A park in Marion County bordering Rainbow River will soon have new management.
Blue Run Park in Dunnellon, a key access point to the river, will soon go from city to county management. The park had become a financial burden for Dunnellon’s city budget over the past decade, and during the Sept. 4 Marion County Commission meeting, the county agreed to take it over.
This decision followed an Aug. 14 letter from Mayor Walter Green to the county commissioners. The proposal said the county would need to take full control of Blue Run Park in order for it to be properly maintained.
“We can do a lot of great things moving forward when it comes to Blue Run Park and the operations within if our staff are able to get in there and do what they need to do...” District 2 Commissioner Kathy Bryant said. “We have a bathroom project that I do truly believe needs to move forward.”
The county and city in 2008 purchased the property that became Blue Run Park using a conservation and recreation grant from Florida Communities Trust. They co-managed it in the years after.
The county in 2014 changed a formula for gas tax revenue distribution, resulting in Dunnellon getting less money to take care of parks. In the letter, Green wrote the change dropped the city’s annual cut from $550,000 to $150,000.
Dunnellon can no longer cover the $36,000 annual expense of maintaining the park without raising taxes.
Longtime Dunnellon residents David and Paula Koger live right across the river from Blue Run Park and maintain a habit of walking the floodplain forest trail twice every day.
“Dunnellon is a nice, quaint little town. I grew up in Gainesville, so it's got a lot of history to me,” David Koger said. “I learned how to barefoot water ski on this river when I was in high school. Now, I'm trying to get all motorboats banned from it to save the river.”
The mayor emphasized in his letter that park improvements are for the residents, though the Kogers weren’t so sure. They’re worried more visitors are negatively impacting those who live nearby — human and otherwise.
“Limit the access to the park, because the traffic on the river is impacting the river.” Koger said. “When we first moved in here, for the first five years, I could identify five different families of otters that lived on the river. And the reason I know that so well is because one of them moved in our boat. But now, I haven't seen an otter in three months.”
It wasn’t the only county decision Koger opposed. He was one of many residents who opposed a proposed bike path that would have cut through Blue Run Park.
As a former road and bridge engineer, Koger recognized this set-up as hazardous to both pedestrians and bikers. The Dunnellon City Council decided to scrap the project after considering how mounting traffic congestion would worsen near Blue Run Park.
Legally, only the county can pick up tubers at Blue Run Park (aka “Tuber’s Exit”) and shuttle them to the county-owned KP Hole launch point on Rainbow River. The popular tubing package there costs $30 per person, and no personal tubes are allowed.
Bradly Long, a therapist and new Dunnellon resident, often takes his dog Herbie on morning walks through the swampy forest trail to spot alligators from afar. While he doesn’t think the change in management will benefit locals, he said residents will only care if something directly affects their lives negatively.
“I think there's excess waste in terms of spending so much money on public restrooms when people go into them and they abuse them,” Long said, adding that he rarely used public restrooms himself.
At the commission meeting, District 4 Commissioner Carl Zalak brought up the concern of working in tandem with Dunnellon leaders following a time of turnover and changing priorities.
“We want to make sure that those ordinances do not hinder and impede anything that we are able to do to continue to operate that park,” said Commission Chair Michelle Stone.
Bryant interjected to say that the board is aware of current city ordinances and that park ownership does not give the county the right to overstep, citing Brick City Adventure Park in Ocala as a possible model. However, any changes moving forward would need to be “in lockstep” with the county.
The county commissioners wrote back to Green saying Blue Run Park will play an essential part in their plan to tap into the state’s growing ecotourism market.
Stacie Causey, Marion County public relations manager, said that while the county is enthusiastic about managing the park, an official takeover date will not be set until after the county's fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
“We’re very happy that they see the value of us managing that park,” County Parks and Recreation Director Jim Couillard said of the switch to county control.
Couillard assured park patrons that drastic changes will not be coming soon, though county officials are considering construction plans for a new bathroom facility at Blue Run Park.