Regardless of a federal judges ruling against Forsyth County, or in favor of the YMCA - depending on how you look at it; Monday evening County Commissioner Patrick Bell hosted a town hall meeting to allow representatives from the Friends of the YMCA and the Friends of Bethel Park to give their reasons why the project should or should not move ahead. Before they began Patrick Bell gave a quick history of the issue. It seems that the YMCA has been pursuing this property for some time so that they can build a camp facility for Camp High Harbour. The County expressed interest in the park with plans to build a 75 space RV park.

The Argument
In short, the Friends of YMCA say that Bethel Park is an under-utilized park which has been partially closed since 1998. The YMCA will develop an $18M project that will include a gymnasium, baseball field, pavilion, pool, outdoor amphitheater, chapel, cabins for kids camp, docks with boats and much more. Camp High Harbour is such a well run and sought after kids summer camp that waiting lists around the country are constantly full. Additionally, at the Corps’ request, the YMCA will update and upgrade Two Mile Creek Park to ensure it will accommodate local park visitors. Initial improvements include adding a new boat launching lane, additional parking spaces, restrooms, relocating the courtesy dock, and shoreline reclamation & stabilization.

The Friends of Bethel Park argue that the county planned RV park would be less restrictive on park access than a summer camp operated by the YMCA, there would be less traffic on Bethel Road and the park would remain open for everyone. It seemed that most of the attendees that evening were residents in the area of Bethel Park and were most concerned about traffic.

“County Commissioners, you are an embarrassment!”
The heated discussion reached a near boiling point when Patrick Bell asked the other county commissioners, sitting in the audience, if they wanted to come up and comment on the issues. When all declined, Bell chastised them by saying they “are an embarrassment” to the county for essentially staying silent now and through the entire process with the Corp of Engineers.

Where the fight stands right now is that the county has spent approximately $50,000 of taxpayer dollars fighting this in court. They have the option to appeal, which could run another $10,000. If they win an injunction they can take it further on in court for an additional $50,000-$60,000 more of taxpayer money. Additionally, it was stated that the County is spending approximately $350,000 each year on the Lanier Park Systems with (arguably) low usage.

In the end it comes down to how many of the county residents want to spend more tax dollars to fight for a taxpayer funded RV park or allow the YMCA to spend their money on what seems to me as a facility the entire county can be proud of, one that their children can use.