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Marion County Commission reverses decision on Foster Falls campground takeover
JASPER, Tenn. — For the third month in a row, the Marion County Commission has reversed a decision to take control of the Foster Falls campground.
“They say the third time’s the charm,” County Mayor David Jackson said. “Hopefully, that’s the case.”
In January the board rejected, 9-6, an agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the campground, to take over its day-to-day operations. The next month, board members approved a modified deal in an 11-3 vote.
But new developments with the plan cropped up just one day after that vote.
Brock Hill, deputy commissioner for Tennessee Parks and Conservation, contacted Jackson last month and told him the state was trying to work out a deal with TVA to take control of Foster Falls.
“I told him he was a day late and a dollar short because the county commission voted the previous night to do it through Marion County,” Jackson said.
After examining a state-ordered analysis of the park’s facilities and hearing the state’s plans for the area, Jackson and the board’s park committee recommended allowing the state’s takeover.
“I think it would be wise to let the state run this,” Jackson said. “They’ve got a lot more resources than we have.”
Money has been put in Tennessee’s parks budget for an additional park ranger to cover Foster Falls, officials said. The campground will remain open, and reservations for available spots will be completed online.
Commissioner Tommy Thompson voted twice against the county taking over the campground, saying in January that “TVA has found a sucker” in Marion leaders.
In March he made a motion to send TVA a “notice that we’re not interested.”
The board voted unanimously to back out of the agreement and let the state step in.
Since the county hasn’t accepted any of the initial $15,000 it was going to get from TVA to upgrade the campground’s water and electrical systems, Jackson said the agreement approved last month hasn’t officially started.
Commissioner David Abbott said he wanted to make sure TVA would be transferring the campground to the state and not a private organization.
Jackson assured the board that it is the state’s intention to work out an agreement with TVA.
“It sort of helps us out, and the South Cumberland Park, too,” he said. “[The state] will be looking after both of them. I think it’d be a really good thing for the county to let them do that.”
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.