LULA — Though Lula hasn't received the official grant notification yet, City Manager Dennis Bergin says the city has been selected to receive a reimbursable recreation trail grant for the wellness section of Rafe Banks Park.
Mayor Milton Turner discussed the grant during Monday night’s city council work session.
“Persistence always comes out ahead,” Turner said. “We got our trail grant of $131,000, which we will have to pay that out then we will be reimbursed back $79,000 of that $131,000 to extend the trails over at the tennis courts area.”
Councilman Vince Evans asked whether grant proceeds can be used to install lights at the tennis courts, but was told by Bergin and Turner the projects included in the grant approval are very specific and do not include that lighting.
“We have yet to get an official notice on this, but I got a letter five pages long talking about the environmental requirements, and I have to answer that by the 29th,” Bergin said. “Right away I asked, ‘What’s your schedule? When can we start?’”
Bergin said the city can’t start until it gets past the required environmental assessment.
“I’m guessing this falls into next fiscal year,” Bergin said.
After the meeting, Bergin explained more about the effort that has gone into the grant application on the city’s behalf.
“The city’s actually been pursuing this trail grant, this is our third application through the years,” Bergin said. “We’re very fortunate the [Georgia] Department of Natural Resources has given us the opportunity, as they have with other cities and counties.”
As for the plans for spending the money, Bergin said, “We’ll take some existing acreage that doesn’t have trails on it and develop those in a natural environment. We’re actually going to be putting an outdoor classroom that some of the local Boy Scouts and schools can utilize, and hopefully that may start as early as the beginning of our fiscal year, which is July 1. I’ve got to get a little more direction from DNR with regard to that, but we’re excited about it. It’s a good opportunity.”
Bergin is thankful for the timing of this grant award.
“Unfortunately, I hear this may be the last trail grant that may be out there for a while,” Bergin said. “Better to be last, in this case, I guess.”
