Q&A with Jim Taylor
Residence: Warner Robins
Community activist: Wellston Trees and Greens
Q: What are your feelings now that Warner Robins has OK'd $100,000 toward developing Wellston Park?
A: Freedom. Now we're free to go to work. It's been 17 years in the making since Charlie McGlamry donated the property and Ed Bayer's kids got involved. Ed Bayer is founder of Warner Robins Supply, which his children operate. He was my father-in-law.
Q: What's your timetable for opening?
A: My goal is a grand opening June 1.
Q: That's not far away.
A: We've already been at work. McGlamry Properties has done $80,000 worth of land clearing. All the work is volunteer with the city's $100,000 going for materials.
Q: So what is the overall park value?
A: If the city was to pay for everything it would be over $350,000. It's blowing the city's mind, people are willing to do all this even though it's a city park. I've been told municipalities aren't used to someone coming up with an idea and the solution, but that's what we've done.
Q: What's the size of the park? What kind of parking will there be?
A: It's 37.5 acres right off Watson Boulevard on Olympia Drive. We're looking at having the name changed to Wellston Drive. We'll easily have parking for 100 cars.
Q: What can people actually do there?
A: Walk, jog, ride bikes, walk and play with their dogs at the dog park, stroll, sit, play and picnic on the meadow grounds -- lots of stuff. There won't be official sports; it's not a sports park. Warner Robins does sports elsewhere.
Q: What will the trails be like?
A: It will be asphalt-surfaced. Milled asphalt that's permeable. It'll be about 1.5 miles long and 12-feet wide. Emergency vehicles will be able to travel on it. There'll be 4-foot mulch buffers on each side but the side areas will be kept as natural as possible. There won't be any lighting, but the park closes at dark anyway. There will be benches along the path and plenty of meadow space at the park to wander around on. We want to build a large gazebo on a hill people can use. There will be other volunteer projects. The park's been called a Boy Scout's dream for Eagle Scout projects.
Q: What's the house you're moving there?
A: It'll be called whatever the city deems, but we're calling it the Jean Coleman Cottage. It'll be park headquarters, have meeting space and, hopefully, become home to Keep Warner Robins Beautiful. Jean Coleman was a Warner Robins businesswoman who founded Cherished Children Education Center more than 50 years ago. The house was built in 1905 and sits next to the second Cherished Children center on Elberta Road. (Warner Robins police Chief) Bret Evans also told me told me he'd like to base a couple of officers on bicycles at the park.
Q: The dog park is a first for the city, how will it work?
A: It will be two to three fenced-in acres with two sections: one for small dogs and one for larger dogs. They won't have to be on leashes in the dog park but will be if outside of it. There will be rules and regulations. And, the big question, there will P.U.P. stations -- pick up poop stations --and owners will remove their dog's waste. These will be in and outside the dog park.
Q: Does Wellston Trees and Greens have plans beyond Wellston Park?
A: First, let me say the Courtyard Marriot has the best city maps in town, but I may have stolen all of them. But if you pull out a map you see the amazing inter-connectivity Bay Gall Creek provides for building trails throughout the area. The city's Wellston Trail already runs along it from Corder Road to Kimberly. Head northwest of it along Bay Gall and you go to Radio Loop Road and cross Watson Boulevard to Wellston Park. Head west from there and you're in Centerville a quarter of a mile from where they're developing a downtown area with a passive park. Keep going and you're in Byron near North Peach Park. Also, from Wellston Park you can easily head east to the park the city's creating at Walker Pond. I don't know when that will be complete but it's exciting to think about connecting them. Once you're at Walker Pond, it's a pretty straight shot over to the old Zayer's shopping center and where the new city sports complex will be.
Q: And are you looking at east, southeast of Wellston Trail?
A: You bet. From where Wellston Trail ends now at Fountain Pool and the park there on Kimberly, you can follow Bay Gall to where the Warner Robins Lions are building a park along Moody Road. Property has recently opened up for the city along that route and there's a body of water along it, too. Then there are more possibilities further on. It would all be in phases, but all you have to do is follow Bay Gall Creek and you could have amazing trails and parks for everyone to enjoy.
Answers may have been edited for length and clarity. Compiled by Michael W. Pannell. Contact him at mwpannell@gmail.com.
This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 9:24 PM with the headline "Q&A with Jim Taylor ."