County officials set to unveil $3.1 million facelift at Midway Park
Featured Stories August 24, 2022
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Midway Park is the second oldest park in Forsyth County, which boasts some of the finest and most modern parks in the state.
Built in 1982, the park has undergone quite a few upgrades over the years but nothing quiet as grand at what will be demonstrated at a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, Sept 8 at 11 a.m.
“I am excited to unveil this upgrade which brings the upper baseball complex to current standards,” said Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Director Jim Pryor. “I also believe the new playground and pavilion near the Community Building will be a big hit.”
Improvements and additions to the park include:
– New inclusive and accessible playground
– Laser grading and new sod on diamond fields
– New batting cages and bullpens
– New Pavilion with seating for 36
– New flooring and interior/exterior paint for Community Building
– Repaved and leveled park entrance and upper parking area
– Sealed and restriped lower parking area
The budget for the refurbishment was $3.13 million and funding was provided by SPLOST VIII. The project consultant was Woolpert Design and the contractor was Diversified Construction.
Amenities at Midway Park and all Parks & Recreation facilities can be found by visiting parks.forsythco.com.
Voter RegistrationBoard unanimously approves SPLOST resolution
News August 5, 2022
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections unanimously today (Aug. 5) approved a resolution calling for a November 8, 2022 referendum to submit to the voters a question of whether to impose a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST).
The original resolution that was to have been approved included the project lists for both the city and county. However, an amendment approved by the Board of Commissioners yesterday, eliminated the need to include the lists, which are already a matter of public record.
County Manager Kevin Tanner attended today’s meeting and stated “The number one issue on our citizens’ minds is transportation. “One of the challenges we have as a county is Post Road. Just to do that one road is $100 million. This will give us continuing funding for transportation.”
Tanner also noted the county is on track to be debt free by 2031.”I don’t know there is another county in the state of Georgia the size of Forsyth County that will be able to say they are debt free. We don’t want to take on additional debt as a county.”
SPLOST referendum, Cumming Mayoral race at stake today
News November 2, 2021
Dr. Jeff Bearden
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – It’s Election Day. Today citizens of the City of Cumming will choose their next mayor. But most eyes in the county will be on the $300 million education special purpose local option sales tax (ESPLOST) vote where angry citizens opposed to what they believe to be divisive social initiatives being taught in the county’s schools have threatened to defeat the tax.
In the mayor’s race, incumbent first-term Mayor Troy Brumbalow faces a challenge from attorney William Allen Stone III.
The current five-year SPLOST will expire in March 2022 and School Board members have threatened to raise property taxes if it is rejected.
At the heart of the conflict is Critical Race Theory (CRT) a concept that opponents say pits black children against whites and paints whites as the oppressor and blacks as the oppressed, Hundreds of citizens opposed to the ideology have packed the Forsyth County School Board meeting room for months speaking out in opposition. They have committed to defeating the SPLOST.
School Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden says CRT is not being taught in county schools. But opponents claim that closely-related ideologies like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) are and they want them banned. School Board members voted to suspend DEI training last summer. But opponents say Dana Peguero, who was hired as a DEI specialist with a six-figure income is still on staff and they believe if the SPLOST measure passes, DEI training will continue.
Polls open at 7 a.m. today and will remain open until 7 p.m.