LEXINGTON
Phil E. Peacock said he did the right thing when he constantly complained about what he saw as lax oversight of Lake Thom-A-Lex Park. But park officials said that his main concern should have been within the bait shop he ran.
The Lexington City Council voted unanimously last night to terminate the agreement between Peacock and the cities of Lexington and Thomasville.
Davidson County and the two cities own the park. Since 2006, the cities have had a lease agreement with Peacock to run the bait shop. That agreement would have expired Dec. 31, 2011.
The Lake Thom-A-Lex Recreation Authority voted June 3 to recommend that the lease be terminated.
"I think Mr. Peacock didn't understand where his authority ended," said Ricky Murphy, the chairman of the recreation authority and a member of the Thomasville City Council.
Peacock closed the bait shop yesterday afternoon, with a sign on the door that said, "Thanks for your support. Lake Thom-A-Lex Commission has voted to shut me down."
Peacock came to the council meeting with a petition with about 1,500 signatures. He started collecting the signatures after Charles Parnell, the county's recreation director, told him that he would lose the bait shop, he said.
Peacock told the council that park officials have done a poor job of maintaining the park, and he had received complaints from people who came into his shop. He said he works many hours running his bait shop, and the two cities did not give him proper notice that they would terminate his agreement.
"If I wasn't a good person, I wouldn't have gotten 1,500 signatures for a store out in the middle of nowhere," he said.
City Manager John Gray said that Peacock has gotten ample warnings in the past, referring to a meeting last September that Gray and Kelly Craver, Thomasville's city manager, had with Peacock.
City officials have told Peacock many times that his authority ends at the bait shop, Gray said.
"We can't have this back and forth with someone who is essentially a contractor," he said.
Council Member Victor Kiger, who is a member of the recreation authority, said he walked through the park last year with Peacock and listened to his complaints.
Kiger told Peacock that he should talk to him about his complaints, because Kiger might have the political clout to deal with his complaints.
Peacock never did, Kiger said, until just before the recreation authority met.
But Kiger asked the recreational authority to delay any decision until July 14 because he wanted to give Peacock more time to prepare a proper defense. The council voted 4-3 to approve Kiger's request.
Council Members Wayne Alley, Tonya Lanier and Larry Beck opposed it.
Mayor John Walser and Council Member Edward B. Ward did not attend the meeting.
The council members then rescinded the motion after they realized that the termination wouldn't be effective until Aug. 1. They then unanimously voted to terminate the contract.
?¡ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com
.
Don't politics suck?
Reply With Quote
