New Claxton Park on agenda next meeting
With TVA planning to close Claxton Park near Bull Run Fossil Plant, the county is looking at options for where to build a new park for the community.
Two resolutions, to give Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank permission to accept the end of a recreational easement with TVA and for the county to work on building a new park, passed during the Operations Committee meeting on Monday.
They will come before the County Commission on Monday, Aug. 19. There will be presentations at 6 p.m. and a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Anderson County Courthouse.
If the resolutions go ahead, the Conservation Board and parks director won’t be responsible for the park effective Dec. 1, 2025. Documents in the Operations Committee agenda list the structures nearing their end of life, TVA decommissioning and demolishing the nearby Bull Run Steam Plant, and the company Type One Energy beginning its operations nearby as reasons for ending the park’s operations.
County Commissioner Tracy Wandell, who represents Claxton, told The Courier News that people in the Claxton area willing to sell land should contact him, commission Chairman Tyler Mayes, or Frank. The upcoming meeting, he said, will be a good opportunity.
“We will have a park in Claxton, and TVA will continue to be involved,” said Wandell, adding he would advocate for those positions “as long as I have air in my lungs.”
“I absolutely want to see a new park,” said Frank, adding she, too, will advocate for that goal in talks with TVA.