During the Luverne City Council meeting, the council approved two proposed events for Luverne and passed a resolution for an upcoming project.
During the meeting held Monday, June 9, the city council approved a resolution to fund the addition of a splash pad at E.L Turner Park, reserving $215,500 for the purpose of matching the assistance from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The measure comes after the City of Luverne received additional funds of $127,000 for the project to reach the $215,500 goal, or 50% of the total projected project costs, which has been estimated at $431,000.
“That has been a concern of mine from working the city budget,” said Elliot Jones, district four councilperson and mayor pro tem. “I knew that without the funds that Mr. [Ed] Beasley was able to get for us… that would have been a failed project. I was excited to finally see it come to pass.”
Construction of the Splash Pad is set to begin in the coming weeks, with plans for constructing the splash pad, sidewalks and handicap parking at E.L Turner Park.
Also, during the meeting, District One councilperson Betty Dawson received approval for the hosting fourth annual Juneteenth celebration to be held on June 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event, sponsored by United For All, will offer games for children centered around Black history as well as praise dances, music and refreshments.
“It’s about getting everyone together… to come together to learn some of the history of the Black race,” Dawson said. “We do have little differences in our praise service, our dance and in our singing; we want to keep it alive [and] keep it going because if the young people don’t know what’s going on [or] what went on in the past, [they are] subject to make the same mistakes in the future.”
Additionally, the City Council approved Alexis Bell to host a back-to-school tailgate event planned for Aug. 2. The event, organized by local Greek organization members of Crenshaw County, aims to support the students, families and educators of Crenshaw County.
The event will include kickball games and give aways from donated items. Additionally, supplies collected from the back-to-school tailgate will support local schools to prepare for the upcoming year.
The next city council meeting is scheduled for June 23 at 5:30 PM.