Board pulls 3 Oaks Pond park plan after members raise concerns about using stormwater funds for recreation

Albany staff presented a design on Oct. 9 to grade, pipe and fill portions of 3 Oaks Pond at Pheasant and Meadowlark so the city could repurpose an approximately 1.5-acre detention pond into a community park. The staff presenter said the pond’s drainage was recently diverted to Lake Cornelia, which addressed the flooding issue and opened the site to potential recreational reuse.

Several board members questioned whether stormwater funds should pay for what some called a recreation amenity. One member told staff, “This is a recreation project,” and said projects with active flooding impacts such as Valencia and South Madison should take priority. Staff acknowledged the project was an afterthought to earlier drainage work and said Lanier Engineering produced designs intended to avoid recreating drainage issues.

Given member concerns about optics and prioritization, the board asked staff to pull the item and return with a prioritization of stormwater projects, an accounting of available SPLOST funds and an update on the schedule for projects already in design.

Staff said they will present a list of stormwater projects and capital updates so the board and commission can discuss priorities before any funding decision is made.