The Town Council accepted offers Tuesday from a resident and a local landscaping firm to donate their services to help with landscape enhancements at Lake Drive Park.
Resident Scott Snyder has offered to raise donations to pay for park improvements including plants, lighting for the plants, a drinking fountain and benches.
Snyder told the council that Nievera Williams Landscape Architecture agreed to his request that it contribute the project design pro bono.
The council already has approved a conceptual plan for the park makeover, estimated by Public Works Director Paul Brazil to cost $1.03 million.
Mayor Gail Coniglio and the council thanked Snyder and Nievera Williams for their generosity and civic spirit.
“Bravo, Scott,” Councilman Lew Crampton said. “What you’re offering is really a legacy gift to the town … one that will last generations to come.”
Councilwoman Dani Moore told Snyder, “I’m sort of overwhelmed with your generosity.”
Snyder is an experienced fund-raiser who helped secure donations a few years ago for the makeover of the Par 3 Golf Course and the new clubhouse there. He’s also raised money for the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach and for charitable causes.
Snyder told the council he has “a lot of generous friends.”
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“I have a long track record of raising money for this town,” he said. “I think it’s important to give back. Being charitable gives me a great deal of pleasure.”
>> RELATED: Lake Drive Park redo will cost millions
Nievera Williams, led by principals Mario Nievera and Keith Williams, has also done several projects for the town, Deputy Town Manager Jay Boodheshwar said.
“These are people we know and have a long history with,” he said.
The conceptual plan for enhancements to the park that includes new pedestrian pathways that will link new crosswalks over South Lake Drive with the Lake Trail.
The council considered holding a contest to see who could come up with the best design. Boodheshwar said that approach would have added two or three months to the schedule.
The popular neighborhood park is adjacent to the Town Marina, which is undergoing a $38 million reconstruction. The new facility, with floating docks and larger slips, is expected to reopen a year from now, officials have said.
The council unanimously embraced the offer, but stipulated that no invasive plants be included in the design.
“There is a global effort to help pollinators and wildlife survive,” Councilwoman Bobbie Lindsay said.
Snynder agreed that the design “needs to be eco-friendly.”
wkelly@pbdailynews.com
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https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/story/news/2020/11/10/palm-beach-lets-resident-raise-money-lake-drive-park-improvements/6236146002/
Landscape Architecture
William Kelly
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