Letter to the Community from Mayor Watts

To the Citizens of Central:
    Nearly a decade ago, BREC asked us to come together as a community and imagine a new, vibrant park system. You might remember that back in 2004, BREC was an aging system based on neighborhood parks and special use facilities.
    Funding from the Imagine Your Parks program built the recently opened Central Sports Park and will transform Jackson from a neighborhood park into a community park with a splash pad and community-sized playground. The Sports Park offers five lighted baseball fields, air-conditioned concession building with modern restrooms, three fishing lakes and a 1/3 mile walking path. A second construction phase will soon begin to add two more lighted fields, a playground and several multi-use fields.
    BREC also recently opened Frenchtown Conservation Area, a 449 acre preserve with hiking and walking paths that lead to the confluence of the Comite and Amite Rivers. The Central area is also home to Blackwater Conservation Area, the Cohn Nature Preserve and Hooper Road mountain bike trails. In total, the Central area offers 19 parks which comprise 934 acres
    The first Imagine Your Parks strategic plan is moving toward completion and BREC is now asking us to work with them to create a new, 1 0-year plan. I hope you participate in the process and recognize that the progress made through Imagine Your Parks is substantial and good for the entire community with a direct impact on real estate values, tourism and the health, safety and environment of our community.
    On April 5, BREC will ask to renew the millages that fund nearly half of its operating budget and all of its capital improvements for the next 10 years. This isn't a new tax- it is one that has been on the books since the 1960's and it will fund the staffing, programming and maintenance of the incredible new facilities built in the last nine years.
    Please join me in supporting BREC at the polls in April and helping them to imagine our parks again through the year 2025.
Sincerely,
Mayor Shelton “Mac” Watts