Rotary Foundation seeks county partnership and grant support for multi‑phase Houston County park project

A Rotary Foundation representative told the Houston County Commission that the foundation wants to partner with the county to build a multi‑phase sports and recreation complex on county property near the National Guard armory in Tennessee Ridge and asked for a county letter of support and limited upfront assistance.

The foundation representative said the project would be organized as a four‑phase plan: a large playground in phase 1, several miles of concrete walking trail with a storybook trail and parking improvements in phase 2, new baseball, softball and soccer fields with LED lighting and concessions in phase 3, and a splash pad in phase 4. "When we say large, it would be large, several hundred thousand dollars for phase 1," the representative said, and estimated the overall project could reach the "$3,000,000 range." The foundation plans to apply to the Clarksville Montgomery County Health Foundation for full grant funding for individual phases rather than one lump sum.

The foundation said it would act as the contract holder through its 501(c)(3), manage grant funds and be responsible for audits and completion documents, but asked the county for two small operational supports that the grantor will not fund: payment of grant administration fees and CPA/accounting costs. The presenter identified those items as roughly $2,500 for grant administration and $2,000–$3,000 for CPA costs, and noted the foundation’s existing restricted account (the Imagination Library account) could not absorb those operating costs without affecting its other programs.

Commissioners discussed maintenance and long‑term staffing needs, noting the size of the proposed park would likely require dedicated grounds staff. A commissioner said the health foundation granting the funds will want assurances about maintenance and long‑term care and observed, "nothing's worse than coming in and making a $3‑4 million cash injection into a park of that size and within 1 to 2 years it's just completely run down due to the lack of maintenance." The Rotary presenter agreed the project would require at least one to two full‑time maintenance employees and suggested the county consider adding staff as phases are completed.

On a funding step, one commissioner proposed approving up to $5,000 from county funds to cover any immediate paperwork and grant‑writing assistance needed to pursue the application this fiscal year. Other commissioners voiced support and indicated the county would include longer‑term maintenance costs in upcoming budgets. The presenter said the foundation would return with a master plan prepared by RY Engineering and requested the county's formal letter of support to accompany grant applications.

The foundation asked that the county allow the foundation to use an identified project manager (Dustin) who served as project manager for prior county‑school property park work. The presenter said the foundation would bring detailed site plans and phasing schedules back to the commission and that each grant award would require completing a phase within one year.

The commission did not adopt a binding long‑term agreement at the meeting; commissioners directed staff to support preparation of a master plan and indicated preliminary support for providing a letter and initial paperwork funding.