Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Trail topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Group seeks to sell donor bricks for America’s First Settlement Trail; board forwards donation agreement to council
Summary
America’s First Settlement Foundation proposed replacing a faded painted red line with permanent pavers at Florida Square and selling engraved bricks to fund trail upkeep and education; the board voted to forward the donation agreement to city council for approval after raising questions about term length, inscriptions and maintenance.
Representatives of the America’s First Settlement Foundation told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Jan. 20 that they want to convert a faded painted red line downtown into a permanent brick trail segment at Florida Square and raise money by selling engraved bricks to families and businesses.
Presenter Ross Prestera said the trail is a three‑mile loop with QR-coded interpretive stops that have generated website and scan analytics and out‑of‑town interest. Michael Caro outlined an educational component for fourth‑ through sixth‑grade Florida history and said brick sales would fund brick permanence, trail expansion and educational programming. “We’re not asking for money today either,” Caro said; the foundation asked only for the short‑term right to install pavers and to sell bricks as donations.
The foundation proposed starting price points currently shown as $150 for a small brick, $300 for an 8-by-8 and $500 for a 12-by-12, and said it would vet inscriptions and reject profanity, political/religious messaging and advertising before presenting proposed engravings to the city for final approval.
Board members pressed for limits on term length, maintenance responsibility and protection against future reconfiguration that could remove donor bricks. Several members favored a three‑year term so the onus for upkeep would remain with the foundation; staff confirmed the city wants final say over engraved language and would review any donation agreement. The foundation said bricking the entire trail will likely cost several hundred thousand dollars and that fundraising will be an ongoing effort.
Board member Curran Price moved to forward the donation agreement to the city council; the motion was seconded and the board approved it with no recorded opposition. Chair asked the foundation to return with sales data, samples and a status report after three years.
