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Park board votes to hire consultant to map and protect 'Story Time Hill'
Summary
At its May 19 meeting the Henry County Memorial Park Board approved hiring a consultant to map sensitive habitat north of the new bridge and to formally protect an area known locally as Story Time Hill; the motion passed by voice vote and the resident who proposed the work offered a $4,000 donation toward mapping.
The Henry County Memorial Park Board on May 19 voted to hire a consultant to map and recommend protections for a stretch of woodland north of the park's suspension bridge, including an area residents call "Story Time Hill." The voice vote approved a motion to engage the consultant mentioned during public comment, with board members saying the project will be paid from Henry County RIPS funding.
The proposal grew out of remarks from a resident and volunteer who urged the board to formally recognize and protect high-quality habitat, describing rare wildflowers and mature understory plants. The resident told the board she had hired an outside specialist in similar work and said she would contribute $4,000 personally to have the park mapped; "It costs $4,000, and I would come up with the money. So I'm not asking any money," she said during the meeting.
A board member moved to hire the contractor to map the park north of the bridge; another member seconded the motion. After discussion about defining exact boundaries and the need for a map to guide future trail or facility siting, the chair called for a voice vote. The motion passed by voice; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.
Board members asked staff to bring a clarified, mapped boundary to a future meeting so that the protection can be documented and applied consistently for future boards. The resident and staff also stressed the mapping is intended to guide decisions (where to site trails or shelter houses) rather than to ban all uses outright.
The vote came amid a separate but related report to the board that several small native trees and understory plants had recently been cut at Story Time Hill. The resident said she had found freshly cut stumps and that she had contacted the sheriff's office; board members discussed replanting and better site marking to prevent further damage. The board did not make a formal enforcement determination at the meeting.
Next procedural steps: staff will work to produce a clear, parcel-level map and return the item for ratification at a future meeting so the protected area and funding source are explicit.
