A solution for Cochran Park may be on the way.
The Henry County Board of Commissioners voted Nov. 19 to authorize repairs to the park and give it to the city of Stockbridge, whose officials had not made a decision on whether to accept it in time for the November 20th edition .
The county action came in the latter part of the commissioners’ regular meeting, after Commissioner Bruce Holmes requested that it be placed on the agenda. The board approved spending $550,000 on the needed infrastructure repairs to reopen the park, on the condition that Stockbridge agrees to take ownership and assume responsibility for its operations and maintenance.
City manager Randy Knighton told the Times on the morning of Nov. 21 that a formal resolution from the county had been received the previous afternoon, but gave no hint as to when the city would take any official action.
“There is no timeline at this point,” he said. “We are taking a look at it.”
It was Holmes who ordered the park closed in July for safety concerns after considerable stormwater damage was discovered that included a crumbling pip and several sinkholes in the parking lot.
The baseball teams competing there were displaced and moved to Hidden Valley Park in the Fairview area, and Holmes began advocating for the conversion of Cochran Park to a passive park. This drew the ire of many in the community, from youth baseball participants to Stockbridge officials. Cochran Park has been hosting youth baseball for five decades and is the only park in the city limits that does so.
Earlier this month Holmes moved to approve a master plan created by county staff for the passive park conversion, but that motion failed to pass along with a few other discussed options. A joint special called meeting with the Stockbridge City Council took place a few days later but with no official action taken, as the commissioners did not have a quorum.
In the final discussions leading up to the Nov. 19 vote, all of the commissioners weighed in with their thoughts on how to resolve the issue to everyone’s satisfaction while maintaining that safety should be the top priority.
“Overall, my concerns regarding public safety have not changed,” said Holmes after the meeting. “However, I along with the board showed that we are willing to make concessions to fix the infrastructure and give the city the opportunity to own and make all decisions for Cochran Park in the future.”
Holmes said the repairs will begin immediately after the city agrees to take ownership of the park. He called it “a more-than-fair solution that will hopefully satisfy all parties involved.”
“The county has never dictated to our cities what to do with their assets nor have cities ever dictated the terms for county assets,” he added. “This process has shown me that Stockbridge really wants to keep Cochran park in its current form and we really want to work to ensure this happens.”
