Other action
Also during its meeting Tuesday, the Forsyth County commission:
* Agreed to accepts bid for the design, installation and operation of an ariel adventure course and rock climbing wall at Sawnee Mountain Preserve.
* Accepted a grant from the state for $53,092 with no match required for Mental Health Court.
* Appointed Richard Neville as general counsel and hearing officer and Jerry Bowman to serve the unexpired term as neutral member on the county’s civil service board.
* Decided to move to a public hearing on whether to change the local unified development code to add a new residential district.
* OK’d a utility agreement with the state Department of Transportation to install a 16-inch waterline on the Hwy. 53 replacement bridge that will span the Chestatee River arm of Lake Lanier.
Note: All votes were 5-0 unless otherwise listed.
-- Kelly Whitmire
SOUTH FORSYTH — The county’s government and school system are close to an agreement that will provide additional space for youth sports in south Forsyth.
Under the plan, which got the county commission’s approval Tuesday, Forsyth would renovate a practice field at Lambert High. In return, the parks and recreation department could use it.
“What this contract envisions is the county acting as the primary funder of basically an upgrade to what is basically a practice field at Lambert School, where we would fund the installation of synthetic turf on this field.” said County Attorney Ken Jarrard.
The Forsyth County Board of Education must still approve the deal. Officials hope the field will be ready by July.
The proposal is for 10 years, with the county paying up to $495,000 to resurface the field. If the field needed to be resurfaced before the agreement expires, the county would pay for an additional resurfacing and the deal would extend another 10 years.
As proposed, the county would have access to the park from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on all weekdays except Wednesdays from January to June, the same time on all weekdays except Friday from July through December and all day on Saturdays.
Lambert Principal Gary Davison said that there would be a 30-minute buffer between school and county use.
“We finish our practices by 6 p.m., and we built in a half hour buffer so that all of our students and families will be out as the parks and rec people start coming in, so there’s’ not an overflow of coming and going,” Davidson said. “Many of our practices and things are done well before 6.”
Under the agreement, the school board would be responsible for field upkeep and installing lights, which must be done within six months of completion. There will also be parking and restrooms available at the field.
Since the agreement is between the government and school system, it would not be affected by any future changes to campus or departmental leadership.