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Long Beach approves $3,000 sponsorship for Gulf Coast parks app
Summary
The board approved a $3,000 sponsorship for a regional parks app and authorized signage and co-branded marketing; the app geofences more than 200 parks to log visits, collect user feedback and hazard reports, and share data with cities to support grants and programming.
The Mayor and Board of Aldermen voted to provide a $3,000 sponsorship to Let’s Go Gulf Coast for a regional parks app that maps and catalogs more than 200 parks across three Gulf Coast counties. Dr. Kelsey Keel, executive director of Let’s Go Gulf Coast, told the board the free app geofences parks to log visits, offers augmented-reality features for children, and allows users to upload photos of hazards that are then routed to city staff.
"We've cataloged over 200 parks and green spaces," Dr. Kelsey Keel said, adding the app is designed to "increase physical activity by improving access to our parks and green spaces and making them more social places." Keel said users create an opt-in profile; visits are logged automatically by geofencing when a user enters a mapped park, and the app can push short surveys to visitors to collect demographic and feedback data.
Board members asked how visits are counted and whether the city would display signage to inform visitors about the app. Keel said visits are recorded only for users who download the app and create profiles, and that marketing and signage could be developed in partnership with each city. She identified Pascagoula and Jackson County as earlier funding partners and said Moss Point and other municipalities were close to finalizing support.
A board member moved to fund the initial $3,000 sponsorship from accumulated park infrastructure interest earnings and to earmark additional funding for signage and co-branding; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. Mayor Bass confirmed the sponsorship will link Long Beach's parks, website, and social media to the app's park listings.
The sponsorship is intended as a one-year partnership to integrate the city's park data into the app and to begin collecting usage and survey data that city staff can use in future grant applications and park planning. The board tabled further signage specifics and marketing rollout for follow-up with staff and the app team.
