Residents and council members raised multiple questions about costs at Optimus Park (MLOP) and town-subsidized youth sports.

Claudia LucEz of the community and Education Advisory Board urged the council to reassess why the town bears much of the cost of maintaining MLOP and the clubhouse, saying the park's maintenance budget had increased substantially and prompting questions about who benefits. "Why is it that the taxpayer has to continually take on that burden?" she asked.

Jeremy, the town's parks director, told council the town had a multi-year contract for grounds maintenance and that previous budgets had not always funded the contract at the level agronomic best-practices call for. That partially explains higher proposed maintenance budgets. He also confirmed the Optimist Club of Miami Lakes pays participant fees to the town under an agreement: "...they do pay a per participant fee to the town. It's $5 per participant."

Council members also questioned town-funded support for coaches. Parks staff explained the sports programs often rely on volunteer coaches recruited by clubs but that the town has in recent years paid for some background checks and coach-certification clinics. Jeremy said the state has changed screening requirements: under a recent statutory change, level-2 background checks (fingerprinting) will be required beginning July 1, 2026, and will jump from roughly $15 per coach to near $80 for the first fingerprinting intake, with maintenance fees thereafter.

Council members asked staff to return with options: charge clubs a higher participant fee, seek sponsorships, or expect the clubs to pay coach-screening costs; or, alternatively, keep some subsidies but require participant-residency verification. Jeremy and staff agreed to provide a cost analysis showing the subsidy level, participant residency by sport, and the incremental impact of the new Level 2 background-check requirement.

Why it matters: Optimus Park and youth sports are visible, recurring budget items with both community benefit and discretionary costs. A new state screening requirement will increase program costs or push those costs to clubs and families if the town chooses not to absorb them.

Next steps: staff to provide a breakdown of Optimus Park maintenance contracts, current participant counts and residency percentages, the cost impact of the Level 2 screening mandate and suggestions for cost-sharing or fee adjustments.