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Cherokee County parks director outlines 2025–28 strategic plan; board to consider formal adoption
Summary
Director Jay Worley presented a 33-task Recreation & Parks strategic plan for 2025–2028, tying projects to the county’s 2019 master plan and 2023 SPLOST funds; staff highlighted Long Swamp Creek opening, maintenance staffing goals, and grant funding.
Director Jay Worley told the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners on March 18 that Recreation & Parks has completed most of its prior strategic goals and is asking the board to consider adopting a new four-year plan.
"We accomplished 34 of 38 of the action items" from the 2020–2024 strategic plan, Worley said, and the new plan contains 33 tasks organized across five priority areas, from capital projects to organizational sustainability. Worley tied the work to the county’s broader master plan and to voter-approved SPLOST funding: "Just two Novembers ago, November 2023, the referendum was the $36,500,000 SPLOST that was approved for parks," he said.
Worley highlighted specific projects and milestones: the upcoming Long Swamp Creek park opening (staff said a May 2 opening is planned), continued work at Yellow Creek and Cochran Park, completion of the Cherokee Veterans baseball/softball complex, and planned field renovations at Sequoia Park and Badger Creek. He said staff secured a $600,000 grant that helped move Long Swamp forward and noted recurring summer-camp grants in the $75,000 range that support programming.
On operations, Worley said the department is at a maintenance staffing target that aligns with its standard of about one parks worker per 12–15 acres of maintained space and that the new plan includes adding staff timed with park openings: "When we open up Long Swamp on Friday, May 2 . . . we actually get to add two new parks workers to the budget," he said. The plan also lists steps to expand inclusive playground components, pursue grant opportunities, add therapeutic and adult-job-skills programming, and maintain national accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies.
County Manager staff told the board that the Recreation & Parks Advisory Board reviewed and unanimously approved the plan at its Feb. 12 meeting and that the board will be asked to formally adopt the plan as part of the manager’s agenda. No formal adoption vote was recorded during this work session.
Next steps: the board will consider formal adoption of the Recreation & Parks strategic plan as an action item in the board packet; staff indicated ongoing outreach with the advisory board to monitor festival events and other initiatives tied to the plan.
