In a special meeting, the Rhea County Commission approved measures marking the beginning of a parks and recreation plan for the county.
County Executive Jim Vincent brought before the commission a plan for parks and recreation which also includes the start of fees for camping and usage of the Rhea Springs and Jackson Island sites.
He started by telling the commission of the opportunity for a grant from the state of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to make a park and recreation area at the newly purchased Abel property on Delaware Avenue. It will be adjacent to the new TCAT school and Rhea Elementary.
“This will include four soccer fields as well as a walking track, frisbee golf area and a mountain bike trail,” said the county official.
He said this will be a 50/50 matching grant from the state and the purchase of the land could be used in this. He said that this would be done in phases with the grant they are attempting to get now to be phase I.
“The state has some big plans for this area,” continued County Executive Vincent. Part of the plan includes the soccer fields and a bathroom area that the state has estimated at $300,00 to construct.
He said the soccer fields will be state of the art and will be next to the TCAT area. The grant would include the city of Dayton who would match half of what Rhea County puts up for the construction of the area.
“The state also said that we could seek private donations for the soccer fields. We could have sponsorships of around $100,000 from companies to have their name put on the fields,” the county executive said.
After the vote on the application of the grant, Rhea County Commission Chairman Jim Reed said, “Tonight you all (the Commission) have approved an important project to benefit the younger generation of this county. This is important to our community to have opportunities for young people to participate in sports activities.
“You have tonight impacted the lives of so many parents and the county. This will not happen overnight, but it will in time be a blessing to our community.”
Commissioner Nick Welch concurred, adding, “The fishing tournaments come and go. This will be a year-round project that will bring people in. It will benefit the county and city of Dayton with revenue.”
Commissioner Mark Cashman asked if an indoor facility could be possible at some time. County Executive Vincent said it could be considered, but it would be a costly venture.
He said this project will bring in a lot of families into the county that will use local businesses and help them. “We could look at building three pavilions for use," he said.
The commission also voted to add fees to the Rhea Springs camping area.
County Executive Vincent said he had received many calls from Rhea County residents that they couldn’t get into the campground because there were so many out of county residents using it. “When Rhea County people can’t get a site, I looked into the matter right away,” he said.
“It was free to them. We had a family that brought their camper down and parked it by the river and stayed a week and would go home and then come back, leaving the camper there,” stated County Executive Vincent.
Commissioner Billy Thedford raised the question of who would be there to collect the fees.
County Executive Vincent said that the county’s park and recreation staff are in and out of Rhea Springs during the week. He also said that the county could consider having a part time person also added at a later date.
Parks and Recreation Director Leon Locke said Rhea officials have been touring some of the parks and campgrounds in the area looking at how they are doing business.
County Executive Vincent said he is going to make a commitment to Rhea County citizens that all of the revenue that is gathered from the new fees will be used for improvement to the parks.
The Commission approved the following rates for use of Rhea Springs. For Rhea County residents it will be $10. For out of county persons, it will be $22. For multiple use of picnic tables it will be $25. And for all events the rate will be $50.
County Executive Vincent said these are reasonable rates. “Some of the campgrounds charge from $36 to $46 a day for the camp sites.”
County Executive Vincent said one of the goals that they are looking at is to add water and electrical hookups to the campground. “We currently do not have any amenities like other campgrounds do."
Commissioner Welch added that this would set the groundwork to open larger camping areas in the county.
County Executive Vincent concurred adding that TVA was wanting Rhea County to take over the management of Jackson Island as well.
He said a lot of people have expressed concern about some of the people that are using the campgrounds and were concerned about bringing their families to the area.
Director Locke added that since he became in charge of the parks that rules have been established and there is a zero-tolerance policy.
He said, “Anyone that violates the rules is banned from coming in for 12 months. We have cut down on incidents in the campgrounds. We only had four incidents this past year. The Rhea County Sheriff’s Department does a good job patrolling in the campgrounds and is quick to solve any problems. All the north end deputies have my number and I have theirs. We work together to keep trouble down.”
Mr. Locke said some of the plans include making the campgrounds ADA compliant over time.
“I’ve seen people being rolled up to the edge of the water in wheelchairs and get into the water. We would have a 6-foot ramp into the water to make it easier for them to get in and enjoy themselves,” he said.
County Executive Vincent said in the past, the parks and recreation people have just been a maintenance crew. “This is the beginning of a parks program,” he said.
Commissioners praised Mr. Locke for the job that he has been doing. County Executive Vincent added, "Leon has been doing a great job and is truly looking out for the county."