Collegedale and East Ridge officials are taking steps that could greatly improve their park and recreational offerings.
Collegedale officials are in the process of applying for a grant from the Tennessee Recreation Initiative Program that would allow them to hire a full-time parks and recreation director for the city.
Right now, the city's Parks and Recreation Department is primarily geared towards facility maintenance and its director, Eric Sines, also oversees the Public Works Department. If Collegedale were to be awarded the grant, City Manager Ted Rogers said, the duties would be divvied between the two departments, and the new Parks and Recreation director would be free to focus primarily on organizing more activities and programs for local residents.
The need for more recreational programming is not new, Commissioner Ethan White told fellow officials during a past town hall workshop meeting.
"There's several people I've talked to recently who are selling their house because we don't provide activities in this community," he said. "They're moving to North Shore, where there's activities at Coolidge because they've got kids."
While the city does have a few options, like the recent movie night at Collegedale Municipal Airport and the summer reading programs at Collegedale Public Library, White said the further programs will still be needed as the area continues to grow.
Collegedale Tomorrow Foundation Director David Barto agreed that building a more comprehensive recreational system is something to consider going down the road, especially in regards to the Collegedale Commons coming soon.
Once the multi-use town square is complete, Barto explained, it will need someone to organize and manage events meant to draw the community. He added that he would be open to discussions about forming a partnership with the city to create such programs at the Commons, should a Parks and Recreation director be hired.
If awarded, the grant will provide Collegedale with $50,000 to fund the Parks and Recreation Department for a three-year period, and will require the city to match the funds. State officials would assist in the selection process for a new director.
"We've got great parks, now the next step is to make recreation great," White said.
On July 27, the East Ridge City Council will also begin the process of updating the city's Parks and Recreation Plan based on resident input.
Over the last three months, more than 200 residents filled out an online survey circulated by city officials to obtain feedback on how East Ridge can improve its recreational facilities and programming to better suit the needs of the community.
Participants were able to comment on what they thought the city was doing well and areas of improvement in regard to programming, as well as describe recreational amenities and facilities they hoped to see in the future.
Though East Ridge Community Involvement Coordinator Amanda Miller admitted that improvement efforts had often been directed to Camp Jordan in the past, she said part of the goal of the survey was to see what residents living in other parts of the city longed for - especially those on the west end, where recreational facilities are the most scarce, she added.
"We want to make sure we are giving the city enough recreation in diverse areas in the city," Miller said.
While Miller declined to disclose the survey results until they were made public at the July 27 workshop meeting, Miller said some of the concerns were issues that are already being addressed, while a few others were ideas city officials have had in the works for some time. Still, she said, the feedback gave them an idea of what residents wanted, which will be helpful when prioritizing projects while updating the plan.
"We definitely took what the public said seriously, and we want to give them the recreation amenities that they want, not necessarily [just] anything that we come up with," Miller said. "The community's the one that's using these facilities, so we want to make sure they're happy with what we're doing or letting us know what we could be doing better."
The council will look over the trends next week to make adjustments to the plan, which would be reflected in the budget for fiscal year 2019.