PV & Jones Bend Blount County Park

[act.da]

Today I made a call to the Blount Count Parks and Rec office regarding Jones Bend.
Turn your speakers up, and check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRR6HTs6Ek8

[stoodoodog]

Thanks for that bit of entertainment act.da. Perhaps Blount County Commissioner and former PV staff Wendy Pitts Reeves could answer the question for us...


District #4
307 High Street
Maryville, TN 37804
207-4305
wendypittsreeves@yahoo.com

[stoodoodog]

The excel database under Related Plans and Data provides the best info I have found.

http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/recreation/plan/

On page 60 there is info about Local parks in TN...
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/re ... _final.pdf

and here are the numbers for you to go straight to the top.

http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/org/

[act.da]

First of all, Google Maps now has PV and all of Jones Bend Road available in Street View: HERE!


But this is the reason I've posted in this particular thread... I've solved the "Peninsula Village or Blount County Park?" issue!

Unfortunately my conclusion will be disappointing to anyone who was hoping they'd found a whole peninsula open for camping, because PV is actually not a public park.

HOWEVER there are 22 acres on the peninsula that are publicly owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and that land backs right up to the girls cabins! If you want to access it you'll need a boat, or walk along the shoreline easement from Wrights Ferry Road.

Here is the 22 acre parcel of land on the TNMap property tax records website, click on the "IDENTIFY" tab and choose the large centered parcel (#001_004.00)
This information is also available here.
Also, if you look at the topographic map here, you can see the same area outlined. There might even be a purple arrow from the words "Jones Bend Blount County Park" to the area, but it blends in so well I didn't notice it before.

I have sent a request to the TVA for more information, and I'll keep you all updated!

[stoodoodog]

Thanks for the productive research and follow through! I checked that TVA route some time ago... I came upon a blog in the local paper with a question about the park. Someone posted a response that it was TVA property but it seems like I arrived at a dead end after that (possibly got burned out, distracted or wandered off into the middle of a conversation).
You, my friend kick *%s when it comes to researching and turning up the facts.

[ZenAgent]

HOWEVER there are 22 acres on the peninsula that are publicly owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and that land backs right up to the girls cabins! If you want to access it you'll need a boat, or walk along the shoreline easement from Wrights Ferry Road.

Ready the armada, it's a naval operation.  Hmm...that's another good idea for peaceful protest.  Lake Loudon surrounds the Village and definitely is open to the public.  We could rent some boats and have huge sheet/banners trailing with words of encouragement to the kids inside and with bullhorns.  As DYS wisely pointed out, the best message to send kids in PV is "don't lose hope", because as long as you have hope PV can't "break you down".  Once PV strips a kid of all hope, they can destroy the sense of identity and individuality and create automatons.  Factory girls and boys.  Billion dollar babies.   My wife and I saw PV attempt it with our daughter but she never buckled.  Resistance cost her six months of isolation, mental and physical abuse.  How does "treatment" consisting of isolation, constant comments by staff about the patient's worthlessness, and abuse on many levels help a kid suffering from low self-esteem and depression?

[Che Gookin]

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EcdeUyOzAY&feature=related

Armada you say? ^This... lol

I like the seaborne protest idea.. go for it.. by the time they scramble the local sherrif's department dingy you'll be long gone. Even then just make sure that everyone has one of those ugly assed orange floation vests on.. no beer in the boat.. and someone search Zen for high powered rifles and bear traps before he even gets out of the car you'll all be ok.

[ZenAgent]

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EcdeUyOzAY&feature=related

Armada you say? ^This... lol

I like the seaborne protest idea.. go for it.. by the time they scramble the local sherrif's department dingy you'll be long gone. Even then just make sure that everyone has one of those ugly assed orange floation vests on.. no beer in the boat.. and someone search Zen for high powered rifles and bear traps before he even gets out of the car you'll all be ok.

I think we can get a boat faster than the official Blount Co. sheriff's department marine patrol, which is a john boat with rotted oars and a McCain sticker on the back.  Guns are not an option with me and out of respect to Ursus I will not use bear traps...bungee pits are another matter.

[Anonymous]

This link looks quite helpful. Especially the one off of Alcoa or the one at Sequoya Hills. http://http://www.city-data.com/forum/knoxville/411832-putting-boat.html

[iamartsy]

Check this link: http://http://www.city-data.com/forum/knoxville/411832-putting-boat.html
Boat rental http://http://www.865area.com/recreation/boating/

I think it has good boat launch info towards bottom of page. Alcoa or Sequoyha Hills?

Quick reply to this message
There are a couple of options. Closest to you would be Volunteer Landing. They have a boat launch there on the Marina side.
City of Knoxville - Volunteer Landing Parkhttp://http://www.cityofknoxville.org/parks/volunteer.asp
Sequoyah Park would probably be less crowded. They have two "blueways" (boat launches)
City of Knoxville - Sequoyah Hills Parkhttp://http://www.cityofknoxville.org/parks/sequoyah.asp
There's Marine Park, right off Alcoa Highwayhttp://http://www.city-data.com/city/Alcoa-Tennessee.html on a quiet stretch of the Tennessee. It's about a mile over the bridge on the right.
I've spent a lot of time scouting parks and shelters looking for places to hold plant swaps. I've seem them all at this point.

Good luck.

[stoodoodog]

This link looks quite helpful. Especially the one off of Alcoa or the one at Sequoya Hills. http://http://www.city-data.com/forum/knoxville/411832-putting-boat.html

Probably not Sequoya Hills...People in Sequoya Hills get uncomfortable when they see scalawags in the area...about ten years ago there was a home invasion. The culprit, a young man who had been put off his toast by rich people entered a home and slashed a decidely questionable Gainsborough, beheaded a stuffed pheasant, and stabbed a computer monitor leaving the weapon embedded there with his fingerprints on it.  He later stated to the police that the decapitation was perpetrated because he "don't like chickens"
I always wondered what happened to that kid...

[iamartsy]

My thoughts precisely. A little to uppity; unless you are decked out in UT garb and act like you heading to a game and gung-ho vols Also I think there is a boat launch place in Maryville and Lake Louisville.

[act.da]

The boat launches closest to PV that I could find are here and here. There is also this boat ramp right on the peninsula, but I suspect it's privately owned although it looks to be open to the public.

[act.da]

A few days ago I received a large package of papers in response to my information request to the Tennessee Valley Authority. It contained documents confirming that the land I mentioned earlier is indeed owned by the TVA, and that they had previously owned nearly the entire peninsula.
In a letter they sent with all of this, they estimated there was 2-3 times more information than what I was provided with - and they offered to locate and send the rest of it to me at a cost of approximately $100. I personally don't believe that anything they have could be worth this amount of money. So unless someone gives me $100 to pay for more (and possibly useless) information, I'm happy with what I already have.
Expect to see the relevant information scanned and uploaded over the next week or so.

[ZenAgent]

Found this:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Natio ... a053984872

The National Recreation and Park Association would like to welcome its newest members.


[Cut to the chase...]

Robert Pegler
Maryville TN

There is only one way to become a member of NRPA, you have to be involved in National Park work:

http://www.nrpa.org/Content.aspx?id=626

Membership Categories and Rates
Individuals

Professional ($140)
For park and recreation professionals working in agencies or other environments, such as like minded non-profit organizations, universities, colleges, military base installations, consultants, and hospitals or health clinics.

Young Professional ($110)
For professionals that are 30 and under; working at least part-time in the Park and Recreation or other related field.

Citizen ($60)
For citizen advocates, including those who serve on park and recreation boards or advisory councils; in elected or appointed such as commissioner, mayors, and town council members; and volunteers.

Retired ($62)
For persons who have retired from the parks and recreation field.

Student ($45)
For full or part-time students studying park and recreation curricula; not simultaneously employed as a full-time professional in that field.

I'd like to ask former staff or program survivors about PV pre-1999:  When were the cabins built, as well as the girls' STU?  It seems something happened around 98-99 that enabled PV to slide onto Federal property:

PV had backing from a corrupt, murderous alcoholic named Sen. Carl Koella:

http://www.deadlyroads.com/believeitornot.html

On October 22, 1996, after receiving an "advisory letter" from the DMV two years before warning that his license was about to be revoked due to excessive "points, Tennessee State Senator Carl Koella struck and killed 52 year old Terry Barnard, retired General Motors engineer and motorcyclist. After stopping to see that Barnard was dead, he is said to have admitted his guilt to others that had stopped, then drove home. The case was handled in the typically "good old white boy" system that has sadly given the South its redneck stigma. Although indicted by a grand jury for felony hit and run, the Senator was slapped on the hand and sentenced to 30 days of community service after pleading no contest to misdemeanor hit and run. On January 14, 1998, still serving Senator Koella died of heart trouble, having served 26 years in office. Months after his death, his insurance company settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $1.5 million.

On April 7, 1999, to honor the former Senator, Tennessee legislature passed and Governor Don Sundquist signed Senate Bill 923, sponsored by Koella's chosen successor. This bill did not rename a state building, or a state park, or another state project to honor his 26 years of service. No, the state of Tennessee, in what many outside the state called completely callous, designated "that segment of Interstate Highway 140 beginning at its intersection with Interstate 40 in Knox County to its terminus at U.S. Highway 321 in Blount County is hereby designated as the "Senator Carl O. Koella, Jr.. Memorial Highway" as a lasting tribute to this exemplary public servant".
    *
      Note - before turning in front of Terry Barnard later that evening, Senator Koella had visited Rockford, Tennessee with Governor Sundquist. In 2002, the Rockford Police Department was disbanded after a police sergeant was charged with intentionally swerving into the path of a motorcyclist, killing him.

http://www.state.tn.us/sos/acts/101/pub/pc0070.pdf

Chapter No. 70 ]
PUBLIC ACTS, 1999
141
CHAPTER NO. 70
SENATE BILL NO. 923
By Clabough, Cooper, Henry, Rochelle, Womack, Atchley, Blackburn, Burchett, Burks,
Carter, Cohen, Crowe, Crutchfield, Davis, Dixon, Elsea, Ford, Fowler, Graves, Harper,
Haun, Haynes, Herron, Kurita, Kyle, Leatherwood, McNally, Miller, Person, Ramsey,
Springer, Williams, Mr. Speaker Wilder
Substituted for: House Bill No. 1239
By Kerr, McCord, Montgomery, Buttry, Armstrong, Arriola, Baird, Beavers, Black, Bone, Bowers,
Boyer, Briley, Brooks, Brown, Buck, Bunch, Caldwell, Chumney, Ralph Cole, Ronnie Cole,
Cooper, Curtiss, Davidson, David Davis, Ronnie Davis, John DeBerry, Lois DeBerry, Dunn,
Eckles, Ferguson, Fitzhugh, Ford, Fowlkes, Fraley, Garrett, Givens, Godsey, Goins, Gunnels,
Hagood, Hargett, Hargrove, Harwell, Hassell, Head, Hood, Jackson, Sherry Jones, Ulysses
Jones, Kent, Kernell, Kisber, Langster, Lewis, Maddox, McDaniel, McDonald, McKee, McMillan,
Miller, Mumpower, Newton, Odom, Patton, Phelan, Phillips, Pinion, Pleasant, Pruitt, Rhinehart,
Ridgeway, Rinks, Roach, Robinson, Sands, Sargent, Scroggs, Sharp, Stulce, Tidwell, Tindell,
Todd, Towns, Larry Turner, Walker, Walley, West, Westmoreland, White, Whitson, Williams,
Windle, Winningham, Wood, Mr. Speaker Naifeh
AN ACT To designate a certain segment of Interstate 140 as the "Senator Carl O. Koella, Jr.
Memorial Highway".
WHEREAS, The elected members of this General Assembly desire to pay tribute to the
late Senator Carl O. Koella, Jr. for his exemplary public service as a representative of the
Eighth Senatorial District, comprised over the years of all or parts of Blount, Sevier, Loudon,
Monroe and Knox counties; and
WHEREAS, Carl Koella truly epitomized the ideal of the dedicated and proficient public
servant, and he often exceeded the call of duty to ensure that his constituents and, indeed all
Tennesseans, were being well served by their government; and
WHEREAS, Senator Koella made significant contributions to the economic development
of Blount County, helping to found the Peninsula Hospital in that county; and
WHEREAS, Senator Koella demonstrated tremendous leadership on transportation
issues, particularly in the development of U.S. Highway 321 and the Pellissippi Highway, and
was an ardent supporter of the Scenic Highway Bill; and
WHEREAS, A leader on education issues, Senator Koella was also a staunch advocate
of tourism in Townsend, helping to secure the construction of the Visitor's Center in that fair
city; and
WHEREAS, It is important that the members of this Body establish a lasting tribute
dedicated to the memory of our longtime friend and colleague;

Well, what did you expect from a guy who was Peninsula's greatest patron?  It took connections to get the Park land for PV, even more to cover it up.  He got a Covenant job for Chad Clabough, the son of one of his cronies (see above "Clabough"), as a lobbyist.

No wonder they squirm the more we get into who owns the land PV blights.  We're getting closer, act.da.