main part of the park the three point five acres that we see from from development it's not enough just simply to save it as an open passive part it is wonderful to have a green space well apart but no access i mean what's that so we're hoping we're working on the on the access we're hoping to get more parking see he is in cooperation with us and in regard to that city has been very very supportive of what we're doing some of the b p settlement money is earmarked for our park so we're really excited about about that and what we want to do is take this from a wonderful open green space and make it into a really useable park for everyone we want friends and neighbors and families to gather in that park to to have activities so we're looking to put in durable seating to create an open chip trail that the city is going to help us with eventually that bridge that will connect the circus trail going over the canal the canal that goes into filippi creek into our park so the good many things that are going on we've been partnering with a number of organizations the university of florida extension service for example course is there is a tremendous amount of wildlife that habits the park and there's a tremendous amount of floor differently plants and landscaping that you have introduced us to from an educational standpoint talk about how parks can be a partner with communities and schools to enhance that effort well absolutely we've done that on a few locations one in particular one of our most popular parks is a pretty from park and we were able to work with selby just kind of sharing some ideas on how do we get more information education to people about plants so we did a few demonstration gardens and actually labeled the plant material so that people could have been a fire and it's really been an interesting concept because more people have asked us about adding more of those types of signs within our community to know what the plant material is and we get several calls saying what is that plan because i'd like to purchase it for myself right right and you know i think we forget that there are so many there are tourist attractions in our community and we think of the arts and we think of other areas of importance like the bobby jones coffee chorus but our parks are known by tourists and seasonal residents that come down as well and they depend upon being able to get out and enjoy the weather and to inhabit our parks and so what a way for us to be able to add a passive park that still has activities in the eastern portion of the county because we're kind of saying what's in between paying park arlington park and even robin l taylor at that have more a minute there is really nothing in our corner of the community that satisfies that niche that's correct and actually there was an assessment done in two thousand and three the parks connectivity plan the east end of town as needing those types of amenities and this park in particular down the road in the future potentially could meet some of those needs with the community and it would be engaging to talk with the commission  working on having another master planned potentially for that park and getting with the community to look towards enhancing the recreational needs of the community and talk to us about what adding a bridge does to that location oh i don't dramatically change it over it it just the experience of going along the pathway and then being able to enter a winter enter into a natural setting going across a water body and i think it's just been exciting adventure just for the patrons and children alike visiting and we also talked about you know adding some exercise stations and some of their i mean it is through the park that are simple additions but make a profound impact when you say norm oh people i think put enjoy greatly in terms of we'd like to make it into a florida friendly landscape park a model of that we've contacted the florida native native plant society they're willing to come out there to help us out with that to identify the kind of plants that would work in this particular park the university of florida extension service they came out in the neighborhood and they did a training session of identifying invasive this for us it's a really exciting time this is something we didn't really anticipate happening it's take a life of its own really has to really has and i must say the city has been incredibly helpful and supportive of movement toward making this an active part and one of the things that we've also discovered as we've been doing our research you know both from your friends and on the city is that the park needs a name and so how do we address that todd from what happens in terms of deciding how the park its name a very very good question we are actually working through a process of i mean rights policy but one of the things that would be good is the community dealing with the commission and working to see what potential names would be acceptable or willing of interest to rename that park rather than perhaps it's from phil bryant park in fact that's a problem we have proof of rope park on some identity to the park and the direct name that fits with the community and signage so people as they drive by the end realize there is a park there and i can use it right you know i think it's a good opportunity for us to partner you know in terms of marketing and advertising our parks you know with their visitors bureau with the visitors center and here in sarasota and for us to do some things from a city level that kind of provides updates as to what's going on in the parks whether words on our website where there was th link we could even think about doing it as a connection to our utility bill something that connects with our residents to allow them to see that new things are happening in the parks in the community so i would love to see as a part of this master plan and that we also look at how do we educate and advertise to our community about the parks because it's so it's a wonderful mix but as norm said if you can't find it convenient to cut over relevant so many absolutely and with all the social media that's out there it just leads us to know a great opportunity and all the groups right right in it could be an opening up to our commissions corner you know if we highlight a park every time we do this show that you're wonderful again so as we kind of wind up our discussion kind of parks and what we can expect well first i think i'd like to think norm and his group or personally championed their park and that's i think really where the connection is going to be moving forward is developing those partnerships and relationships with the community to engage them to get them involved with their power and see where we move forward as these start to develop and i think what's really interesting with this current development for the road park is with the community there they're buying into it and they're taking ownership and they're using their own us what and manpower woman power and all of it to you to help out and to me just that partnership alone you get the caring feeling for park and it really it really then makes it a truly community park right right and speaking of sweat i hear you have a cleanup date it's called yes we invite you last year we had a great american clean up day in the park and tell can tell you it was a good deal that we cleaned up this year we're going to have another great american clean up day in the park and it's going to be march is saturday march the nineteenth who wants to go in and walk the park i'll be bringing my gloves right ok there are sales for neighbors who have parks in their communities i know that on the city side we're familiar with the grants opportunities there are in place for city for neighborhoods to kind of get some t l c through their own  parks how do they access that application if they're interested in pursuing something as a neighborhood association maybe related to improvement over park well there's there's two local grants that they can go to either through the city which would be through the neighborhood department or the neighborhood  development service department they can apply for grants there and then as well as the county they have a program there that they can receive a grant and a few of the community and neighborhood associations have been active to get those grants and and use them towards city parks a good example is the sefer shores park and in the beach effort shores about four years ago they actively went after a county grant and received funding to put in a playground for a while well that's a big deal  it's a game changer absolutely so you know it's a completely different feeling that and what it was before the playground it's almost like why didn't we think of this before right right and that's the beauty of collaboration and concerned active neighbors that kind of remind us that these are things that we need to be concerned about so it's the conversation piece that really is beneficial to staff and to us as a commission and game keeping our eye on the ball absolutely one of the interesting things about this fruitful road park and we would like to make that an educational experience and and that's why we're trying to identify the wildlife and the plant life and so on but it is a major part of the philippine creek watershed and the canal that actually runs right through the park that main beacon now goes right into fil eventually into the bay and we're going to be looking into water quality with that area of the park as well so much is going on and i think huge number of opportunities for us are there other parks that you are aware of that may be the list for some consideration as we go forward we talked about lighting we talked about some other amenities and we talked about upgrading the pavilions at the parks are there other areas that you think you'd like to see addressed on overall scale well i think one that comes to mind that working through right now is for the lido beach pavilion area and we are right now under way with doing an invitation to negotiate with the vendor and we're going to be meeting with the community to talk about that moving forward and one way or another whether we move forward with the i t n with this organization or not my goal would be to hopefully work with the community to do some improvements there need prove mintz like  doing some restroom restoration improvements sure and just some other minor purifications and ideally which is one thing that the community is really asked for to is a playground right to great to be able to have a playground so when our our beach cores get a little tired of being on the beach come on a playground for a little while and then go visit the concession and start over right right and you know from a programming perspective you know there are some opportunities that you and i discussed with educational partnerships and one of the things that we talked about was a jazz in the park something that is simple but flows with the arts mentality of our community that engages or youth i mean we talked about that you know booker high school has a jazz band and there's review sarasota some other schools in the community that have active wonderful jazz bands or symphonies orchestras that we could do a pops in the park and focus on our educational arts centers and have wonderful opportunities to come out and take part you know in the park and that's something that is a community partnership that wouldn't cost a lot of money but would go a long way to get people to the park and once you get them they are then i think that they can see the value and to be able to see the improvements and the grades and so that would be something from an educational standpoint that we could do with the fruitful park in terms of garnering support with our our schools in terms of field trips in assessments and the partnerships that you've created a great many things up open to us right now and i think it's a moment when the city is ready for investment in parks and i think we need to take advantage of that at this point in time  what we're looking at in terms of the north water tower park and what are called by you we talked about the new playground you know is in terms of allowing for community input so that we can see what you see as the needs in your neighborhood you know you are the ones that come out families you know what you need you know what the expectations are and if it's something as simple as the lights need to stay on longer so that it's safer that something that we're asking that you know our neighbors communicate to us and i think we can work together todd with your department to figure out what's a way to provide feedback to the parks where there was a common where there it's a link to an e mail a way to continue that dialogue because there may be members of this don't know how to get the message to you how can they connect with you if they've got questions please they can contact me directly through the city's number which is the three six five two two zero zero you know my extension is six three zero three and i i welcome them to give me a call if they want to start off with an e mail they can e mail me at todd at sarasota gov dot com and then i'd like to actually meet with them at the park and let's talk about it well as i talk about you know we've done several field trips you know and my short term as a commissioner and we've toured parks and done some other things and so it's really it makes a difference when you can put your eyes on it one on one the picture doesn't do it justice so that's always an option we were able to provide some photographs that kind of gave our viewers  datas to the parks can you kind of go through some of the photos that we've kind of uploaded well one and just to go back with community involvement when as mary dean park we put a new playground there a few years back and the kids the children that utilize it went on field trips to different city parks and looked at the playgrounds put together a collage of the things that they like we had a meeting with the community and the the children loved the meeting talks and they shared the things that they'd like to have one of the things i'll exciting part was they were engaged and we were able to develop and put in the majority of their desires and wants what they want to have in the playground and they gravitated to it and it's  picture in there as well as for the bridge we also have four bay front park right and we also have four different ballpark absolutely i hope so and i also helped us out i think those were the ones we talked about day five and we talked about pain in arlington and orange avenue or the avenue park is in there which was another playground that one briefly we shared with the community what we what we're goals were to try to improve that and i'll tell you a really touching story when we were completing the playground and getting in and two little girls were playing and one little girl came up to my lady and hugged it an for putting this and i was just on i've never received any compliment better they said more that makes it worth it all right well todd and norm thank you so much for being in my guest today and for educating both me and the community on the wonderful things that are going on in our parks we are just so excited about the future of parks here in sarasota and we thank you so much for tuning into today's edition of commissioners quarter have