Field(s) of Dreams

There is an item at the end of the consent agenda for tomorrow night's City Commission meeting. Here is how it appears on the agenda.

Here is the back-up and associated resolution related to the item. It is essentially a formal statement by the City of Lake Worth that has been approached by a Major League Baseball franchise(s) in locating a spring training facility in John Prince Park. Palm Beach County owns the land for this park and would have to give its ultimate approval of such a facility in this location. The resolution points out that the area surrounding John Prince Park is economically depressed (it is) and that the city wants to continue to explore the possibility and "work diligently with Palm Beach County to develop such an interest." It merely expresses the city's continued exploration of such a facility.

This is the memo from staff which accompanies the resolution.

And here is the resolution:

There is nothing in the resolution committing city resources, other than staff time, to this effort. There is nothing wrong with this. Details will come in the future and everyone will be able to have a say in the matter, most importantly the Palm Beach County Commission who owns and maintains the park. It will likely be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion tomorrow night.

This issue, by the way, has not been a secret and the story appeared on the first page of the Palm Beach Post.

It reminds me of President Kennedy's call for space exploration and setting his, and the nation's sights, on a goal of a lunar landing within a short eight years. This resolution is like that speech. It sets a goal. President Kennedy didn't know how it would happen, he just knew that it could happen. He had faith in our nation. We need to express faith in the future of Lake Worth and pass this resolution. There are those among us, who we have heard from before, that dare not to be great, but dare to be safe with what was, not what can be.

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
So, come to the City Commission meeting tomorrow night. Wear a baseball hat if you believe that Lake Worth is worth dreaming about. You may end up singing this song.