Much lip service has been given on the subject of recreation in the past several years.

A few weeks ago, perhaps for the first time, city and county leaders sat down and began seriously talking about how they might work together on recreation.

The discussion point of the day was whether or not to fund a city-county recreation director. Agreeing on that is a seemingly small feat, given the larger matter at hand — how the jointly fund and manage a new recreation complex.

Such a complex is massively needed as many of the current facilities were used by four or five generations and have rarely been updated.

But exactly how to go about doing this fairly and equitably is a challenge. Both city and county leaders have reason to want the other to move a bit.

The county currently spends virtually nothing on recreation, while the city spends nearly $1 million per year.

The city is correct: The county needs to pony up more funds if we ever hope to truly join forces on recreation.

The county is correct: The city must realize it’s OK to let go of its control a bit, particularly when all sides can get comfortable that each of them has “given” in a bit to the other. That’s how compromise works and how we can get things done.

We urge the city and county to continue talking and working out a compromise. Ultimately, citizens simply want better recreational facilities. The details of how we get there are less important than truly making progress. Let’s keep talking this one out, folks.