Lakeland Phone Book, ZIP Code

We appreciate the offer of several Lakeland organizations and residents to work as subcontractors to produce the Lakeland Phone Book, after Representative Ron Lollar bought by a $20,000 check as a Community Enhancement Grant for the project.

I expect the Lakeland Phone Book will be much better due to the efforts of these residents and organizations. We are still working on creating a workable Agreement, and we hope to have this completed by early February so the work can start on the Lakeland Phone Book.

It is residents who are willing to come forward and contribute that makes Lakeland so great!

The City recently received an E-mail concerning why it is necessary to create Lakeland Phone Book. The e-mail mentioned the failure of ATT/Bellsouth to include any reference to Lakeland in the "White Pages". Although with the increasing use of cell phones as the primary phone, Comcast phones etc. (and the fact that part of Lakeland is in the Millington Phone System area), the White Pages become increasingly irrelevant, it is still frustrating that ATT/Bellsouth continues to completely ignore 10,848 customers when it would be so simple to resolve the problem.

Ditto for the U.S. Postal Service and their continued inability to provide a Lakeland ZIP Code and Post Office for Lakeland, except that the need for our own ZIP Code and a Lakeland Post Office increases daily. The U.S. Postal Service has discussed this with the City and I have some understanding of the difficulty in starting a new ZIP Code and Post Office. However, I feel the need is here and it is time for the U.S. Postal Service to start planning for a Lakeland ZIP Code and Post Office.

If the person writing the e-mail had included a return e-mail, I would have been glad to advise them that City officials and Lakeland residents have been working on these matters for at least 12 years. We will keep trying and certainly will welcome suggestions on resolving the barriers with the ATT/BellSouth and the U.S. Postal Service. In th meantime, a Lakeland Phone Book will be created and distributed thanks to Representative Ron Lollar and our public spirited Lakeland residents.