Dee Foster

We regret to announce that Dee Foster passed away Friday morning, July 29, 2005. Dee held the longest tenure of any City employee, starting with the City of Lakeland on May 4, 1994. Dee worked in the Wastewater Collection System where he handled the important role of responding to all wastewater related emergency calls.

We all will miss Dee, his sense of humor and especially his dedicated service to the residents of the City of Lakeland.

Woodland Park Entrance

The Woodland Park Addition Homeowners Association did an EXCELLENT job of designing and building their new Canada Road entrance! It is a very classy and attractive entrance.

The entrance is the result of a lot of work and effort, and it really was worth it! Drive by and take a good look when you get a chance and congratulate the Woodlawn Park HOA and residents for a job well done!

This really demonstrates what a Homeowners Association/residents can do when they get together and work on improving their addition and city. Woodlawn Park residents can take a lot of pride in this accomplishment.

Congratulations to the Woodlawn Park Homeowners Association for a job well done!

Lakeland Library Options

Lakeland residents are fortunate to have several Library options. Lakeland residents may use the Memphis Library System (nearby options include the Bartlett branch, the Cordova branch and the Central Library) as well as the Libraries in Germantown, Collierville, Arlington and Millington.

There is no charge for a card for Lakeland residents since Shelby County still pays a portion of the Library system in each City. Shelby County also donated the Library building and facilities to each City.

If you haven't been to the Arlington Library, the City of Arlington has done an excellent job of modernizing the Arlington Library. I got a card and checked out several books in a matter of minutes. The new Cordova branch of the Memphis Library is also excellent and relatively close to Lakeland. Of course, the Bartlett branch is also convenient and continues to carry an excellent selection of material.

Perhaps best of all, "new" books may be checked out for 14 days at the Arlington Library, rather than the too short 7 days at the Memphis Library!

Remember if you use the any of the Memphis Library branches, don't pay the $50 fee, since Lakeland residents are not charged the $50 fee. Some Memphis Library personnel see the 38002 ZIP code and think you live in Arlington, but just advise them you live in Lakeland and, if nothing else, they will look up your address on the Lakeland map.

Library ZIP Code Woes

The ZIP Code confusion has created a "Library" problem for Lakeland residents, so be prepared if you use the Memphis Library System!

Since the City of Arlington withdrew from the Memphis Library System, the Memphis Library System apparently charges a $50 fee for a Memphis Library System Library Card to Arlington residents.

Lakeland residents using the Memphis Library System are being mistakenly advised that they need to purchase a $50 card to use the Memphis Library System. THIS IS INCORRECT! Neither the Memphis Library System nor the Arlington Library System charge a fee to Lakeland residents.

If you are a Lakeland resident and are advised you need to pay a $50 fee for a Library Card, advise the Librarian you are a LAKELAND resident. If you have proof (such as your Drivers License) with your Lakeland address (see-it pays to advise them you live in Lakeland, not Arlington!), the Memphis Library System will code your card as a Lakeland resident.

The Memphis Library System has requested City maps to eliminate any confusion and is doing everything possible to insure that the confusion does not create any hardship.

Urban Forestry Grant approved!

A $17,522 Urban Forestry Grant has been approved for the City of Lakeland to partially pay for a Natural Resources Technician to assist in a Natural Resources Inventory. This Inventory will provide vital information to the City for trees and other natural assets.

The Natural Resources Inventory is part of the overall Strategic Plan the City started several years ago with the Sewer Plan, Transportation Plan, Financial Strategy Plan, update of the Comprehensive Plan (currently underway with a scheduled completion date of September 2005), and scheduled updates of the Greenway and Trail Master Plan and the Park Master Plan.

Growth Management Director J. Higbee, Natural Resources Director Eric Bridges, City Engineer Karen Jarrett and other City staff are busy preparing for Lakeland’s future. Citywatch and the City of Lakeland web page will have information on public meetings and other information on the projects.

We encourage residents to attend meetings, comment, suggest or otherwise involve themselves in this process.

Lakeland Maps

Partnership Lakeland recently completed and distributed a new Lakeland City Map. Partnership Lakeland members did a lot of work on this and it is reflected in an excellent Lakeland Map.

If you are new to Lakeland or have misplaced the Lakeland Map, or just need another map, Partnership Lakeland provided a number of maps to the City of Lakeland for distribution. If you need a map, stop by City Hall and we will be glad to give you a map. Due to limited maps, we need to limit maps to one map per person.

I had been looking for a business to refinish my Dad's dresser. (I remember when I was a child it was absolutely forbidden for me to get into the dresser. Even today, I feel a little forbidden thrill when I open it!) The first day I got my map, I noted that a Lakeland resident provide that service. I immediately called and was very pleased with the refinishing job.

Lakeland Chamber of Commerce

I understand the next Lakeland Chamber of Commerce meeting is tentatively scheduled for August 11, 2005 at noon at the Stonebridge Golf Club.

The last meeting was excellent, and I hope Lakeland businesses and residents will support this important organization.

Watch for an update on the exact time and date of the next Lakeland Chamber of Commerce meeting, but for now, make a note to keep noon, August 11 clear for the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce meeting!

Blueberries

One of the advantages of Summer is that blueberries are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. I love blueberries on my morning oatmeal and really miss it when blueberries get too expensive to use on a regular basis.

I always start to feel slightly deprived when blueberries become so expensive that I can't justify buying them even for my morning oatmeal! It is a great way to start the day! (I like peanut butter for breakfast even better, but I finally had to reserve that for just special occasions when I realized that peanut butter doesn't do a lot to help me lose/maintain my weight, even with exercise.)

Summer is my favorite season anyway, and blueberries are a nice addition to a great season! Actually, I like Spring and Fall also, but I always can't wait for Winter to be over. When Fall comes, I know Winter isn't far behind and when Spring comes, there is still the reminders of Winter.

That is one of the many things I like about this area. The climate changes, but not that much! I always know during Winter that Spring is not far behind!

I always look forward to June 21 (start of Summer and the longest day of the year) and hate to see the days grow shorter because I know Winter is coming!

It surprised me when I first moved to Lakeland to discover that it gets dark almost an hour earlier than in Oklahoma City. Of course, it gets light an hour earlier, and since I am an early riser, that is fine!

(This discussion on blueberries is not to be confused with the Blackberry, which is a wonderful E-mail device. I'm sure it does a lot more, but I probably will never figure it all out. The Blackberry is even more addictive than blueberries and is available all year regardless of the season! It is also a lot more expensive than blueberries.)

"Pooper Scoopers"

At a recent meeting I learned that people are not following up on cleaning up after their pets. This can be a major problem, especially if you find out the wrong way! If you walk a dog, cat or whatever, please clean up after it!

Meetings July 11-July 15, 2005

Meetings this week:

-Park Board/Tree Board Meeting 6:30 p.m., Monday, July 11 at Lakeland City Hall.

-Design Review Commission Meeting 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 12 at Lakeland City Hall

-Special Municipal Planning Commission Meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, July 14 will be continued to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, July 21 at Lakeland City Hall.

Agenda for each meeting is at CityofLakeland.com.

Lakeland Population now 8011

Lakeland's official population is now 8,011 people. This includes the area recently annexed to Lakeland. The City received the certification of the new popluation Tuesday from the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Our thanks to Ed Cole and Debra Murrell for their excellent work on this project!

The next "Special Census" of the entire City will be started in early 2006 or early 2007. The overall significance of this is that the City receives "State Shared Taxes" of approximately $101 per resident for street improvements and other city services.

Signs on Right of Way

Recently, I was dismayed when a major business in the Lakeland Outlet Mall completely ignored our sign ordinance and "litter" ordinance and trashed the Lakeland right-of-ways with their advertising signs. I can perhaps understand one time, they may simply not be aware of the Ordinance, although I don't know any city which technically allows such signs on the right-of-ways. (Many cities, for whatever reason, don't enforce this provision.)

I feel this shows the store's contempt for the environment, as well as Lakeland, especially since this was after City staff (and at least one Commissioner) took the time to peronally visit with the store and advise them we don't allow this in Lakeland.

I understand the "central office" of the store (it is a big chain which I used to respect) simply made up more signs and advised the local store to ignore Lakeland Ordinances and trash our City with their signs on city streets over the July 4 weekend.

The City staff has picked up the signs and given a "courtesy citation" to the store. I looked at my records and found I personally have spent a substantial sum of money in this store over the last month. I will reconsider shopping at this store in the future.

As a Lakeland resident, I am going to write the President of the company and complain about the lack of community responsiblity. I am going to respectfully ASK them to proudly comply with Lakeland ordinances in the future.

If you agree, I hope you will do the same. Of course, if they continue to violate our Ordinances, will also issue citations to them and let them explain to the Judge why they can't seem to understand corporate responsiblity!

While I won't list this stores name here, it will go on the "Hall of Shame" if they continue to litter Lakeland streets with signs.