Wednesday, October 2, 2024–11:45 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Rome City Manager Sammy Rich and Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord have been meeting to work on a facilities list for Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation.
On Tuesday, members of the Rome-Floyd Joint Services Committee got an update on those conversations which revolve around the facilities that have been added, what has been addressed, what is under contract, and what is planned for the future.
The city has expressed an interest in incorporating the Ridgeferry Park pavilion into the ECO Center. According to Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord, the request makes total sense, but there is the issue of utilities.
“I totally get that, and I have no problems whatsoever,” he said. “We just want some kind of fair negotiation. It is going to take a little bit of revenue—not a significant amount. Maybe there could be a little bit of a rebate back or they pay the utilities at the bathroom and we continue to maintain the restrooms and clean them on a daily basis.”
McCord added that restrooms have been added at Parks Hoke Park.
“It’s not a big deal when you don’t have bathrooms in a park but it is a big deal when you have them,” he said. “That’s physical labor where someone has to be there. We do most parks six days a week and some we do more often. Again, it’s just a maintenance issue. You can imagine if the restrooms go unmaintained how difficult it is for the public to use them.”
Rome City Manager Sammy Rich told the committee that he is still struggling philosophically about paying utilities outside of what is included in the official recreation agreement, adding that it is getting into an area that feels like double taxation.
McCord countered by saying the county would lose revenue if the city takes over the pavilion.
According to Rich, historically, the city has taken a good bit of costs out of parks and recreation.
“We took over trails,” he said. “We took over Barron Stadium, and Maddox Track, as well as the tennis center and the throws center. Those were pretty substantial changes. Before that, we tore down the Memorial Gym.”
The discussion led Rome May Craig McDaniel to ask about the status of the recreation master plan. McDaniel said it would be easier for city and county commissioners moving forward to have a master plan in place instead of nickel and diming the issue.
McCord told McDaniel the master plan is about 90 percent complete.
“We probably need four or five weeks to finish it,” McCord said. “We just paused it during the local option sales tax discussions.”