Hey Santa, how about a finished Premier park for Lakewood Ranch?

I have to address this column to Santa, because most of our local politicians have ignored this particular Christmas wish in the past.

So before I start, I want you to know that our readers might run into one of our reporters in the next week or so, as they pull local residents aside to ask what they would desire to better our Lakewood Ranch area community — if they would be granted one holiday wish. That story will run on Christmas Day.

If you don't get asked, and you would want to play along, please email your Christmas wish to [email protected] and I will share it with our readers.

For example: "I would wish for an In-N-Out burger joint on State Road 70" or "I would love for another Fort Hamer Bridge span in the next five years."

Please, no nasty wishes, such as "Could you please take Commissioner So-and-So back to the North Pole with you." Let's keep it constructive.

So here goes:

Dear Santa,

I know you probably have noticed when you fly over our area, that much of that land Manatee County purchased from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch in 2017 and 2018 (about $10 million worth) remains relatively unchanged from that time.

The residents were promised park facilities along with some county offices and a library.

The library has come to fruition (praise be to former Commissioner Vanessa Baugh), but the rest — with the exception of a new aquatics and racket sports facility that is scheduled to open in 2026 — has been either one big fib or just a sign of Manatee being governmentally inept.

Now I am sure fibbing has landed Manatee County on your naughty list, but even that doesn't do the residents much good as time passes and incoming commissioners can't even remember why the county bought the land in the first place.

In the Nov. 27 edition of the East County Observer, we ran a story, "Progress at Premier," that noted "Commissioners approved the site's general development tax plan and tourist development tax plan during two separate meetings in November."

Supposedly, those moves clear the way to attain some of the amenities that were promised a decade ago.

Those include softball and baseball fields, playgrounds, shade pavilions, and a dog park.

Weren't all these things talked about during Donald Trump's first term as president?

OK, Santa, I'm not an architect, but am I way off base in thinking that Manatee County's considerable staff could have designed and built a dog park by now? Hmmmm. Let me see. Fence. Grass. Some doggy obstacles."

Done.

In 1950, do you think it would have taken a county 10 years to build a few ballfields?

I would mention the amphitheater that was mentioned way back when, but this whole Larry, Moe and Curley project has taken so long, the area around the county-owned land has developed with houses, and now any decibels higher than the sound created by a push mower (the kind without the motor) would lead to lawsuits. An amphitheater, which would be a great addition, is now dust in the wind.

That leads us to a dream of an events center on Premier land, which could make up for all past sins if it is constructed and open in the next two or three years, Vegas has posted 1,000-1 odds against that happening.

The little hope I hold for anything getting done in terms of baseball and softball fields, a dog park, or an events center, hinges on a comment made by Commissioner George Kruse in the Nov, 27 East County Observer article.

"Our job is to build a park," Kruse said.

Here's a tip. Build the easy stuff while you are pursuing the pie-in-the-sky $75 million events center.

The refrain we have heard from commissioners from Day One is that they don't have the money. But in the time since the land was purchased from SMR, the county came up with $32.5 million to purchase 161 acres at Lena Road and State Road 64 that still is unused; the county spent $23.5 million on a new administration building in Lakewood Ranch; and commissioners went forward with a new veterans park in Palmetto that will cost $40 million and seems like a Commission pet project that is unwanted by most.

I could go on and on, Santa, but you get the point. If commissioners have any desire to finish this park, they could.

And, please, understand that despite the area's affluent population, that doesn't mean they don't deserve a park. This is something, Santa, that we do need. In those terms, I think back to the famous Kris Kringle quote in "Miracle on 34th Street."

It goes, "No, but don't you see, dear? Some children wish for things they couldn't possibly use, like real locomotives or B-29s."

This isn't a locomotive or a B-29. It's a park the residents of this part of the county deserve. Finish this park, and commissioners will see a stream of residents using the amenities every day.

Just the softball and baseball fields could take some stress off the commissioners. Manatee County plans to build a youth baseball complex at Country Club East Park that many of the local residents don't want there. Wouldn't baseball fields at Premier be a nice compromise and fill the need?

So please, Santa, slide the plans for the park amenities under my tree, all stamped and approved by the Manatee County commissioners. I promise to be a good boy next year, or at least until my next column comes out.