Olivet Parks Foundation approves $26,000 for soccer goals, tables purchase of body-scanner

The Olivet Parks Foundation voted to buy new soccer goals and postponed a request for a body-composition scanner after a detailed staff presentation and council discussion.

The foundation approved the purchase, by a 5-0 vote, of eight sets of soccer goals priced at about $26,000, using a quote from BSN Sports under GSA pricing. Beverly Tucker Knight, Olivet’s parks and recreation director, told the board the goals include an 8-foot-by-24-foot regulation goal planned for Stacy Park, smaller goals for kindergarten and early-grade programs, and wheels on the larger units to make them easier to move and less likely to be damaged during field maintenance. “They’re also really safe, and they also meet the standards for high school play,” Knight said.

The purchase responds to a shortfall created when the fifth-grade center fields will not be available this season because of construction, Knight said. The foundation’s financial report showed donations totaling $65,400 for the year, the primary source for the foundation’s requests.

Why it matters: The decision addresses immediate equipment needs for a growing youth soccer program and aims to avoid rental costs the city has been paying for off-site…