Will Blue Ridge soon be known as a Trail and Rink Town? During a city council workshop this Tuesday morning, city council looked at this prospect. During the workshop Benton MacKaye Trail Association Immediate Past President Ralph Heller requested council to consider making Blue Ridge a Trail City Town.

Following a power-point presentation, Mr. Heller discussed his request with Mayor Donna Whitener.

“The Benton MacKaye trail comes within three miles of Blue Ridge,”

he started,

“I would like to see a trail, an access trail at Mineral Springs Park, that gets us over to the Benton MacKaye trail, where people can just come into Blue Ridge and hike out, right out of Blue Ridge to the Benton MacKaye Trail.”

He went on to explain the access trail would have to go through private property. Property owners in the area, he said, have ‘big chunks’ of land (20 to 30 acres). Benton added that he has a list and has researched these properties, although he has not contacted any of the owners yet. Here, he noted, one of the major concerns is that of liability mentioning that certain state laws prohibit people bringing lawsuit against land owners who grant easements for public trail usage, likening it to the situation in public or national parks. The trail access component of the request, Heller said, was a long-term goal, while the immediate part of his plan was Blue Ridge obtaining Trail Town status with the Benton MacKaye Association.

According to Heller, the trail town status is linked, not only to the Benton MacKaye Association, but to the South Eastern Foothills Coalition (SEFTC). The SEFTC is an organization that coordinates and connects trails in the Southeast, and facilitates towns to be trail towns. Trail towns are listed on the SEFTC website with information about the town and advertisements for local businesses. Heller said this designation would be good for businesses in Blue Ridge and its only responsibility would be to hold one trail-oriented event a year. Mayor Whitener and council member Rhonda Thomas said that the city would be interested in the designation, in addition to the access trail. Whitener mentioned preparing a resolution for September’s meeting, but said she would have to do some research on the matter before that time. Regarding the access trail, she said the city would be interested in this too, however commented that she thought Heller would have a problem with obtaining the property from the city property back to the trail.

Created in 1979, the Benton MacKaye Trail stretches 288 miles through three states, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The trail runs for 80 miles in Georgia and 40 in Fannin County.

During this week’s workshop, council also took up the ice rink prospect again. In the spring, the city was approached with the prospect of obtaining an ice rink, with minimal cost to the city.
Since then, the city has been working to finalize the project. Local business owner Tabetha Whitaker, who is working on the rink project, addressed the mayor and council about the status of the ice rink.

“So, I guess the biggest question now,” she said, “is whether to put it in the park (in town), as initially planned, or to utilize the farmers’ market.”

Whitaker argued the farmers’ market was too dreary and thought the most beneficial location would be the park in town, for visibility and proximity to businesses. She also said the rink would offer an activity for kids.

The rink is largely a donation to the city by a local landowner, a total investment of 75 to $85,000. The city’s part of the cost, however, is $13,668, with $5000 or more coming out of the tourism fund. The Lodging and Business Associations are willing to help with the remainder of the cost, as are local businesses. Mayor Whitener, though, indicated that time is running short, because if not used within a certain period of time, the unused tourism funds must be sent back to the state. She also indicated the project was already behind schedule. The consensus was that the rink is a boon for Blue Ridge. As such, Whitaker felt confident in successfully raising the remainder of the funds for the rink.