Fayetteville parks board picks trail names at Kessler Mountain

FAYETTEVILLE -- Sharp's Ridge. Terrapin Station. Chinkapin Oak. Last Call.

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Monday approved the names of nearly 4 miles of new trail at Kessler Mountain.

The city bought the 300-plus acres of land next to the regional park in 2014. At the time it had about 8 miles of existing trail.

A hired consultant came up with a master plan and new trails have been built. The naming process is a little more complicated than one might think, said Ken Eastin, park planner.

"These days, trail naming is handled pretty much the same way citywide as the name of streets," he said. "Any trail names that are approved have to be approved by dispatch -- police, fire and GIS."

The city has a Geographic Information Systems department that provides emergency dispatchers with intricate mapping information. If someone is stranded on a trail, dispatchers need to be able to communicate a location as quickly and simply as possible.

For example, the original spelling of "Chinquapin" could cause confusion. Emergency communicators dropped it in favor of the phonetic, also accepted, "Chinkapin" spelling.

Parks board members altered slightly the suggested draft from the department's staff. Terrapin Station will stretch from the new Last Call trail all the way north to the existing Crazy Mary trail. The change will effectively cut the Chinkapin Oak trail in half.

The board added "Oak" to the Chinkapin trail name to better reflect the type of botany found on the southern portion of the mountain. The area has Chinquapin oak trees. Chinquapin and Chinquapin oak are different. Board Member Dana Smith suggested the addition.

A smaller portion crossing the Eggbeater and Serpentine trails will be named Sharp's Ridge after adjacent landowner Frank Sharp, who spearheaded a campaign to preserve the mountain.

Signs will go along all of the newly named trails.

John Crow, recreation superintendent, also updated the board on an ordinance amendment the City Council approved Jan. 2. The new ordinance allows the temporary possession, sale and consumption of alcohol at city parks during special events with mayoral approval.

"This is by permit only and for special events," he said. "It's not carte blanche permission to drink in the parks."

The ordinance will go into effect Feb. 1. Applicants must go through the citywide event process and first gain approval from the parks department before moving onto the police, fire, state alcohol board and mayoral levels.

Crow said discussions are underway to bring Homegrown Music Festival from Ozark to the regional park. The event's organizers made a pitch to the parks board last month, saying alcohol sales would serve as the primary revenue source.

The board also reviewed the progress of the Walker Park splash pad. The flow-through system pad, with a budget of $370,000, will go on the northwestern portion of Walker near the skate park.

Restrooms also will be built nearby. Park Planner Ted Jack said construction should finish by summer.

NW News on 01/09/2018