Parker Meadows Grand Opening Set for August 25th

Here is a copy of the press release from Macon County regarding the grand opening of the Parker Meadows Recreation Facility on August 25, 2015:

Parker Meadows Press Release

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Macon County Commissioners 08-26-2014

Last night, the Macon County Commissioners reconvened a meeting that was recessed on August 12th. The agenda that was released to the general public is posted below, and below that is the agenda that was released to the local news media.

The bulk of the meeting was taken up discussing changes that were made to the Parker Meadows Recreation Facility due to the discovery of a tooth during archaelogical investigation of the site. It is estimated that it will cost in excess of $260,000 to make the changes to accomodate the gravesite. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian will also likely be building some sort of memorial onsite.





1. Reconvene and welcome – Chairman Corbin

2. Tax Releases – Tax Administrator Richard Lightner

3. Budget Amendments #26 and #27 – Finance Director

4. Insurance Proceeds for CHAF Property – County Attorney

5. Update on Parker Meadows Recreational Complex – County Manager

6. Discussion regarding resolution honoring Prentiss Baptist Church

7. Adjourn

Press Packet for 08-12-2014 Commissioners Meeting by Thunder Pig

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Macon County Fails to Receive PARTF Grant for Parker Meadows Property Will have to pay full price

RALEIGH — State officials today announced the award of $3.8 million in grants from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to 14 local governments for parks and recreation projects.

“Through the local grant program of the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, state and local governments have been partners in providing green space, outdoor recreation opportunities and stimulus into local economies,” said Lewis Ledford, director of the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. “The result has been healthier citizens and improvement in the quality of life in North Carolina.”

The matching grants, awarded by the Parks and Recreation Authority, will help fund land acquisition, development and renovation of public park and recreation areas. The authority considered 73 grant applications requesting more than $20 million. A maximum of $500,000 can be awarded to a single project.

Source: NC Political News
Hat Tip: Anonymous

From what I heard at the Commissioner meetings, this grant was supposed to be a slam dunk. Guess not.

The county will now have to pay $550,000 for the property.

Here is video of the vote by Commissioners that allowed the purchase to go through to completion...

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Macon County Commissioners 04-12-2013

The Macon County Commissioner had recessed their Tuesday meeting [video] to Friday in order to complete their due diligence on the purchase of the Parker Meadows property. The meeting lasted about an hour. Read my play by play that I posted as the meeting happened on Google Plus.

The following is from the power point presentation given by Macon County Planner Matt Mason: (open the images in a new tab to view at a larger size)








SITE MEETINGS & DETERMINATIONS

• County staff conducted a Site meeting with David Brown, ACOE to discuss wetland delineations, and existing water features on the property.

• County staff met with Archaeologists to discuss potential historical sites that were present on the site.

• County staff made several site visits to ensure challenges were addressed in order to achieve compliances with all regulatory agencies.

SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA

• Our office is required to make sure that _all_ development with the Special Flood Hazard area (SFHA) is compliant with Macon County's Flood Ordinance.

•The site at Parkers Farms is partially located within a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). Therefore we are required to ensure full compliance with Macon County's existing Flood Ordinance.

PROPOSED DESIGN: DOES IT ALL WORK?

•The preliminary layout for the Recreational Complex at Parker Farms will be in full compliance with Macon County's Flood Ordinance.

•We can accomplish the proposed development of the project without any fill material being placed in the SFHA (Special Flood Hazard Area).

PROPOSED DESIGN OF CLOVER LEAFS

•Fields 1,2 and 8 are partially located with the SFHA.

•Fields 1 and 2 currently have 4'-5' of positive drainage from the home plate to the outfield and should be constructed, as proposed.

• Field 8 could be used as proposed (unable to verify drainage due to existing vegetation) or the field can be reduced in size to create a smaller field for tee ball, coach pitch, etc.


During the course of the discussion, Commissioner Higdon passed out a document [photo] that delineated his opposition to the project, some of which was invalidated due to the archaeologist verbally reporting during Tuesday night's meeting that no earth could be disturbed over the archaeological sites and his written report saying that the sites could be disturbed to a depth of 18 inches. Apparently, Commissioner Higdon was not given access to the written report but some county employees were. [I requested a copy of the archaeologist's written report Tuesday night, but he has not sent me a copy.]

Using information I've learned at a recent workshop held by +Carolina Public Press, I will be pursuing this public document request and will report back on the results.

Commissioner Haven made a motion to decline the purchase of the property, seconded by Commissioner Higdon, and after each commissioner had his say, the vote was called and the motion failed by a vote of 2 in favor and 3 opposed. Commissioners Haven and Higdon voted in favor of declining the purchase and Commissioners Beale, Corbin and Tate voted against declining the purchase.

So, the county will be moving forward to complete the purchase of the property.

The Commissioners recessed the meeting until Thursday night, April 18th, at 6pm at the Macon Bank Corporate Center in order to meet jointly with the Macon County Board of Education to discuss the Education Budget for the coming fiscal year.

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Parker Meadows Purchase Gets Approval From County Commissioners

A motion to decline the purchase of the Parker Meadows property failed by a vote of 2-3 in a county commissioner meeting tonight. Commissioners Haven and Higdon voted to in favor if declining the purchase and Commissioners Beale, Corbin and Tate voted Not to decline the purchase, so the county will move forward in acquiring the property for use as a recreational facility.

I have have the full video of the meeting posted online in the morning.

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The Parker Meadows Discussion at the 04-09-2013 meeting of the Macon County Commissioners

It is my firm belief that one cannot properly report what happened during the hour long presentation and ensuing discussion (an hour of the 2 hour and 25 minute long meeting was devoted to this) about the Parker Meadows Property in the few short paragraphs local papers will devote to it. They will, by political design and/or space requirements, leave out crucial elements of the discussion and points raised by each county commissioner. After you watch the video I have embedded below, please take the time to read each of the local papers version of the events.

In particular, the main purpose the commissioners kicked the can down the road yet again and meeting again on Friday is to determine whether or not dirt can be moved from outside the floodplain to inside the floodplain on the same piece of property. Commissioners Beale and Corbin tried to phrase the question differently so that the question is not so narrow, but that is the crux of the whole thing.

Here is the video of the entire discussion so that you can see and hear it for yourself as if you were at the meeting and not having to rely on a very short summarizing report. I will replace this with an HD Video by early next week.



The commissioners will be meeting again on Friday night at 6pm and I'll be there to record that meeting as well.

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