Following a 20 minute closed session, Gilmer County commissioners voted unanimously to approve a separation agreement with the parks and recreation director.
The decision to fire Parks and Recreation Director Kevan White came at a regular meeting April 13. It followed a town hall meeting on Monday and a work session on Wednesday where groups of parents from the youth sports packed the rooms.
The separation was effective April 14.
Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris declined to comment on the firing.
“I don’t believe it would be appropriate to comment,” he said.
Paris called the town hall for Monday, April 10, at the courthouse because of a post on social media which started with Heath Thompson’s post.
“I just wanted to give them their own agenda,” said Paris. “There were a lot of people that made a lot of good points.”
Parents, including Thompson, outlined various grievances they had with the Gilmer County Parks and Recreation program on Monday.
The list included facilities which did not match up with surrounding counties, particularly Fannin and Lumpkin, lack of practice time because of overcrowded facilities and facilities which were not maintained properly.
At the end of the town hall meeting, commissioners committed to creating an advisory board for the parks and recreation department and having a professional study done to cover the needs of the department. Both were things the commissioners were working on, but gained more urgency.
Some at the end of the town hall meeting decried spending money on a study instead of putting it directly into facilities.
This theme carried over to the commissioners work session on Wednesday morning.
Discussion began among commissioners about gathering organizations to give presentations to the board. Based on the presentations, the commissioners would choose to award the contract for a master plan.
“We do need to move on it,” said Post Commissioner Hubert Parker.
Post Commissioner John Marshall read a statement where he agreed the board should identify funding, create an advisory board for parks and recreation and have an organization put together a master plan for the county.
“We are at a pivotal moment in time, and careful planning and decisive action are required that will benefit multiple generations of our citizens and our visitors,” he said.
County Attorney David Clark said he would need at least two weeks to compile bylaws for a parks and recreation advisory board.
Before opening up public comment, Paris cautioned the crowd.
“Don’t be these folks that can’t take ‘yes’ for an answer,” he said.
Kerry Bernard spoke first and said the group understood the commissioners were working on a long-term plan, but they also wanted to know what could be done now to improve the facilities.
“We want a change now,” she said. “I don’t feel that we had clear answers.”
Other speakers echoed the sense of having something done to improve the existing facilities and maintenance of the facilities.
“You’ve only given us a day and a half,” said Paris.
He said commissioners were looking to make steady progress and asked for the parents to give them time.
Paris pointed out improvements have been made to River Park since he took office. Some of the problems he said parents are seeing there are due to vandalism.
Commissioners voted to procure security cameras for the park at the regular meeting Thursday to cut down on vandalism. No costs were available at the meeting.
Commissioners also heard about the progress being made on the construction of a pool.
Steven Weaver, who is overseeing the project for the county, said remediation of the pool area is complete and they are moving forward.
“Weather is our biggest headache,” he said.