Letters to the editorNew park needs care

Lakeside already has a swim park on north Lakeside Boulevard, but because of the very limited parking, small picnic area, poor pedestrian accommodations throughout Lakeside and no well marked, safe crosswalk across Hwy. 93 near the park, it doesn't get the recognition it deserves. We need to do what we can to fix those deficiencies, but Lakeside still needs every park and recreational lake access that can be reasonably developed, including the proposed new park at Adams Street and Hwy. 93.

There are adjacent landowners to the proposed new park and others in the community that doubt the benefits of a new park. Too often parks everywhere are not well designed, administered, maintained and monitored. As a result they turn into disappointing blighted areas of the community. All the citizens of Lakeside and the surrounding area need to honestly commit to participating in this community and the facilities and activities we have here to ensure a new park delivers on its promise.

Lakeside needs a new waterfront park, not a place to continue drinking alcoholic beverages after the bars close. We need a family picnic area, not a hangout for loud, reckless, thrill seekers. Residents and visitors need more safe places to enjoy the lake and not worry about confronting illegal drug users and their deadly paraphernalia. Lakeside needs another park where we can show our guests our wonderful natural environment and scenery, not a park defaced by vandalism and graffiti. We all need another park that we can be proud of because it provides safe family waterfront recreation; maintains the friendly, small town, rural reputation Lakeside wants; and is a good neighbor to the adjacent landowners.

Lakeside can have this ideal park if we all commit to getting and staying involved in our community. We all need to set a good example by using all of our parks, as they are intended, for quiet family oriented recreation. We need to be observant and help maintain the parks by picking up our own and others' litter; and reporting maintenance issues we need the park department's help correcting. We need to not be afraid to "get involved" and report any dangerous or illegal activities. If the community can demonstrate its commitment to make this new park the kind of place we all want it to be I think much of the current opposition will agree this opportunity for a new waterfront park is one we cannot pass up.

Steve Rosso

Lakeside