A lot has happened in the past 5 months! Thanks to the Shasta County Office of Education (SCOE), Shasta SELPA, and Redding School District, planning for the new Medical Therapy Unit to be built at the Redding School District campus in South Redding is underway. And importantly, City of Redding and SCOE staff have been working hard to ensure Magnolia Park’s future as a public park. To that end, on Tuesday, the Redding City Council will consider approving the purchase of Magnolia Park. Although we think this is an excellent development, Council approval is not certain. Although the City has already received approximately $128,000 in grant funds to be used toward the park’s purchase and improvements, it will still need to spend an additional $113,000 to complete the purchase. The money would come from a dedicated fund, consisting of fees paid by developers, for park acquisition and development - it would not come from the City’s general fund and cannot be spent on other important priorities like public safety. While we believe purchasing the park is an appropriate use of these park-specific funds, some citizens may still disapprove of it and voice their preference that no additional funds be spent for parks at this time. If the City does not purchase Magnolia Park, it’s future is uncertain. SCOE will retain ownership of the property, and might again attempt to close or redevelop the park. If you would like to see Magnolia Park’s future secured, please consider attending Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Your voice matters to City leaders, and it is likely there will also be voices present in opposition to this purchase. The meeting is on Tuesday, September 5th, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 777 Cypress Avenue. The Agenda items are items 4.6(b) on the Consent Calendar and item 9.6(a) on the Regular Calendar (this is where you would speak to the Council in support of approving the purchase if you choose to - each speaker will have 3 minutes). Here is a link to the agenda: http://reddingcityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx Please consider standing up for Magnolia Park one last time. We hope to see you there! Many thanks!! Sincerely, Citizens for Magnolia Park