Councilman urges praise for Parks and Rec life‑jacket rentals after drownings

Councilman Claunch urged residents to take safety warnings seriously after recent drownings and publicly thanked the Parks and Recreation department for starting a life‑jacket rental program at the waterfront.

"And they're not here, but I wanted to give a shout out to Parks and Recs for the life jacket rental now that is down there," Councilman Claunch said, calling the program "absolutely fantastic" and "a positive move in the right direction." The councilman also referenced "Billy Dunlop and the drownings" while framing the rental program as a preventive step.

The council did not take formal action during the comment period recorded in the transcript. No funding, implementation timeline or follow‑up motion was stated in the provided remarks. The mayor thanked Claunch for raising the topic but no additional details or department responses were included in the excerpt.