Thank you to the voters in the city of Rome who sent such a clear message last November that we want our dream of a Central Park preserved for our children and grandchildren. Combining the city's beautiful and historic Jackson Hill property with our wonderful Ridge Ferry Park and thence our amazing nework of Riverwalks by preserving the 80 acres of Burwell Creek property. Here's our original plea:
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Share, share, share. Spread the word. Find at least ten new votes for change.
Vote NO incumbents.
Save Rome's Central Park!
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AND you the citizens overwhelmingly voted for our two leading candidates, gave slight majorities to three incumbants, and clearly rejected two incumbents -- leaving one of them on the commission by about 30 votes despite his minority support.
NOW, keep alert. Attend the City Commission caucusses and meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Remind the commissioners of our clear wish to use this city property as park land forever.
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| Take the opportunity to stroll through these woods. It's an easy walk from the tracks. Find the third opening into the woods along the powerline and follow the little jeep trail into them. Meander. Find the creek. You'll see that this 11 acre triangle could accommodate any of a variety of park uses. Campsites? Playgrounds? Picnic areas? Trails, of course. As our population grows Ridge Ferry could expand into this part of our floodplain. |
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| An interesting note: the developers' test drilling produced several holes that they forgot, or chose not, to fill in. I dropped pebbles into them. I'd say they are ten or more feet deep, and judging from the resonant splash, reach the water table. |
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| Please take a walk here soon. You may have only a few more chances. Then tell the commissioners: No! Do not take this legacy from our kids. This beautiful property is ours. We don't have to buy it. It is there as we grow. We can expand our park into parts of it. We can gradually add trails and boardwalks and wildlife observation platforms to it. We can reclaim our man-made pond on one end, landscape it, add flowers and picnic tables for a green oasis along our main city thoroughfare. It will connect along its full length from the tracks to the Duck Pond our beautiful trails of Jackson Hill with the Riverwalk, ECO Center, and playgrounds of Ridge Ferry Park. It will be the heart of our Central Park, right in the heart of our town for generations to come. Save Rome's Central Park! Vote for change. Vote for the challengers. Vote NO incumbents. |
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| It is, in my opinion, a bad idea to give up our property here at any price. But this deal is shameful. |
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| As commercial property, at auction, right on Riverside Drive? At auction, how about it real estate experts? $7K? Ha! The city could easily get the entire $600K that Ledbetter is "paying" for the 80 acres for just this part, I imagine. What were you thinking Buzz Wachsteter? Why would you do this, Bill Collins? Evie McNeice you KNOW the value of parks and greenspace to a city, economically. You grew up here, Milton Slack! Hoiw can you think of destrpoying this legacy? Bill Irmscher, do you really think $7K is reasonalble for prime downtown property? I doubt seriously if any of these guys has taken the walk I did tonight. If they did they could not with a straight face say that property is "blighted" and only worth $7K per acre. |
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| I wonder who lives under this old tree. I wonder if it might be one of the few to escape the bulldozers. |
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| Look at the beaver slide. Our woods here, and wetland, are full of wildlife. |
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| We surprised some deer again, but mostly Sheila and I just enjoyed the relative quiet and had a nice talk with our daughter in San Diego via iPhone as we strolled through our old woods. Some of the maples are beginning to take on some red and yellow. But it is still pretty green. |
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| I'll bet the developers have been living in terror that some to the Berry eaglets might decide to take up residence in these tall trees so near the river. An eagles nest out there would add a few more likes to our count I'll bet. |
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| I get more fired up with determination to stop this bad deal every time I walk around and through our endangered 80 acres. |
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| Mr. Ledbetter will be pleased to know I have no need of a tetanus shot. These are the eleven prime acres he wants to "buy" for $7K an acre to use for an upscale gated apartment complex. It is gorgeous in the twilight. A little ordinary litter, but really pretty much open woods. Cetainly NOT blighted. The Ledbetter/Wachsteter/Collins/McNeice/Slack/Irmscher plan? Take this legacy from our children and grandchildren. Cut virtually all the trees. Bulldoze and level a huge rectangle. Haul untold loads of fill material. Compact it so it can support buildings. Build the rectangle of apartments. Pave the drives and parking lots. Make millions of dollars for the developers, maybe in a few years make some tax money for the city. |
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