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PARKS AND RECREATION DISCUSSES TOWNSEND PARK

By Erin France/Of the Commercial Staff
Friday, November 21, 2008 10:06 AM CST

There will be an athletic director position open for Townsend Park.

The Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Commission decided Thursday evening to write a job description for the Townsend Park athletic director and to advertise.

Keith Jackson, the northern league commissioner, said in a previous meeting that he did not want an athletic director, but wanted new bathrooms and someone to mow the lawn. Jackson did not attend Thursday’s meeting.

The park’s grass had not been cut by the parks commission because of an unsigned 2003 memorandum with the Boys and Girls Club, which stated that that organization would maintain the landscape. (The date of the memorandum was incorrect in the Nov. 8 article in The Commercial.)

Thursday, commissioners discussed the need for equity at the parks, including maintenance and resources.

“I don’t know if we have a choice,” said parks chairman Mac Norton in regards to hiring a director.

He said he would like to reduce the $300 per team per season fee for the northern league.

“For the most part, Townsend Park is going to be (used by) kids,” Norton said.

In other business, commissioners discussed an incident involving the Pine Bluff Boxing Club.

Lee Meadows, the director of the Chester Hynes and Merrill centers, submitted an incident report regarding a young woman who was allegedly hit with a rope by a boxing club leader.

“Evidently, the young lady wasn’t doing a push-up correctly,” Meadows said.

“But he marked her?” Norton said.

“He marked her,” Meadows said.

The parks commission does not employ the boxing club, but rents a space to them to practice.

“That’s not going to happen again,” Norton said. “They run the risk of us suspending their activities.”

Meadows said the parent was notified of the incident. He plans to meet with the boxing coaches and check on their practice sessions, he added.

The commission also discussed parks’ employees salaries and benefits, the Bloom Tennis Center, and a budget meeting with city government.

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