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the upper altamaha initiative:
fall 2005
Abstract The Oconee River Greenway Authority (ORGA) is a governmental organization whose responsibility is to plan and manage the Oconee River corridor. ORGA is the primary client for this Practicum Project. The overarching goal of ORGA is to design and develop of a series of parks along the Oconee River, with the ultimate objective that these parks will be inter-connected by an extensive trail. Such parks will not only provide important recreational benefits for the various communities along the Oconee River, but will also promote stewardship of the region's vast natural resources through education, ongoing planning and maintenance of these parks. Many areas along the Oconee River are also important archeological and historic sites; a greenway system will dramatically enhance the protection of these sites and will also educate visitors of the significant role these sites play in the culture and heritage of the state of Georgia. The initial park to be constructed under ORGA is located in the city of Milledgeville in Baldwin County, Georgia. The land designated for the park was granted to the Oconee River Land Trust through a conservation easement from the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Milledgeville. Phase I of this park begins immediately south of the Hancock Street Bridge and will extend south to Fishing Creek. Phase II of the park is expected to include approximately 22 acres of land immediately north of the Hancock Street Bridge. The park location is ideally situated just east of the heart of Milledgeville, where both Georgia College and State University and the Georgia Military Institute are located. In addition to the aforementioned goals, ORGA also anticipates that the greenway will encourage economic development along this corridor of the town. Plans for the development of Phase I are progressing according to schedule and ORGA hopes to break ground on this portion of the park in early 2006. Designs for Phase II however, cannot be completed until ORGA is able to determine whether or not Georgia Power will partner with the Authority with respect to a segment of property along the Oconee River currently owned by Georgia Power. This particular issue is the primary focus of the Practicum Project. There are also additional concerns ORGA has with respect to various legal and policy issues affecting the plans for the greenway system. This Practicum Project will assist by generating legal and policy memoranda for ORGA to strategically assess and resolve these concerns. This property owned by Georgia Power is a sizeable chunk of land contiguous to the property ORGA intends to develop for Phase II of the greenway. Ideally, Georgia Power would donate this land to the conservation easement for inclusion in the greenway park. At the very least, ORGA would like to partner with Georgia Power in the development and maintenance of the property as part of the park's attractions. Not only is the Georgia Power property ideal land space for the greenway - without it, this portion of the greenway would not have direct access to the Oconee River - but the site also offers significant educational and historical value. The property owned by Georgia Power includes one of the original hydroelectric plants used by the company. Although what is left of the plant is no more than a shell of the original structure, ORGA would like to incorporate the abandoned plant into the park, creating an interactive site to enhance the educational and historical value of the greenway design. Although Georgia Power was initially interested in working with ORGA with respect to this property, this interest has waned in the last year. Georgia Power is hesitant to sell, lease or donate this land to the Greenway Authority, citing concerns over potential liability for the company with respect to use of this property. One of the primary goals of this Practicum Project is to address the potential liability Georgia Power currently faces and to also determine how cooperation with ORGA may affect any existing or potential legal responsibility Georgia Power has with respect to this property. In addition to examining the legal issues with regard to liability, this Project will also research and identify similar relationships between Georgia Power and other park systems, with particular emphasis on those situations where Georgia Power property has been successfully incorporated into park designs. A second question this Practicum Project will address for the client is whether the existing conservation easement can be amended to allow for the development of a public access road. Through various meetings with members of the community, ORGA determined that residents of Milledgeville would like the greenway plans to provide for greater accessibility to all members of the community - especially for children, elderly, and handicapped individuals. Many residents expressed a desire that a road be added to the greenway plans to address this need for greater access. Currently, the conservation easement prohibits road development on the land, so ORGA would like us to determine what legal barriers -- or lack thereof -- exist with respect to amending the existing easement in this way. This end of the Project will also examine cases of precedent for such amendments. Ultimately any road development will have to be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. Assuming this Project can definitively decide the issue of whether the easement can be amended, the Project will then focus on what steps are necessary to obtain the Corps' approval of the road design. A third objective of the Practicum Project is to assist ORGA in the clean-up and restoration of the entire greenway site. Phase II in particular is littered with debris and is frequently assaulted by trespassers who use the area for off-road vehicle recreation. The land shows significant wear and tear from these abuses, and it is a goal of this Project to eliminate such mis-use and to coordinate and implement clean-up efforts. A fourth and final goal of the Practicum Project is important because of its strategic relationship to the other three goals. The Project group sees organized community support as imperative for the success of ORGA's various initiatives with the greenway project. Although community support does exist in varying degrees, there does not seem to be an organized and unified demonstration of the support network. The Practicum Project would like to coordinate a Community Coalition committed to the development and maintenance of the greenway system in Milledgeville. The Community Coalition will consist of local businesses and organizations, as well as local, regional and state government. It is strongly believed that with an organized coalition of support, other goals such as site clean-up and maintenance can be achieved more effectively. Furthermore, a strong network of significant support within the community will be an important leveraging factor in the negotiations with Georgia Power. Finally, this Community Coalition will provide ORGA with ongoing, continuous support for the management and maintenance of the Oconee River Greenway system in Milledgeville. |
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