FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    John Yarbrough, Lee County Parks & Recreation
                (941) 461-7410

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 19, 2001) – Lee County residents should be able to register and pay for county Parks & Recreation Department programs over the Internet within four months.

The Board of Lee County Commissioners is expected to approve a contract Tuesday (April 24) to develop an Internet-based application called POWER (Parks Online Web Enabled Registration). Development of the application will cost $99,528 and is being done by Systems and Computer Technology Corp. (SCT), the county’s contract provider of information technology services.

The proposed system will accept program registration and the appropriate payment without human intervention. People wanting to sign up for a program will need access to the Internet (from home, work or at any library) and a credit card. They will be able to do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Types of programs available for registration will include summer camps for kids, aquatic programs (including pool passes), tennis, recreation and community center programs (including tournaments, athletics, after school programs and educational classes), and reserving campsites and pavilions in parks. The department hopes to have POWER operating on a trial basis by August.

"We already have a strong web presence, but you have to call or show up to register," says John Yarbrough, county Parks & Recreation Director. "E-commerce gives residents an additional, and very simple, way to access the county’s many parks and recreation facilities and programs." The county’s Parks & Recreation web site is at www.lee-county.com/Parks&Rec.

Once the system is operational, after selecting the desired program, registrants will enter all relevant information about themselves and their credit card number. The system will reserve the spot, deposit the money in a Bank "lock box" and confirm the registration with the applicant. Strict security will prevail throughout the transaction, audit trails will be provided daily and private user information kept confidential.

Lee County’s Technology Vision is to provide all citizens, business, employees and guests with easy access to County information and services from anywhere at anytime.

"This application is a giant step in making that vision a reality while providing services to citizens at the lowest cost possible," says Yarbrough.

Lee County’s Parks & Recreation Department maintains and operates 3,500 acres of developed park land, 14 centers, 10 pools, five boat ramps, three Gulf beach parks, one lakefront beach, 76 beach accesses, 60 tennis courts, 73 ballfields, and 13 preserves. The department’s fiscal year 2001 operating budget is $15.1 million.