Residents upset over park proposal

ELBERTA, Ala. - The Baldwin County Commission purchased 20 acres of land on Wolf Creek with plans of developing a park and boat launch.

At a town hall meeting Tuesday night, residents in the Elberta area voiced strong opinions against the development.

Robert Anderson has lived on Wolf Creek for 12 years and is building a brand new home on his property.

He and his wife were at the meeting. They, along with many others, are concerned about the traffic and trash the launch will bring.

Anderson took Fox 10 on a tour of the creek to show the proposed launch site from the water.

He said, "Then it's only a foot or two deep out here, so you've got a very narrow waterway out here." And this was only the first of many things he pointed out. He also said the creek has not sustained boat wakes until about 15 years ago, and the addition of boats in the creek will damage the banks, and possibly destroy the island where osprey make their nests.

Anderson said the main concern among neighbors is unwanted water traffic. Many of the neighbors are not totally opposed to the plan.

"We would love to have a nature park out here with access to the water for the public and canoe launch and so forth, it's simply the increase in power boat traffic that is our concern."

Anderson said he doesn't think the infrastructure of the land can sustain the number of people that would come to the area.

Even though the land has already been purchased by the Baldwin County Commission for $635,000, Anderson and other neighbors plan to fight the boat launch and try to get the park built right if it in fact gets the go ahead.

"I don't think it's a done deal there is still rezoning that has to be done and I think the budget is a major obstacle, they grossly underestimated the budget required to do what they want to do."

Anderson volunteered to be one of six members on a community committee that Commissioner Charles Grouber asked residents to form.

The purpose of the committee is to be involved in the planning of the project.