Parks director envisions unique parks across county, more greenways

By Jim Buice

Enterprise Record

BERMUDA RUN – During his presentation at last week’s town council meeting, Paul Moore, the director of Davie County Recreation and Parks, singled out the town for one significant component that fits perfectly into the county’s overall plan of connectivity.

“You guys are in the catbird’s seat here because you have the Blue Heron Trail,” Moore said. “What a fantastic greenway. And I’m using your trail as leverage and a reason to tell our leadership at the county level, hey, Bermuda Run’s got the Blue Heron Trail, and we need to look at connectivity within our greenway master plan, which also is brought up in our Comprehensive Master Plan update.”

Moore provided an overview of the County’s Comprehensive Recreation Master Plan update along with functions and services offered and some thoughts on what’s ahead, including recommendations for the top 10 strategic needs: acceptance of fee simple land donation, contiguous property acquisition, land dedication/fee in lieu of, natural and cultural heritage inventory, walkable communities, greenways/trails, daily maintenance and design, programs and classes, private/public partnerships and educating on rural heritage.

Then there was a breakdown of capital needs – with estimated price tag of $28 million over 10 years:

• 2024-2026: Lake Louise acquisition and updates, Northern area land acquisition and master planning, administration office update, adventure recreation additions at Davie, interactive indoor batting cages, parking improvement at Davie Little League, digital marketing improvements, aquatics feasibility study;

• 2027-2030: Phase I development of Northern Area Park, Viticulture Heritage planning and improvements, Yadkin River master plan, Greenway trail loop – Phase 1, Phase 2 development of Davie Community Center;

• 2031-2034: Eastern, Western, Southern land acquisition, shade structure and trail development at Davie Youth Complex, aquatics center development.

“We want to keep the momentum going,” Moore said. “We have an opportunity unlike any other county in the state in that we don’t have a parks systems yet. And that is the exciting part of it – yet. We’ll be selling this for the next few years as we’re looking at the important additions coming out of this plan.”

Moore talked about the importance of developing a backbone, starting with the Bermuda Run and Farmington areas followed by expanding east-west.

“Part of our recommendations is looking at land and green space, and we’ve got to focus on a plan now because in 10 to 15 years as development is naturally coming this way, costs are going to be three, four, five times what it is now in the future,” he said.

As for parks, Moore said he envisioned having six to seven parks throughout the county with an emphasis on themes and finding things other parks and recreation departments aren’t doing.

The offerings include an upcoming ag/equestrian park, a roller park (with all things skating, even perhaps like the old days of roller derby), possibly a community pool with unique architectural features and Lake Louise (with all things golf, perhaps featuring a scaled-down version of the popular new Topgolf facilities).

Of course, Moore knows all of this comes with a hefty price tag, and besides “a significant bond in the next five to 10 years,” he is looking at a different approach – seeing his agency as a service and a business.

“A lot of agencies focus on an assistant director, but I’m not looking at that,” Moore said of an approach of bringing on a business manager instead. “How are we going to bring a return on our investment? If the position gets approved, we’re looking at at least three times that salary every year in return because that’s the sole focus – grants, sponsorships and partnerships – and that includes with our local municipalities, too.”

And speaking of the Blue Heron Trail, Moore brought up if there was a way of combining forces and leveraging opportunities for connectivity that would benefit the county and the town, he would be open to that.

Mayor Mike Brannon reminded Moore that grants are available in the town’s region or at the broader Davie County beyond the Winston-Salem perimeter of the Transportation Advisory Committee that provides that opportunity for pedestrian pathways to be granted at an 80/20 percent split.

“You can go a lot of miles when you have those matching funds,” Brannon said.

In the manager’s report, Andrew Meadwell offered several updates, including:

• The town is still working on the connection at the pedestrian bridge, adding “hopefully we’ll have a path forward soon to get this complete.”

• The first phase of Bermuda Run West was completed recently with over 150 types of repairs done. A second phase will continue over the coming months.

• Work is progressing with the Kinderton Village sidewalk repair plan awaiting one more contractor to bid with the hope that the first 13 sections identified by the HOA will be “kicked off” by the end of July.

• Discussions have been ongoing with the paving contractor on street paving, adding, “I think we’ve got price down to a point that’s as far as it can go. It’s not ideal, but it’s the market we are in.” He added he hoped to have something for the council to look at for next week’s agenda meeting.

• Work continues on trying to move forward with The Flags at Blue Heron Trail project. “We’re working with the contractor and have a couple of options and designs that he’s getting those prices for” with the hope that council might have something to review at the agenda meeting.

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