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week of 1/8/03 | |
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| Big
plans Macon greenway group hopes grants will pay for major improvements By Don Hendershot The Friends of the Greenway in Macon County have big plans, and they’re hoping county commissioners support their efforts to accomplish them. Hank Shuler, president of the Friends of the Greenway, presented Macon County commissioners an ambitious and detailed proposed five-year plan for the greenway at their regular Jan. 6 meeting. Shuler asked the board to consider three proposals: approval of the plan; authority to apply for two grants on behalf of the county; and a $150,000 funding commitment. FROGS is a nonprofit created to assist Macon County in the management and development of the Little Tennessee River Greenway. County Board Chairman Mark West said it was too early in the budget process to consider any kind of funding commitment, but the board unanimously approved the plan and gave FROGS its blessing to seek the grants with the stipulation that the county would decline the grants if the required matching funds were not available in the budget. The greenway plan calls for six capital improvement projects during the 2003-2004 fiscal year with a total price tag of $800,000. The three largest projects are Big Bear Park/Wesley’s Playground at a cost of $292,965; FROG Quarters at $166,415; and the Tartan Trail, 7,000 feet of new trail at the southern end of the greenway in Franklin. Shuler said the FROGS envisioned Big Bear Park as the hallmark of the greenway. Wesley’s Playground will be a community playground honoring the memory of Wesley Powell, a child lost in a tragic daycare fire. In a phone interview after the meeting, Shuler said that FROG Quarters was a project with numerous possibilities. The site on Main Street is the home of the old Waterwheel Restaurant and Motel. Some of the scenarios include office space and facilities for the FROGS; a new home for the Macon County Chamber of Commerce; and a shared facility with the FROGS and the chamber. Tartan Trail would add 7,000 feet to the trail and reach from U.S. 64/441 almost to the Macon County Recreation Park. Other fiscal year 2003-2004 proposed improvements include a Sulí Marsh boardwalk at a cost $17,700; the improvement of 5,300 feet of trail along Morris Trace at the north end of the trail at a cost of $97,785; the Big Bear Connector, a paved connector beneath the Main Street bridge linking Big Bear Park and the Old Airport Trail at $75,985. Shuler said the two grants FROGS would be applying for were a $250,000 Parks and Recreation grant and a $50,000 Recreation Trails grant. If the FROGS was successful in obtaining those grants the county’s match would be 50 percent of the Parks and recreation grant and 25 percent of the Recreation Trails grant for a total of $137,500. That match would come from the $150,000 the group requested from the county. Application deadline for the two grants is Jan. 31. Notification would come by June or July. Shuler said FROGS would use the time between January and June to apply for other grants, initiate fund-raisers and prioritize the five-year plan in case there was a funding shortfall. Shuler said the group was especially interested in securing planning money. “We are at the point where we need professional planners and consultants to help us visualize and plan for major projects.” Some of those upcoming projects include plans for the Nikwasi Center, the development of “FROG Quarters,” the feasibility of a frisbee golf course, the improvement of the boat launch facility at Tassee Park, and the inclusion of historical features along the trail. Shuler said a lot of time and effort had gone into the proposed five-year plan. “We have our ducks in a row, now we have to figure out how to pay for those ducks,” she said. |
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