SAFFORD — There was good news and delayed news coming out of the Safford Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting Thursday.
The good news is free family movies in a park are coming back. The first will be “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” on Friday, April 19, in Glen Meadows Park.
Families can bring their blankets and lawn chairs starting at 6 p.m., with the film starting just after sundown at about 7 p.m. And there will be food trucks with drink and snack options.
The other good news is that United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties approved a grant for $200,000 to pay for the connecting bridge for the new park at 8th Avenue and Discovery Park Boulevard.
The delayed news involves that new park — specifically the park’s proposed name. The issue is the newly adopted city policy about naming municipal assets.
“We, in an open meeting, voted to name a portion of it. But we found out through this from the council, that it doesn’t jibe with the rules. So that’s why we’re re-discussing what we actually have to do,” said Committee member Tim Linden.
The policy requires the name of any city facility to be after a person, group or organization. The first renaming approved by the City Council occurred in February, when the airport was renamed Safford Regional Airport Duane Spalsbury Field.
To get clarification, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee is requesting to meet with the City Council in a work session, after the adoption of the budget and the start of the new fiscal year, sometime in late July or early August.
