More tournaments are headed to Valdosta and Lowndes County.

At its monthly meeting on Thursday night, the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority announced the Amateur Softball Association will be bringing eight to nine tournaments to the area in 2012. Among the tournaments will be a Georgia-Florida Rider Cup Tournament, which will feature 40 to 60 teams. The economic impact of all the tournaments combined will total around $1.2-1.5 million.

“We feel like it is a great program we have brought to Valdosta,” ASA Director Roy Hattaway said at the meeting. “The girls are excited.”

Last year, the ASA brought several tournaments to Valdosta, which totaled around a $350,000 economic impact.

Also at the meeting, VLPRA Director George Page said the renovations at Freedom, South Lowndes and Vallotton Parks are on schedule. He believes the laser leveling on four fields at Vallotton Park will be completed by the end of business today.

VLPRA Facilities Chairman J.C. Cunningham also proposed that the signs at the local parks be updated, as some are displaying outdated information.

Page also suggested locations for the upcoming Master Plan public meetings. The meetings, which are slated to begin at the end of

February or early March, will be held at South Lowndes Gymnasium, Forrest Street Administrative Office, Mildred Hunter Center, Town of Hahira, the Senior Center and Naylor Community.

The VLPRA will also consider re-joining the

 Valdosta Chamber of Commerce, while also joining the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce.

Director Page said he felt it was important to support both Chambers.

Board member Cunningham opposed the move to join the Valdosta Chamber, but not the Lake Park Chamber.

Page will submit his report on joining the two Chambers to the VLPRA Finance Committee.

During the Finance Committee Report, the VLPRA ratified the authorization to borrow an additional $3,000 from BB&T Bank for the purchasing of turf equipment. The VLPRA initially borrowed $216,000 from BB&T in October of 2011, but recently found out the initial estimate was not enough to fund the purchase. The authority will receive the same 1.97 percent interest as the initial loan.

The Finance Committee also received the results from the June 30, 2010 through June 30, 2011 audit. The VLPRA’s total net assets for the fiscal year were $7.4 million, while the authority spent just $4.1 million. The VLPRA’s net bottom line, as presented at the meeting, was a total of $294,000.

Tensions ran high throughout the meeting, especially with Cunningham.

Cunningham voiced his concern with the limited time each member is given to review the financial report prior to the meeting. He initially voiced his opinion following the news of the required additional loan money from BB&T.

“I don’t like coming into a meeting without me seeing it first,” Cunningham told the board. “When I look at the minutes, it does not tell me anything about how much (money) we were borrowing.”

At the end of the meeting, Cunningham told the authority board members he thought they were being narrow-minded.

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