Editor,
At the Parks Commission’s special meeting on March 27 there were few if any public comments on the designated topic – closure of 200-300 acres of Lake Leatherwood Park to public access, because that decision had already been made. But much was said about the process and impacts of the downhill project.
Mickey Schneider, city council member, said, “Our biggest concern is the environmental stuff… How can you be building a trail and destroying everything before it’s been studied?… If you tear everything up now, what’s the point of studying next spring, next fall? Explain this somebody, please.”
Chris Fischer asked, “Is it a fact that there’s a plan” … with respect to “this project … downhill, Passion Play, Black Bass, etc.?”
[Bill] Featherstone responded, “There is no all-encompassing, all-inclusive, singular plan that incorporates all of that. That’s a fact.”
Fischer continued, “Is there one for downhill…?”
Featherstone’s answer: “In writing, no? That’s a fact.” He went on to describe Rock Solid Trail Contracting’s process: “They have some creative license. It’s kind of like that hillside is a blank canvas. There’s a few single lines on it. You put a paintbrush in an artist’s hand and you say, ‘Now paint me something.’ They don’t know what they’re gonna paint until it’s a done piece.”
Much, much more was said. (You can request an audio recording of the meeting at City Hall.) My summary is this: 1) the entire area destined for downhill trails will be closed until the trails are finished, perhaps mid-May; 2) there is no plan for the downhill trails or the in-town trails; 3) there has been no expert inventory of karst features and fauna and only a partial inventory of plants in the project area; 4) Rock Solid Trail Contracting has creative license to build downhill trails where and how they wish although they’re in an area of the Park that is rich with as-yet unidentified karst features that should be protected by a 300-ft. buffer zone, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Best Management Practices. The area is also home to at least one species – tri-colored bats – that is proposed for listing as endangered.
Pat Costner