Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 13A
it Reporter
November 28, 2012
City eyes playground for Kynette Park
BY DIANE GLIDEWELL
Forsyth is ready to purchase
playground equipment for
Kynette City Park. Renovation
of the park has been on-going
over the last year and has
included the upgrade and reno
vation of the softball fields, bas
ketball court, parking lot and
park building.
Carlton Burr of Southern
Playgrounds of Marietta made a
presentation of the company's
plan for the Kynette playground
to the city council’s Parks,
Recreation and Cemetery com
mittee on Nov. 20. The city
asked for bids on the playground
equipment for the park in
August and has only received
the bid from Southern
Playgrounds, which was the
company chosen by Monroe
County for the playground
equipment purchased for the
Monroe County Recreation
Department playground
installed in February.
The Kynette Park playground
is planned for a fenced 58' x 74'
area behind the park building. It
will include the area where the
swimming pool was. The city's
research into renovating the
swimming pool determined that
it was not feasible to do so.
There are still plans to put a
'splash pad' water feature with
sprinklers at Kynette Park to
provide a cool place to play in
the hot summers, but council
members decided the area near
the building would have the
most use as a playground.
Southern Playgrounds propos
es a crushed stone base with
three-fourths to one inch of rub
ber on top. The rubber is a prod
uct created from shredded tires.
Burr said a pour and crush play
ground is accessible to everyone,
including citizens with disabili
ties. Burr said studies have
shown city playgrounds are most
used by children ages 5-12; so
the majority of equipment sug
gested is aimed at the mobility
skills of that group. There will
also be playground equipment
for ages 2-4.
The plan includes three slides
6-15 feet in height with rollers
for an extra kick to generate
excitement. There are climbers
that will challenge 11 and 12-
year-olds and a twister climber.
There are monkey bars, straight
up and down climbers, a 360
plastic slide, two canopy roofs,
and an arched bridge. There is a
bench and an in-ground trash
can next to the
gate.
"We're not just
giving them the
same equipment
to play," said
Burr.
Burr said the
equipment comes
with a 15-year
warranty, and the
company inspects
the equipment
yearly. He said
the company has
been in business
since 1952 and sells in 13 coun
tries. The equipment is made in
Pennsylvania. Burr said the
playground should last 25-30
years.
Forsyth city department head
Alvin Randall said the city will
install the embedded fence
around the playground.
"Once they start construction,
we would have to work closely
with them," said Randall. "The
last thing is the gate. We may
have to dig out a section of reen
forced concrete."
The bottom line on the cost of
the poured rubber surfacing and
playground equipment is
$24,000. Burr offered a $3,000
discount if agreement was closed
by Dec. 12. If construction starts
on a Monday, it can be finished
by Thursday.
"The kids love the playground
at the recreation department,"
said council member Desi
Hansford.
Randall said the three-year-old
playground by Southern
Playgrounds in Valdosta still
looks good even though it is used
by about 1,000 children each
week.
Parks, Recreation and
Cemetery committee
chair Melvin Lawrence
said the purchase would
be brought to the city
council at its Dec. 4
meeting.
City administrator
Thomas White said he
purchased round tables
and 60 chairs to furnish
the Kynette Park build
ing for $960.
The committee dis
cussed the rental fee for
the building. Lawrence
initially suggested a $50
rental fee with a $35 refundable
deposit.
"The fee should be big enough
for people to take ownership,"
said Mayor John Howard. "We
want people who are serious and
care about it; $50 may be low."
Randall suggested they ask
what comparable facilities like
the Monroe County Clubhouse
and Senior Center charge.
Above is an artistic representation of the playground pro
posed for Kynette Park by Southern Playgrounds, Inc.
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Scarborough to commissioners:
Press on in county line dispute
Surveyor says Bibb committed fraud
BY RICHARD DUMAS
The surveyor in the
Monroe-Bibb County line
dispute urged Monroe
County commissioners on
Nov. 8 to continue their law
suit against Georgia
Secretary of State Brian
Kemp.
Surveyor Terry
Scarborough, who was
appointed by then-Gov.
Sonny Perdue in 2009 to
evaluate the disputed
boundary between Monroe
and Bibb, said his survey
findings that backed Monroe
County should have been
accepted by Kemp.
Scarborough told commis
sioners he will work with
Monroe County in any way
possible to resolve the dis
pute in Monroe's favor, call
ing Kemp's decision "a crimi
nal intrusion upon your
rights."
Monroe County filed a writ
of mandamus suit against
Kemp in Fulton County
Superior Court earlier this
year in hopes the court
would reverse Kemp's
August 2011 decision not to
accept Scarborough's survey
as the lawful boundary.
Recently-elected Monroe
County commission chair
man Mike Bilderback says
he is in favor of dropping the
suit, telling the Reporter last
month he supports waiting
until Kemp is out of office to
pursue further litigation con
cerning the boundary.
Scarborough said he was
aware of the suit, and then
alleged Bibb County commit
ted fraud by introducing
what he called a document
"created for fraudulent pur
poses in 1825" into evidence
at a May 31, 2011 hearing
concerning the line dispute.
Scarborough said the docu
ment was a petition for a
permit for a ferry for Pierce
A. Lewis on the Ocmulgee
River in 1825. The document
was accepted by Kemp into
evidence after the discovery
process had been completed.
Scarborough said the peti
tion provided misleading
information as to the loca
tion of Waller's Ferry
Landing. When the state
legislature created Monroe
County, it identified Waller's
or Turrentine's Ferry as an
endpoint.
Scarborough maintained in
his survey that Waller's
Ferry and Turrentine's
Ferry were one in the same
while Bibb County disputed
that fact. Scarborough told
commissioners that Warren
Jordan, an assemblyman
from Jones County, wrote an
article in 1827 that stated
that a "shameful fraud" was
attempted against the treas
ury of the state. Scarborough
said the fraud was originally
revealed in a Nov. 28, 1826
article in the Southern
Recorder. According to the
article, Lewis bought a por
tion of Waller's Ferry
Landing for $5,000. A small
er portion lying immediately
above the other portion was
also bought by Lewis for
$900 at the same sale. Lewis
then moved the ferry up the
river so it would land on the
smaller portion of land,
according to the article. He
then sold his interest in the
larger fraction of land to
another man, Jesse M.
Mathis, the article reads.
Scarborough said the state
lost about $3,000 that Lewis
never repaid when he
bought the ferry initially.
Scarborough said Jones
County citizens made
Jordan aware of Lewis'
transaction, which prompted
Jordan's own letter.
Scarborough said it was "a
deceptive misrepresentation
of facts" that prompted
Jones County to provide a
public road to a location on
the Ocmulgee River, Lewis'
ferry, that had been fraudu
lently recorded.
Scarborough said the docu
ment indicated that Lewis'
Ferry, formerly Waller's
Ferry, was located in Bibb
County. Scarborough argued
that Waller's Ferry was
moved up river in 1825 by
Pierce A. Lewis so as to align
with the landing he was
petitioning Jones County to
permit. Scarborough said
surveyor James Whatley ran
the Bibb-Monroe survey line
on Sept. 1, 1823, two months
before Lewis bought Waller's
Ferry Landing. He said it
could only be from Waller's
Ferry that Whatley started
his survey.
Scarborough then alleged
that Bibb County knew the
petition document in 1825
was "fraudulent" but used it
during the hearing anyway.
Scarborough speculated
that Kemp plans to ask the
Georgia legislature to adopt
the Bibb County interpreta
tion of the boundary during
the upcoming legislative ses
sion in January.
However, Rep. Robert
Dickey, who represents
Monroe and Bibb counties,
told the Reporter no one has
approached him about doing
that and said he wouldn't
support such a move without
Monroe County's consent.
State Rep. Allen Peake, who
also represents Bibb and
Monroe counties, said no one
has approached him about
legislation on the county line
either.
Scarborough
said he thinks
Monroe
County's law
suit will stall
Kemp's
actions and
urged Monroe
County com
missioners to
continue the
fight.
Scarborough
said, "I ask
that this
board take
every appropriate action to
take back what is rightfully
yours."
Scarborough said he has a
feeling the dispute will end
badly for Monroe County.
"It is something I poured
by heart and soul into,"
Scarborough said. "I'm not
here to cry on your shoulder.
But I wanted to let you
know., don't give up the
fight."
Commissioner Jim Ham
said he thought about
Scarborough when Kemp
decided earlier this year to
close the state archives to
the public.
"All he's trying to do is
keep folks from going in
there to find out the history
of Georgia," Ham said.
Scarborough said Kemp's
rejection of his survey put
him "in a state of despair,"
so he went to Georgia
College and State University
archives in Milledgeville and
found the material he
unveiled on Nov. 8.
Ham said one reason
Monroe County cannot give
up its fight is if a murder
occurs in the disputed area,
a trial could get thrown out
if it occurs in the wrong
county.
Ham said, "There are a lot
of other reasons, but all of
them mostly pertain to
money. But that's just right
and wrong."
Ham also noted that Bibb
County had agreed to pay
Scarborough for his survey
but withheld payment until
after the 2011 hearings.
Scarborough said Bibb
County commissioner Elmo
Richardson was quoted in
the Macon Telegraph on
March 11, 2011 as saying, "I
guess it depends on where
the line ends up, I guess,"
concerning whether
Scarborough would get paid.
Scarborough also pointed
out Richardson is the chair
man of the state board of
registration for professional
engineers and land survey
ors, which is directly under
Secretary of State Kemp.
Scarborough said, "That's
Surveyor Terry Scarborough tries to make
his case to secretary of state Brian Kemp at
the Ocmulgee River in July 2011.
what I've been up against."
For his part, Richardson
told the Reporter he doesn't
think the Telegraph quote is
accurate, and said he never
discussed the county fine
dispute with Kemp because
he didn't think that would
be appropriate. He said he
doesn't know whether the
election of Mike Bilderback
as chairman will make a dif
ference but said he doesn't
see it changing.
"The line has been where it
is since 1822, and I guess
that is where it will stay,"
said Richardson.
A Monroe County grand
jury requested in December
2011 that Gov. Nathan Deal
appoint another surveyor to
restart the process after the
active lawsuit has fully run
its course. Current Monroe
County commission chair
man James Vaughn, whose
term expires at the end of
2012, said that request has
been sent to the governor.
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at 6:30 p.m.
Join us for a night of encouragement
with dinner, a guest speaker and door prizes.
Come let us serve you
as we celebrate the season together!
Tickets are $5.00 a person.
Call the church office at 478-994-2545
or e-mail npbaptist@bellsouth.net to reserve a ticket.
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