Yazoo County leaders continue to move ahead with acquiring land in Benton to construct a separate parks and recreation facility. The Yazoo County Board of Supervisors approved entering a contract to purchase about $385,000 worth of land in the county this week with one county supervisor casting the sole opposing vote.
Supervisor Willie Wright said he is in opposition to purchasing the land because he is not comfortable with purchasing the land “as is.”
“You can put me as ‘no,’” Wright said, during Monday’s meeting. “I don’t know anything about the land. To vote on something I don’t know nothing about, I can’t go on with that. We got four people. We got enough votes. Just put me down as ‘no.’”
Wright said he also held reservations with the county constructing its own park facility considering the result results of the Yazoo City elections. He suggested that the county board see if they can develop a more productive relationship with the new city council, admitting the partnership has been strained during the last administration.
“Can we see if we can work with the city and redo the (current) parks,” Wright asked. “We are fixing to spend a lot of money, but we really only had problems with (Mayor Diane Delaware).”
The remaining county board members said they are willing to work alongside the new city council. But they had concerns over the parks’ management.
“I am not for the city or the county being in the management of the parks,” said Supervisor David Shipp. “We just can’t do it. It keeps getting torn up. Have you been out there and looked at the ball parks? Go out there and take a look at it. I understand what you are saying. But if we do anything, we need to turn it over to somebody else to manage it. I just can’t see us spending money, and it keep getting torn up.”
Shipp said if the county constructed its own park facilities, he would like to follow in the same path as other successful operations in surrounding communities. For example, he said Vicksburg hired a separate management team that oversees its park and recreation programs with good results. Currently, the Yazoo Parks and Recreation Commission is compiled of appointed members from both the county and city boards.
Supervisor David Berry said he completely understands Wright’s opinion. However, he said he feels uneasy about steadily contributing money and time into a program that has been allowed to deteriorate over time.
“They may have a new mayor coming in, but that is just temporary,” Berry said. “Four years from now, they may have another one. Who knows? We want something long-term. We want something that is going to be there forever, pretty much.”
Wright said a new facility would be constructed about 11 miles outside of the city limits. He said he is looking at it from a revenue perspective as well.
“If they come into the city, we have a chance of them spending money here with hotels and restaurants,” Wright said. “We are talking about 11 miles out. I am not against us building. But it looks like we might can work something out. We are not into this park business. We just want to make sure the kids have something nice. We got a foundation already there. Out there, we would have to do all the work. It seems like we should work out something with the city and bring revenue into the city because when we say we city, we say county.”
Berry said the past has shown that when the county contributed money into the current park program, the improvements were never maintained moving forward. He said the current program is not being properly operated, and that the parks’ current condition is a testament of that.
“I rode out there the other day,” Berry said. “People were on four-wheelers racing, and I am not talking about the parking lot. I am talking about in there in the concession stand. There are holes in the walls. You got plywood up everywhere where they have busted all the windows out. Then a woman got on a four-wheeler, and she started riding through there up wide open. They are just tearing it all to pieces.”
Wright said it would be cheaper for the county to invest in the current system versus constructing its own.
“But how long will it last,” asked Supervisor Lee Moore.
After a lengthy discussion, the board approved the contract with Wright in opposition.
