Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Nonprofit Org. to Build Tot Lots in Castaic, Littlerock

Cudahy River Park before and after North East Trees rehabilitated it. Cudahy River Park before and after North East Trees rehabilitated it.


If the county supervisors say OK Tuesday, an L.A.-area nonprofit organization that benefits underprivileged children will built tot lots (play areas for kids 5 and under) at the Castaic Sports Complex and Jackie Robinson Park in Littlerock, at a combined value in excess of half a million dollars – at no cost to the county.


Supervisor Mike Antonovich is asking his colleagues to accept the gift from North East Trees, aka NET, which received the project funding from First 5 L.A.


NET was founded in 1989 by Scott Wilson, a retired L.A. Unified schoolteacher who was also a licensed landscape architect. According to the organization’s website, Wilson’s “pledge to plant 5 trees a day for the rest of his life, and his parallel commitment to helping at-risk youth find meaningful employment in the green industry, have resulted in a nonprofit organization delivering effective training and environmental restoration programs to underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area.”


With a staff of licensed professional arborists, landscape architects, landscape designers and environmental scientists, NET designs and builds parks that “provide passive recreation opportunities and serve as gateways to bike paths, pedestrian and equestrian trails.”


Antonovich’s motion would direct the county Parks Department to enter into a license agreement with NET to construct the tot lots “in a manner satisfactory to the (parks) director.”



Nonprofit Org. to Build Tot Lots in Castaic, Littlerock