Committees formed to guide Stoney Creek Park
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on October 20, 2006 1:51 PM
By KENNETH FINE
News-Argus Staff Writer
The vision of a new Stoney Creek Park is slowly moving toward reality.
That message was delivered by the original Stoney Creek Park Committee chairman Dr. Peter Roethling Thursday, as he and other members of the Stoney Creek Park Alliance met at City Hall to continue discussions about the future of the project.
Roethling told board members he felt the best way to get residents and groups involved in the project was to divide the alliance's work among five subcommittees -- outreach, development-fundraising, programs, planning/design and volunteers.
"People on the board will work with these committees," he said. "But ultimately, the committees will report back to this board. The 6 or 8 of us can only do so much."
Under this system, these groups would plan different aspects of the estimated $2 million project and then report back to the board before official recommendations regarding Stoney Creek Park go before the Goldsboro City Council for approval.
"The way I see it, the board here is the Board of Directors," Roethling said. "We would make the final decision on things that need to be recommended to the City Council."
Each member of the 10-person board was asked to chose one of the subcommittees that interested them -- to serve as a liaison between the group and alliance board.
City Manager Joe Huffman, D.J. Coles and Sissy Lee-Elmore will serve on the outreach committee, which aims to handle public relations, mailings, the Web site and forming contacts within several communities including Wayne County, Goldsboro and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Councilman Bob Waller and Donnie Barnes chose to work on the development/fundraising committee.
Roethling will act as the liaison between members of the programs committee and the board. This group will plan programming at the park.
Board members Simonne Cato and Burl Braden joined the planning/design committee that will handle discussions about the six-acre lake, trails, parking and safety issues and more.
The final subcommittee will focus on volunteers, promotions, maintenance and projects. Board member Betsy Wharton will act as the liaison between that group and the alliance.
Board members plan to meet again Wednesday to prepare for their Nov. 9 public meeting, at which they will fill residents in on how different communities in Goldsboro, Wayne and at Seymour Johnson can help make a new Stoney Creek Park a reality.
The public meeting will be 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Herman Park Center.