Sussex County offers many services, but the one obviously lacking is parks and recreation, which includes cultural and historical activities and venues. Although county council routinely contributes money to Little Leagues and other recreation programs, there is not an established program.
Sussex County is the only county – the one and only – in the area without some form of parks and recreation programming.
In Delaware, Kent County has a parks and recreation department and New Castle County has a department of community services.
And believe it or not, every Maryland county bordering Delaware – Wicomico, Dorchester, Caroline, Worcester, Queen Anne’s, Kent and Cecil counties – has parks and recreation departments.
Recently, the county took a step in the right direction by purchasing a former golf course near Woodland for parkland. Some of the land is being used to place material from the upcoming Nanticoke River dredging project.
The county also provided land for the James Farm Ecological Preserve administered by the Center for the Inland Bays.
Still, it’s ironic that in a county with great natural resources – from the eastern beaches and bays to the rivers and forests in the west – there is not one trail, ball field, basketball court or cultural activity tied directly to a county program.
The excuse has always been money. It’s true that it’s not cheap to run a parks and recreation department; the departments rarely operate in the black.
County council would have to raise taxes to support even a modest program. But think of the payoff a few extra dollars could make. A top-notch, county-run recreation center with programming for all ages would be an asset beyond measure.
Based in Georgetown, the program could use schools, church halls and other venues to take its programs to the people and even piggyback on existing programs.
The county could also leverage assets to preserve more property for parkland, trails and greenways.
We are fortunate on the eastern side of the county to have a multitude of cultural activities, but it’s not the same case countywide. And when it comes to concerts, shows and events, you can never get enough.
Here is the plan:
• Although the county cries that times are tough – and they are – the one thing the county has is reserve and rainy-day funds. Take $3 million from those accounts to build a recreation center with a pool. Get input from people in the know who have been down this road before.
• Create a foundation to be on the ground when the center opens to help solicit donations to help with programming and operating expenses.
• Increase property taxes 2 cents per $100 of assessed value per year for operating expenses. The increase would generate about $600,000. And remember, programs would be fee-based so revenue would be generated.
• It goes without saying, a director would have to hired at the start of the process. Other staff would depend on programming. The county could also tap into a vast supply of talented retirees with varying backgrounds who could volunteer their services.
• The most important step would be to get recreation programs off the ground followed by cultural programming. Parks projects, which tend to the most costly and time consuming, would be third on the list.
So there it is, a blueprint to start a county parks and recreation program. What are the chances county officials will even consider this proposal? Even when times were good, they didn’t want to look at it, so I doubt it will get even a passing nod now.
It’s really a shame because county residents – especially young people – are missing out on a lot that is readily available all around us.
Yes, it’s great to brag that we have the lowest property taxes around. It would be equally as great to boast we have one of the greatest parks and recreation programs around. Some things are worth paying a little extra for.
There is one more gap in services offered by the county, which is the topic for another blog. Here is a hint: It has something to do with land-use.
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Ron MacArthur has lived and worked in Sussex County all his life. As a journalist for nearly 50 years, he has covered everything from county and town meetings to presidential visits. He also has a unique perspective having served as an elected official and lived on both sides of the county.
Contact Ron at ronm@capegazette.com
