Parks committee advances Akron Parks Collaborative contract and funds for Prentice and Sherbondi Hill parks

The Parks & Recreation Committee advanced an ordinance authorizing the mayor or a designee to contract with Akron Parks Collaborative without public bid and approved separate ordinances to solicit bids for rehabilitation work at Prentice Park and Sherbondi Hill Park.

Bridgette Anne Briscoe, an Akron Parks Collaborative representative, told the committee the city and the nonprofit have worked together since 2018 and that the organization has “worked on 21 parks overall” and, together with the city, “invested around 3,800,000.0 into our neighborhood parks.” She said the Parks Challenge program expands community leadership, creates friends groups that maintain parks and runs youth maintenance and ambassador programs.

The committee discussed details for two parks included in the year’s…