Got ideas about recreation at Green Peter Lake and along Quartzville Road?
The Linn County Parks Department wants to hear from you.
The county is working toward developing a master plan for recreation in the Quartzville Corridor along with other agencies with interests in the area, the Green Peter Lake Recreation
Officials plan to hold two public forums, on July 19 in Sweet Home, and July 22 in Lebanon, to give the public a chance to weigh in.
“With public input, we hope to develop several design and management options that can be evaluated by the Corps, the Linn County Parks Advisory Commission and the Linn County Board of Commissioners,” said David Reed, the county’s lead contract planner for the project.
The Sweet Home forum will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, July 19, at the Sweet Home Senior Center, 880 18th Ave.
The Lebanon forum will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 22, at the Linn-Benton Community College Annex Bldg, 44 Industrial Way.
Linn County Parks Director Brian Carroll said the county has met with other agencies that control property in the area and with private timber companies.
“I think we’ve gotten a good lay of the land in terms of what they think the issues are up there €“ concerns they have as well as positives and negatives of things up there in the corridor and on the lake.
“At this point we’re trying to get some more information from the public.”
Carroll said officials want to hear what people would like to see happen in the corridor, as far as recreation is concerned along Quartzville Road and on Green Peter Lake. He said they are interested in hearing people’s concerns about waste and safety in the area, as well as ideas.
“We’re looking for what people like to see up there in future,” he said. “Do they have a vision for what could go on up there?
Do they have concerns about what’s going on currently up there? Did they used to go and don’t go any more? What are the reasons for that?”
The views of people who camp along Quartzville Road, in particular, are desired, he said.
“We know there’s lots of dispersed camping,” he said. “They’re people we’d like to talk to. It’s hard to get feedback from them.
Campers at Whitcomb Creek (park on Green Peter), they’ll call us. We can get information about what’s going on at the park. But otherwise we don’t hear much from that area.”
A Public Forum Comment Questionaire will be available at the meetings and is expected to be posted on-line, Carroll said. He encourages people to fill out the form, which can also be procured by leaving a message at (541) 967-3917 or by e-mailing [email protected].
He said a decision on whether to hold more meetings will be made based on feedback from the next two weeks.
The plan is to gather the information by the beginning of August, he said.
“These forums will jump-start things. This is an opportunity to make comments at public meetings, to let people express their opinions.
“There’ll certainly be people who have concerns. But it could be a fun process. I think this is an opportunity to do some cool things up there if people are interested.”