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Tropical fish show comes to Atlanta July 17-20
By Pamela A. Keene
Using the boat ramps around Lake Lanier typically
costs a few bucks for a launch fee, whether the parks are managed by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or other entities. With the lower
lake levels and fewer ramps open, parking at these ramps can be
critical and often spaces fill up early in the day.
Such was the case with Steve Becker, who came to
Charleston Park over Memorial Day weekend after trying to launch at
three other parks in the area. “I didn’t see a sign or a box to
indicate that I needed to pay, so I launched my boat and went on out
on the water,” he said. “When I came back to pull my boat, a ranger
wrote me a ticket for not paying. Only then did I see the box at the
exit ramp. I offered to pay the cost, but he wrote me a ticket
anyway.”
According to officials at Forsyth County, there are
signs at the entrance to Charleston Park that indicate a $3 launch
fee is due on the honor system. There’s also a 4- to 5-foot tall
concrete pillar with a steel box mounted there.
“As people pull up to back onto the ramp, the box is
in plain sight right in front of them because they’re facing the
box,” said Tommy Bruce, assistant director of the Forsyth County
Parks and Recreation Department. “Typically, people pay as they’re
launching their boat or while they’re moving their car and trailer
back up to park.”
Bruce said that the department has been monitoring
the launch ramps more closely to assure that boaters have access to
parking their trailers. Parking is not allowed for individual
automobiles.
“Since it’s one of the few launch areas that’s open,
we stationed there for parking purposes,” Bruce said. “We want to
make sure that people are only parking there if they’re launching
boats, but also for safety and to protect the vehicles and
trailers.”
He explained that before Forsyth County took over
management of Charleston Park in the spring of 2005, along with
Young Deer Park, charges continued using the same honor box that had
been installed by the Corps. “A lot of the parks charge for
launching boats,” he said. “This is not something we started
recently.”
Charleston Park’s ramps were recently extended
through a partnership between the Corps and area businesses,
including Hammond’s Fishing Center.
“I just don’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to pay
after the fact,” Becker said.
Forsyth County has a staff of four park rangers that
monitor activities in all of the county’s parks, not just those on
Lanier. It started the program several years ago.
“We hired our own rangers to help lighten the load
for the sheriff’s department,” Bruce said. “Having more rangers
patrol the parks is good for public safety.”
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