The Brundidge City Recreation Department is moving in the right direction for continued growth and success.

Mark Griffin, assistant to City Recreation Director Willie Wright, spoke to the mayor and council at its Tuesday meeting and said the department is on track in meeting the recreational needs of its youth in all seasons.

“Our goal is to provide opportunities for our kids to, not only play sports, but to play them the correct way,” Griffin said. “We want our kids to know the fundamentals of the sport they play so they can be competitive with their age groups.

Griffin said the city recreation department fields three age groups, mighty-mites, pee-wees and midgets. And, for the girls, there’s cheerleading.

“The kids are having a good time and they are learning about the game of football and how it’s played,” he said. “And, of course, the cheerleaders are having fun cheering for our teams.”

Basketball is always a popular winter sport and the Brundidge City Recreation will have four age groups, 6 and under, 8 and under, 10 and under, and 12 and under.

“Our basketball program is co-ed,” Griffin said. “We just don’t have enough girls participating to have girls’ teams.”

The bats and balls will come out in spring and Griffin said expectations are that a large number of boys and girls will participate.

“We encourage parents to bring their kids out and sign them up for the sport in season,” he said. “We have a good recreation program going with dedicated coaches. We want the kids to have a good learning experience, make friends and have fun.”

Brundidge City Manager Britt Thomas discussed the option the city has to apply for a Land and Water Conservation Fund matching grant.

Thomas said the grants are available for the acquisition and development of public parks and other outdoor recreation sites.

“Grant funds may be used for improvements to existing parks,” Thomas said. “We  could use the funds for playground equipment, tables, grills, a gazebo or lighting at our existing parks.”

Thomas said there would be a dollar for dollar match for the Land and Water grant if approved.

The council gave its approval to seek the grant funding.

Thomas told the council that the city’s efforts to purchase a knuckle boom truck had been derailed due to the one-year availability of the truck. The city instead opted to purchase a small truck that would be available in six months.

Thomas said the smaller truck will provide good and more immediate service to the city’s residents.

Margaret Ross, District 3 Council member, expressed disappointment that the city’s project to dredge Mims Creek has not been able to move forward. The city does not yet have permission from all landowners to enter their property to do the work to open the creek so that it does not overflow onto residential property.

In final action, the council considered and approved FY2019 Budget Amendment No.  2 and reviewed FY2019 July financials.

The Brundidge City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at Brundidge City Hall on North Main Street.