The company in charge of providing the county a usage plan for several passive recreation parks completed its recommendations more than a year ago, but it’s still unlikely the parks will be open to the public until sometime in 2009, said Carroll County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bill Chappell.

The tracts of land, purchased between 1978 and 2006, include plots on Blackjack Mountain, McIntosh Reserve, Oak Mountain and Little Tallapoosa/Sharp Creek.

The different sites range in size between 150 acres and 527 acres, with a total of 1,400 acres devoted to “passive” recreational activities such as hiking, camping and horseback riding.

Funds from the 2003 special purpose local option sales tax will finance the estimated $14 million cost of these four parks as well as the master plan usage study performed by Norcross consulting group Jordan, Jones & Goulding.

“The [county commission] bought a lot of property several years back but hasn’t done anything with it,” Chappell said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re about to do something, though.”

The reason nothing has been done is because the commission has not formally addressed the study, which was completed in August 2007. This was due in part to last year’s $5 million county deficit and the simultaneous mortgage and lending crises that have marked the first half of 2008.

“I think it’s going to add to the quality of life in Carroll County, and I know we have the fiscal resources to make it occur,” said county Commissioner Trent North. “I’d love to see it placed on the front burner so senior citizens as well as our younger citizens can make use of it.”

As outlined by JJ&G, the plan would require a variety of changes in infrastructure to the sites, though they will all share similar functions.

McIntosh Reserve, at more than 500 acres, is the largest of the sites. The changes that need to be made before the park can be opened to the public include extension of the county’s domestic water line to the park, development of the cultural center and parking lot, addition of an equestrian parking area, construction of an observation tower and boardwalks, rerouting access roads and the addition of signs.

Similarly, accommodations for bikers, hikers, riders and campers will need to be met at the other locations before they too can be open for public use.

Blackjack Mountain will require development of hiking and equestrian trails. Oak Mountain is waiting on the construction of a dog park and an observation tower, and the Little Tallapoosa site will require the addition of picnic pavilions and paved walking and biking trails.

The changes were determined after JJ&G conducted a site analysis, noting the slope of area lands to ensure the typography was suited for any additions.

The report determined that “all the parks have slopes favorable for development, but some parks will be more challenging to develop than others.”

After the geographic survey, consultants opened the process to the public, holding a series of open meetings to discuss the possible uses for each location. As passive sites, the primary request was that they be maintained as closely to their natural state as possible.

For this reason, all the sites will include walking/hiking trails. Blackjack Mountain and the Little Tallapoosa will provide for mountain biking, and Oak Mountain will even include an arboretum used for scientific and educational study of various plants and trees.

All the parks will offer indoor or open-air facilities for events or excursions. McIntosh Reserve is slated to receive a nature center, horse stables and a group pavilion. Oak Mountain will have an amphitheater and an interpretive center for classroom use.

Blackjack Mountain, as the highest point in the county, will have an observatory, and the Little Tallapoosa will offer a group pavilion and a nature center.

While the specific usages of the parks have been proposed by JJ&G, the board has yet to vote to formalize the proposal and the time frame for when the public will have access, and the ultimate price tag behind the project is still undetermined, Chappell said.

“We do need to open them as soon as we can - sometime next year,” he said. “How much it will cost will depend on what we decide to do, so we’ll see.”