The City of Springfield is moving forward with plans for a park and pond on Ebenezer Creek and two canoe/kayak launches as part of the Ebenezer Greenway project.
City council members heard a presentation Aug. 11 from consultant Thomas & Hutton about plans to turn the former sewage treatment pond at Stillwell Road and Ash Street into a useable pond, surrounded by a park and small boat launch.
They also gave the go-ahead at that meeting to use grant money to purchase a second canoe/kayak launching site on the creek, at Log Landing Road and Ga. 21.
The city has used federal grant money, funneled through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), to complete much of the work on the Greenway project, which calls for a 15-mile multi-use trail extending from Springfield, along Ebenezer Creek, to Ebenezer at the Savannah River.
In the next few weeks, the consultants will incorporate comments from the council members and the public and finish a master plan for the park, along with cost estimates for construction.
Council members preferred the third option presented by the consultants, which was the least costly way to deal with the half-foot of sludge that’s left in the 5.5-acre oxidation pond – pull it aside and cap it under clay and grass, creating a large play area.
The finished pond would be 2/3 the size it is now. Drainage would be routed from Ash Street through the pond and then into the creek.
Part of the pond would be dredged so it can be deep enough – 6- to 8-feet-deep – to keep aquatic plants from growing.
Ryan Thompson, landscape architect with Thomas & Hutton, said the consultants were pleasantly surprised when they did the wetlands assessment and realized they would be able to include a canoe/kayak launch.
“A lot of people use it to fish now,” Thompson said. “There’s a fairly well-beaten path there.”
The plans also call for a picnic pavilion, restrooms, parking, playground, trail around the pond and fishing platform/deck on the creek.
The three options for the layout of the park are available at City Hall for the public to view and make comments in the next couple of weeks.
City Manager Brett Bennett said using the pond for drainage would be key to securing future grants to build the park. “Running storm water through there is a must for funding,” he said.
The second canoe/kayak launch site, at Log Landing Road and Ga. 21, is where the Boy Scouts use property owned by Springfield Lodge.
Bennett said the city will purchase a little bit of land there, known as the “old swimming hole.” Driving on Log Landing Road from Ga. 21, the property is on the left just after the bridge.
Springfield has used grant money extensively in the Greenway project.
The first grant the city received for the project, a coastal incentive grant through Georgia DNR, was for $50,000 and was matched by $50,000 in city funds to build a retaining wall, steps and beginning of the trail at the Living History site.
The second grant, a recreational trails grant through DNR, was for buying land and building the trail from the Living History site to Early Street. Bennett said about half that distance – a couple of hundred yards – was completed.
That grant was for $45,000, with the city contributing an additional $10,000 cash and $1,300 in in-kind services.
The third grant, another coastal incentive grant, was for planning the trail from Early Street to the oxidation pond. It included plans for what to do with the pond and the area around it.
It was for $31,000 with the city contributing an additional $31,000 -- $5,000 of which was cash and $26,000 in in-kind services.
That paid for the studies by Thomas & Hutton.
The fourth grant, another coastal incentive grant, was for purchasing the land at Log Landing Road for the canoe/kayak launch. It was for $34,000 in grant money and another $38,000 from the city -- $16,000 in cash and $22,000 in in-kind services.
Federal money funneled through the state isn’t the only way Springfield has made progress on the Greenway project.
The city was given 19 acres of land on Ebenezer Creek in November 2013 by mother and son Marilyn and Scott Thompson. The land, which is near the public canoe and kayak launch site – Tommy Long Landing -- was valued at $69,000 for tax purposes.
The deed included a conservation easement and prohibited logging.
And in December 2014 came the biggest grant of all. Springfield acquired 275 acres -- the site where hundreds of freed black slaves drowned 150 years ago when trying to cross Ebenezer Creek.
The property was purchased from private owners with a $384,000 federal grant and a $100,000 private donation. Only passive recreation will be allowed there.
The city contributed $22,000, which paid for fees associated with the purchase.