Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current, October 26, 2022, Image 18

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Dawson County news., October 26, 2022, Image 18

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Newspaper Page Text6B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, October 26,2022 Residents reject rec expansions at War Hill Park Julia Fechter Dawson County News During an Oct. 19 meeting, Brad Jones with Pond and Company shows attendees potential upgrad ed camping options for War Hill Park to get their feedback as part of the process for updating the park's master plan. By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com During a community meeting Wednesday, War Hill Park-area residents were loud and clear when asked for their feedback on possible features that could be added to the recreation site’s future master plan. “Based on this, there’s not really a want or a need to have any kind of yurt vil lage or extra camping... that’s the input I’m getting back here tonight, at least from the public folks that live nearby,” said senior project manager Brad Jones with Pond and Company. “It’d be up to the county to decide, ‘Well, we don’t have that program anywhere else, and this is the only site we have.’” War Hill Park is a 99-acre park along Lake Lanier, with 16 acres in its northern portion and 83 acres in its southern part. The Dawson County gov ernment is 13 years into a lease with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the park space. This community meeting about different potential improvements followed the Board of Commissioners’ initial approval of luxury camping at War Hill Park this past fall, only for the county to find out that any additions to the park first require an updated master plan and corresponding environmental study. In May, the BOC approved $124,300 from the county’s general fund to pay for an updated mas ter plan and environmental assessment. Pond and Company is a Georgia-based consulting firm that’s worked with state agencies like the Department of Natural Resources and local gov ernments to create master plans and implement proj ects, like park improve ments, for various recre ation sites. Jones reiterated that he wasn’t proposing “anything specific for the park right now” and emphasized the importance of first collect ing community feedback before a master plan would be drawn up. Following the Oct. 19 meeting, Jones said his company’s survey would be expanded to the public on Dawson County’s web site. Once the survey con cludes in about a month, Pond and Company will take that cumulative feed back and design a proposed master plan. That plan will then be presented at another com munity meeting and then brought before the BOC during future work and vot ing sessions. Once the board approves the master plan for War Hill Park, it will go to the Corps of Engineers. Potential park improve ments could include more traditional and/or upgraded campsites, an education or event center, high-ropes course, a new pier to replace the old one, canoe and kayak-specific docks, fish cleaning stations or more picnic and trail areas. Jones said the master plan is made to let the Corps of Engineers know what the county may intend to do in the future, even though a given project “may never happen.” His company will pro vide estimated develop ment costs “in today’s dol lars” for any projects included in the master plan, and those included projects will be based on citizens’ and county officials’ feed back. War Hill Park currently includes four boat ramps, day-use beach and picnic areas, 14 primitive camp sites on its peninsula and a nearby bath house/rest rooms. The park’s original mas ter plan fell through follow ing citizen response to talks of a proposed marina in the mid-2000s, said Long Range Planning Committee member Jane Graves, who attended the Oct. 19 meeting. When Graves wondered why a complete county parks master plan wasn’t being done like back then, Jones reiterated the focus on War Hill Park specifical ly because of the recent focus on it from the pro posed glamping project. “Just in case anyone didn’t know, there is a 267- acre park, Pea Ridge, which is accessed through Forsyth [county] off of Ga.53, which has much, much more room for all of this type of stuff,” Graves added. Meeting survey results Not surprisingly, the top park priority for survey respondents was to mini mize on-site facilities and development. Jones recognized that War Hill Park Road is an old, narrow and winding county road that’s preceded recent population growth and development along the Ga. 400-Ga. 53 corridor. “You’ve got the whole development,” he said, “and it’s a lot of pressure on these roads that are under-designed and every thing else.” Other concerns included people speeding up and down the nearby Sapphire Road lost on the way to the park and War Hill Park Road possibly getting bot tlenecked in the case of an emergency requiring area residents to evacuate. Jones said alignment shifts for the road curves and other road fixes would be “very good recommen dations” but cautioned that road work was “not in the scope of what we’re doing.” In response to residents’ concerns, he eschewed “any kind of massive devel opment to the park that increases traffic” and said that possible in-park solu tions could include gated access and/or a capacity cap to manage volume and security concerns. Trails were the top item attendees actually wanted. Jones said possible trail additions could include branded or signed routes for hiking as well as easier loops for more casual exer cise or for those with mobility concerns. More campsites were predictably near the bottom of the survey rankings for meeting attendees. Potential upgraded camping options include other traditional tent sites or possibly hammock sites for scouts or families. Jones also mentioned sites for glamping or yurts, a portable, hard-shell tent that can be set up similar to a glamping site. Glamping is a step up from traditional camping and entails access to both outdoor recreational resources and comforts like beds, mini-fridges, air con ditioning and heating. Yurts have been installed in a lot of state parks in recent years and, similar to the glamping sites set up at the Amicalola Falls or Forsyth County’s Shady Grove campgrounds, an outside contractor would handle operations, while still bringing in funds for the county. “Some people want to go camping but don’t want to be in a tent, they want to be in something slightly nicer,” Jones said. These kinds of sites would have to be placed near a comfort station, since bathrooms aren’t inside, Jones added, and water and electricity would also have to be added at the park for these upgraded campsites. Looking at the park’s 2007 master plan, Jones explained that a road could be added to access the park’s northern section, along with a parking area and a few more picnic areas and trails. Then, some improved campsites could be added to the southern part of the campgrounds. Other options, like an education or event center, didn’t even make attend ees’ top rankings. Multiple people at the meeting wondered who exactly the improved War Hill Park would serve, and Jones said he’d watch the survey results and if the wider public gives “com pletely different” respons es, he’d point that out to Dawson County’s Parks and Rec personnel. “We have to balance both [local and general audience wants],” Jones said of the forthcoming master plan. “What are we going to do, and what are we going to take out?” Area resident James Brewer encouraged his neighbors to reach out to District 3 Commissioner- elect Alexa Bruce with their concerns. “If you want to do some thing about making sure we don’t kill people on War Hill Park Road [with the traffic], talk to her,” Brewer said. “Go to the [county] commission meetings.” Other lake parks Parks and Recreation Director Matt Payne also presented a major proposal during the board’s Oct. 20 work session: the Corps of Engineers wants Dawson County to partner with them on managing Nix Bridge, Thompson Creek and Toto Creek parks. Payne explained the Corps of Engineers made the request during a recent meeting he, District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines and County Manager David Headley attended. “The reason that our friends at the Corps have said [that] is they just don’t have the funds to take care of them like they would like to,” Payne said. “The big question is, ‘Can we handle it? Can we do it?”’ The parks and rec direc tor liked the idea and the challenge in theory. “The realistic answer is from a staff standpoint, I don’t have enough [employees],” he said. “That’s hundreds and hun dreds of acres and pro gramming that could go into those parks. If we were to take over these parks, we’d really have to look at our 2023 budget, which is another discus sion for another time.” Payne later added that beyond the first year of such an agreement or agreements, it would be especially important to look at options for funding a park or parks’ mainte nance. Previously, Dawson res idents took to social media upset after Nix Bridge Park as a whole and Toto Creek Park’s campground were closed until spring. Thompson Creek Park was rumored to be closed, but it is open, Payne said. Payne wanted the board to consider authorizing him to enter into negotia tions with the Corps of Engineers in efforts for the county to take partial or full control of these other three lakeside parks. If the board ultimately approves the move, Payne said he’ll form a team for the negotiations. Payne explained Nix Bridge Park, which has a nice passive area and a sin gle boat ramp, is hard for people entering to turn around in, especially if they have a boat. Thompson Creek Park presents some promising opportunities with its pavilion, but it overall “needs some tender love and care,” Payne added. As for Toto Creek Park, its campground calls for about triple the nine camp sites it currently has. With boat launch fees being mentioned, Payne pointed out that further plans for this kind of arrangement would include “all kinds of offers on how to generate reve nue.” Gaines also pointed out the sales money made in the county from people buying boating and fishing supplies and snacks before going to the lake and men tioned forthcoming Corps of Engineers statistics on that kind of “trickle-down effect.” Gaines emphasized that the local Corps of Engineers people he met “want to keep these [parks] open.” “The reality is, from a fed standpoint, the funding is drying up, so there’s a timeline they can keep them open,” Gaines said, adding that the Corps is only planning for the parks about 12 months ahead at a time. “Beyond that, if it comes down to it and they have to shut down these parks permanently, and we don’t have some form of agreement with them for a partnership, then that eco nomic benefit or trickle- down part would dry up,” said Gaines. “So we need to take all of that into con sideration.” Dawson County could pursue either a shorter- term, five year lease or a long-term, 25-year one, like what’s already in place at War Hill Park. The short-term option would give both the Corps of Engineers and the coun ty some measure of con trol, with the longer lease giving the county “com plete control,” Payne added. While the longer option seems more appealing, he, Gaines and District 1 Commissioner Sharon Fausett chafed at the pros pect of getting hit with another required environ mental study and master plan update, like with War Hill Park. “Certain ones, it may be more beneficial to take full control, and with other ones, to do a partnership,” Gaines said. “Under the partnership right now at War Hill, DNR doesn’t patrol the park area, and that falls back on us, whereas if there’s a [joint] partnership, that’s part of the negotiation process, and things can ebb and flow a bit better.” “We have to look at all options,” Gaines added. “Otherwise, if [they close] down, that doesn’t do any body any good.” Marching Band scores Excellent at competition, color guard first in class Photos by Rio White Dawson County News The DCHS Tiger Pride performs at the Branch Classic on Saturday, Oct. 22. Members of the color guard twirl their flags during the marching band show. By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com After over 200 hours of prepa ration over the past few months, the Dawson County Tiger Pride marching band put all of that work to the test at the Branch Classic competition hosted by Flowery Branch High School on Saturday, Oct. 22. With over 20 marching bands participating, the competition gave the Dawson band a chance to showcase its four-set program at a high level. The show, conducted by drum major Ace Park, was titled “The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin” and included songs by the leg endary artist such as “Think”, “Natural Woman”, “Chain of Fools”, and “Respect”. Directed by Nicholas Gattis and Jeremiah Hyatt, Dawson was part of a group of five bands in the Class 1A category and was the first band to perform at the competition. Through the collective effort of all band members, Dawson earned Excellent scores in the three judged categories — band, drum line and color guard. The color guard finished first overall in its class while the band and drumline finished second. “Proud would be an understate ment to describe how I feel about watching them succeed,” band director Nicholas Gattis said. “It has been very impressive to watch the band program grow as the students continue to set the bar higher with each perfor mance.” While the Dawson marching band was relatively small in num bers compared to others in atten dance, part of the show’s success came through the group’s ability to maximize volume while main taining precision and clarity on each note. The high-energy nature of Franklin’s songs helped the band get off to a strong start, with the brass section playing her iconic melodies. “The band sounded fantastic, and you can tell they are putting a high level of energy into what they do,” Gattis said. “There was a lot of precision and balance involved with the ensemble sound — especially playing on the field.” As the show progressed, each section of the band had a chance to be at the forefront of sound. Whether it was the flutes helping build up to the chorus, the trom bones showing off their chops or the drumline keeping the show steady, every instrument had an important role. Meanwhile, the color guard was able to add a valuable visual element to the show in a variety of positions on the field. Under the direction of Cheyenne Chester, the four mem bers of the color guard were able to weave in their elements throughout each song — eventu ally earning them the highest score in Class 1 A. In addition to the color guard visuals, the band also added a variety of body visuals to help emphasize certain parts of the show and add to the overall enter tainment factor. “The body visuals are a great way to enhance our performance as it gives us an extra element bringing out the high points of our show,” Gattis said. “Some of the movements are tricky to do while playing and everyone has to do it precisely on beat in order for it to look right. Watching them put energy into the impacts during the performance was real ly fun.” By the end of the show, the Dawson band had displayed the culmination of all the practices and halftime show performances that had led up to that day. The many parents in attendance — including those from other schools — showed their appreci ation to the competition’s open ing act. For Gattis, each band mem ber’s effort and the support from the Dawson County community have been crucial to the group’s success. “The students continue to want to be the best band this school has ever had, and their work ethic is shown on and off the field because they continue to see their hard work pay off,” Gattis said. “We have a small army of parent volunteers that help things run smoothly from preparing meals to making sure uniforms are in order. Our individual donors, cor porate sponsors, and everyone who supports the visitor’s conces sion stand on Friday nights help ensure we have all the resources we need in order to be success ful.” After the competition, the Tiger Pride Band will continue to per form at the football games and will also be performing at a cou ple of parades in the coming months.