By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Brandon Stringefello-LaVoie spoke before the Grayson Tourism Commission at their regular meeting last week.
“I’m here as Brandon LaVoie, but I am also a Carter County Soil and Conservation Supervisor,” he told the commission. “I’m not asking tourism to approve anything. I’m asking something simpler and more foundational. I’m asking Grayson Tourism to acknowledge that the Little Sandy River Corridor has real historical and tourism value.”
LaVoie said that from Grayson Lake toward Grayson, the Little Sandy can become more than “neglected water.”
“It can become a heritage paddle route,” he told the commission. “And along the way we can have old railroad bridge history including the Pactolus Dam and the old mill, as well as the old iron furnaces. And the natural finish point could bring people into Grayson.”
The long-term mission of cleaning up the Little Sandy was simple, LaVoie told the commission. The goal was to clean up the river and create a public facing river route, he said.
“And, eventually, we could host an annual event I would like to call the Little Sandy River Rally. The race would become a yearly festival which would help fund the yearly cleanup of the river.”
LaVoie said the goal was education and to build pride in the Carter County waterway. The cleanup of the Little Sandy generated positive interest with the tourism commission, though no action was taken at the regular June meeting.
In other business, Sports Park Director Bert Bayes told the commission that the sports park had finished up the little league season.
“The All Star teams have been practicing at the sports park three days a week,” Bayes told the commission. “We have had seven soccer matches and four tournaments, which was highlighted by the tournament for autism. We had 41 teams and I’m estimating around 3,000 people at the park.”
“I think it was a very successful weekend,” Bayes continued. “We also have our splash pads up and running, operating Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm.”
Bayes then told the commission that the little league district tournaments were coming up in two weeks.
“We are expecting about 32 teams for that across four age groups,” he said. “And looking forward, we will be hosting the July 4 fireworks at the park. They will actually be setting them off at the park and it is going to be double what it has normally been. That is going to be an impressive show.”
Bayes also reported incidences of vandalism at the sports park.
“We have had a couple of incidents in the bathrooms by the splash pad,” Bayes said of the damages. “What we are going to do is just start unlocking them from 9 to 7 and them locking them back. That way someone is always there to monitor them.”
Bayes said he believed this was a good response to the vandalism at this point rather than to take more drastic measures.
In other sports park related business, Bayes told the commission that there had been an individual who wanted to pass out religious themed printed materials. Bayes said that he spoke to an attorney, given that this was a potential First Amendment issue, and it had been recommended to him that he set up an area where the individual would be allowed to distribute materials.
“It’s called a Free Speech area, I believe,” Bayes said. “So, we did that and when he (the individual) came back he said that was not acceptable,” Bayes told the commission.
“That was all he said,” Bayes explained, and noted the individual gave him no reason why the area was unacceptable to him.
In other business, the tourism commission discussed available grants. One grant in question was a Department of Local Government Grant. The grant was applied for by the City of Grayson, and in order for the grant to be utilized, at least a portion of the sports park would need to either be deeded to the City of Grayson or leased to the city for a period of at least 25 years. The space in question would be where the basketball courts are and would include pickleball courts and the sensory garden area.
It was proposed that tourism would draft a lease for 25 years to the City of Grayson for that area. Grayson Mayor Troy Combs told the commission that the grant money had been preapproved, and that once the issue with either a deed or lease was resolved, all three applications could be merged into one main application and be submitted.
“Then hopefully within six months we can proceed,” Combs said.
The tourism commission also passed a number of resolutions at the June meeting. Resolution No. 2026-1 dealt with online banking access, the Ann’s Corner Capital Project Account and other issues including sports park reserve fund requirements and inter-account transfer procedures.
Resolution No. 2026-2 established the Sports Park Manager staffing authority and wage adjustment authority for seasonal, part-time, and hourly personnel. Resolution 2026-3 established Annual Inventory and Event Planning Procedures. This provided for physical and intellectual asset inventories, reporting requirements, planning procedures, and approval requirements. Resolution No. 2026-4 Sponsorship and Marketing Authority established sponsorship and marketing spending and rescinded conflicting prior authorizations.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
