Second public input meeting set for Flat Rock park

From the Times-News:

Sensitive to claims that an earlier meeting excluded working families, the Village of Flat Rock has scheduled another special meeting to take public input on a proposed municipal park at Highland Lake Golf Course.

On Feb. 25, council held a 2 p.m. special meeting to discuss the possible purchase of 66 acres owned by Course Doctors Inc. for use as a passive, dawn-to-dusk park, as recommended by an exploratory committee last month.

Roughly a dozen village residents in the packed assembly room asked council to hold a referendum before deciding on the purchase, citing concerns about higher taxes and the redundancy of more parks and trails.

But John Dockendorf, an exploratory committee member and local camp director, said the afternoon meeting didn't fairly represent the spectrum of public opinion because "clearly at 2 o'clock … working people and families are not represented in this room."

Several council members agreed with that assessment, said Mayor Bob Staton. So the village has scheduled another special meeting from 7-9 p.m. Monday [March 11] at Village Hall to gather more public input on the proposed park.

Staton said if more people show up to speak than can fit into the village's small assembly room, the meeting will be pushed to the following night, Tuesday, March 12, at the parish hall of St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church on Greenville Highway....

Residents who can't make the March 11 meeting can also mail their comments to council at Village of Flat Rock, P.O. Box 1288, Flat Rock, NC 28731.

Read it all.