Check this out .. It was published in several local and area newspapers, including The Clarksville Leaf Chronicle and The Paris Post Intelligencer. I sent it to MANY state and federal lawmakers and local ‘leaders.’ — I still congratulate the Dover TN City Council and the Stewart County Commission for voting to table the project until the new Gov. took office .. of course that did not happen. The new Gov., in office now, could have stopped the project and taken a closer look .. but he did not. — The new inn is well underway and WE WILL see if it matches the old, historic one that was demolished ..
Below is the letter/plea I wrote, submitted and had published …
| Paris Landing State Park Inn By DAVID RUSSELL ROSS FROM THE LBLUS.COM FILES/ARCHIVES  David ross <basstra5756@gmail.com>Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:19 PM to:Dear Elected Official, Candidate or Appointed Official: In my opinion and in the opinion of many others, Paris Landing State Park Inn is still a functional, historic and beautiful facility that should be renovated and upgraded and not demolished and downsized. If others disagree, that is their right; but they are not going to silence our right to speak out publicly on this important issue with a looming deadline! — Paris Landing State Park inn is a valuable public asset owned and paid for by the taxpayers of Tennessee. The state started out in 2013 saying the inn could be totally renovated — including new HVAC for $7.8 million. Why did the state not follow its own plan in 2013 and renovate the inn as Bill Haslam’s own TDEC planners recommended? I do not know, but as usual, Stewart County and the rest of our area was neglected by the state government. Yes, Paris Landing State Park inn is physically located in Henry County, but it is Stewart County’s state park, a major employer of Stewart Countians and it is the state facility anchor for the southern portion of Land Between the Lakes, which is in Stewart County. (The state folks at the meeting in Paris Landing Thursday said they did not know that Paris Landing was adjacent to LBL, one of the premier tourist destinations in the region if not the country. Why are people so ignorant of the area making such drastic recommendations?) ——– If you want to see a good model on what a state could and should do to invest around LBL, go north to Kentucky. They have always invested wisely and regularly in state facilities just outside of LBL and it has paid millions and millions of dollars of tourist revenue dividends through the decades to the taxpayers of Kentucky. Tennessee has been and continues to be small-minded when it comes to investing in and maintaining public facilities at the southern end of LBL and in and around Stewart County. —– (At the meeting Thursday night double-talking state officials said that figure was $14 million, but that is not true. I obtained a copy of the state’s 2013 Business and Managment plan for state parks and the cost the state cited in its own document was $7.8 million.) — The even larger issue than the state coming in and tearing down a perfectly good inn, giving the contract to who know who’s friend or political donor, is that the public — the taxpayers — were not told about the ongoing process of discussing the demolition/downsize of Paris Landing State Park inn until the decision had already been made by the state and then announced as a done deal. — Government in Tennessee does not work that way. Government does not work from the state (or federal level) to the local level (the people.) — The Government works from the local level (the people) — to the state and then to the feds. —- Citizen taxpayers of Stewart County and our region were left out of the planning and decision-making process on Paris Landing State Park inn and now that we finally know, citizens are speaking up and speaking out. — Now a small minority of politicians and appointed officials are saying citizens should just shut up and accept this asinine plan without question or a word of opposition. — Well, Government in Stewart County, Tennessee and in the United States of America does not work that way. Here is a plan and major taxpayer expenditure that needs more public discussion. –Since the public discussion did not come when it should have, during the initial stages of planning, it is coming now — when the state officials (and others) think the clock has run out. — The clock has not run out on Paris Landing State Park inn. Stewart Countians and many others are speaking out. — We want the plan for Paris Landing State Park inn to be put on hold until the next governor is in office. — How dare elected and appointed officials threaten us and say you had better accept what we have decided or we MIGHT tear down your inn and NEVER rebuild it! You are not our bosses, we are yours. We want the new governor in on the plan for Paris Landing State Park as he or she moves forward with their new administration. We do not accept — without comment — an asinine, half-baked, political payback-from-a-lame-duck-governor-on-his-way-out-the-door scheme that will move our tourism industry backwards by decades. —- Here is where the elected and appointed officials of The State of Tennessee are getting a civics lesson on local public discussion of taxpayer assets (and dollars), the First Amendment and the Tennessee Open meetings Act, aka., “The Sunshine Law.”‘ Sincerely; David R. Ross, 301 Shane Lee Circle, Dover, Tenn. 37058 — (931) 305- 8397 or (931) 232-5923 or (9312 https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/stewart-houston/2018/04/20/residents-seek-answers-plan-paris-landing-inn/536447002/ The entire park needs renovation and upgrades: golf course, public swimming pool, marina, picnic areas, swimming area, amphitheater, restrooms, boat ramps, roads, public restrooms. The new governor will be the one tasked with finishing this project because the $26 million allocated (some say $26 some say $28 million) will not demolish Paris Landing State Park Inn, rebuild it smaller, adhere to the asbestos abatement plan for the tear down, pay the landfill fees for the refuse and renovate the rest of our state park.Let the new governor and the administration of the new governor guide the future of Paris Landing State Park and the tourism industry in the Kentucky Lake, Barkley Lake, Fort Donelson, southern home of Land Between the Lakes region. Do not demolish and downsize our historic 130-room convention and event-sized Inn! — Renovate the existing inn and upgrade the entire state park! That is the option we want the new governor to get the chance to review. ReplyForward |
