Nancy Welsh, representing Save Our Park, presented an Adopt an Acre proposal to the Pinetop Lakeside Town Council to raise dedicated funds for maintenance of Woodland Lake Park.

Welsh described the program as a long-term, public–private partnership to cover routine and variable maintenance costs across the park’s acreage. She said the program would start with the park’s existing 107 acres, use an annual giving model, and include recognition for donors, maps showing adopted acres, kiosk signage, and online donations. She said Save Our Park would keep Adopt an Acre contributions in a restricted account for transparency and produce annual reports on program performance.

Councilors asked how soon the program might launch and for specifics about mapping adopters to parcels; Welsh said organizers plan to kick off the campaign in the first quarter of 2026 and that engaging mapping and electronic tools would make it simple for donors to identify and share “their” acre. Councilor Turner suggested presenting to the local Chamber of Commerce to recruit business sponsors; Welsh agreed.

During discussion, a council member said an estimate prepared for additional acreage (an extra 435 acres under consideration) showed potential maintenance costs of about $100,000 per year for the expanded acreage, and that the town would likely not be able to absorb that cost alone. Welsh said Save Our Park would start small with the existing 107 acres and expand the program if more land is added to the park.

Council did not take formal action on the program during the meeting but members asked staff and Save Our Park to follow up with additional materials, and several councilors requested the presentation slides and donation tier details be provided by email for further evaluation.