The city of Starkville’s Parks and Recreation Department will host the State of the Parks Initiate to current and future planning of all Starkville parks.
Parks and Recreation Interim Director Gerry Logan said the idea for the initiative came from the Starkville Board's approval for 51 additional acreage to the south of the Sportsplex.
During Tuesday night's meeting, the board discussed land acquisition for the parks, but did not take any action.
"That land would be used to continue to develop a tournament facility," Logan said. "The thought I had, and we started discussing it in house some, is that not everyone uses the Sportsplex. While that is exciting, we want to have a plan and start discussing the use of all our parks."
The goal of the initiative is to address current and future parks planning for all parks in Starkville so all citizens understand their community parks, including amenities and future plans.
"It is a chance to have some public input meetings, and we're organizing the meetings by ward," Logan said.
Along with the meetings, feedback from the community is also collected from surveys. The surveys for the initiative are open and available at the Sportsplex or online at starkvilleparks.com. The deadline is March 1.
Logan said citizens are welcome to attend any or all of the meetings, which will be held by ward at different locations throughout Starkville:
⁃ Ward 1: 6 p.m. on March 1 at the Starkville Sportsplex Meeting Room 1
⁃ Ward 2: 6 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the Starkville Sportsplex Meeting Room 1
⁃ Ward 3: 6 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Starkville Country Club
⁃ Ward 4: 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Needmore Center
⁃ Ward 5: 6 p.m. on Feb. 12 at Renasant Bank
⁃ Ward 6 and Ward 7: To be announced