After nearly eight years of hard work, County Commissioner Steve Hudson was able to tell the rest of the board at their May 22 meeting that the dream of Upson County taking over the operations of Sprewell Bluff had become a reality. The Board of Commissioners is in the process of going over an agreement with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (which currently controls operations of the park) that would be for a 50-year lease, giving Upson County total operational control. Hudson continued saying that if everything works out, Sprewell Bluff would then become a county park and would no longer be part of the state park system.
Hudson noted that once the contract is agreed upon, he and the board will be looking for help from the community to decide what to do to improve the area. The Flint Riverkeepers have already stated they are on board to help and another group is looking into some grants that may be available to help with the financial aspects of the project.
“It’s going to take a lot of people working together to make this turn out like we want it,” said Hudson who added that the reason he has pushed for the county to take over the park is because he wants to see it left open and fears that if left to the DNR it will end up being closed for operations.
County Manager Kyle Hood told The Times that there have been several other state parks throughout the state which have been turned over to the counties they are in for operational control, however those parks generally already had amenities such as camping. The county has plans to add amenities to the area, but they won’t be able to be done overnight
Hood added that this is something the county has never done before, but he is optimistic that it will all work out.
“Sprewell Bluff is a great asset to this community as both a natural and recreational resource and we want to make this dream a reality,” said Hood. “It has been a part of the Upson County community for a long time and if not for all of Steve’s hard work, it very well could have been shut down a long time ago.”
Post a Comment
