Scott Martin |
Friday, November 20, 2009
By MORRIS STEPHENSON - Staff Writer
Scott Martin is leaving Franklin County for Louisville, Ky., where he will be in charge of developing an elaborate park on 4,000 acres.
Martin, the county's director of commerce and leisure services, will begin his new duties as park director with 21st Century Parks Inc., a nonprofit corporation, on Jan. 4.
He will manage a private/public partnership to develop a public parks system known as "The Fork" along the Floyds Fork watershed.
The 4,000-5,000 acre park and trail system, which has a river running through it, is the last major underdeveloped corridor surrounding Louisville, according to the corporation's Web site, www.21cparks.org.
A news release from 21st Century Parks says Martin will be "tasked with the creation of an operations and management plan for the new parks system" the corporation is creating in eastern and southeastern Louisville.
The system is one of the largest and most ambitious metropolitan park projects in the nation, according to the Web site.
Construction on the park could begin as early as next summer, the release says.
"Scott is going to be an important addition to our team," said Dan Jones, founder, president and CEO of 21st Century Parks.
"He brings outstanding experience in managing world-class parks with both land-based and water-based recreation amenities, as well as a unique understanding of how parks are key players in a community's growth and economic development," Jones added.
"The Floyds Fork Greenway project is the most exciting local parks initiative in the nation," Martin said in the release. "While communities are shrinking their ambitions, 21st Century Parks and its partners are moving forward to dynamically improve Louisville's quality of life for the next century. Joining this team and the community to help realize this vision is an opportunity of a lifetime."
Martin will be the corporation's third employee. He expects to leave the county in mid-December.
His departure will create not one but two vacancies in the county as his wife, Jennifer, created and heads the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department.
The department is recognized as one of the state's leading local government GIS departments. Jennifer Martin also served as the second president of the Creek Freaks Paddlers of Franklin County club.
Scott Martin, 36, has worked for the county for eight years. The Franklin County Board of Supervisors learned of his decision at Tuesday's board meeting.
Martin came to the county in November 2001 as director of its department of parks and recreation.
In the summer of 2003, he was appointed to his current job as director of a department that was established at the time of his promotion.
Martin oversees the operations of the recreation, economic development and tourism departments.
As director of the recreation department, he immediately began work on developing greenways and blueways as well as improving youth activities and opportunities.
Martin developed plans for building new soccer fields at the Waid Recreation Park and installing a bridge over the Pigg River to connect the existing field and playground with the new fields.
While several greenways have been developed, Martin still was working on a plan to connect the sections of greenways between the CATCE building and WaidﾠPark.
The county now has blueways access on the Blackwater River from Callaway to Smith Mountain Lake.
The county's first official blueway was established from from the county-owned Waid Park to Lynch Park using a donation of land off Scuffling Hill Road from the late Dr. Vernon L. (Butch) Lynch family.
Martin next presented a plan to take out the nearly 100-year-old Rocky Mount power dam and turn that section of river into a water park, which included an office/rental building and a wildlife observation center in conjunction with the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation.
A half-million dollar grant from the U.S.ﾠDepartment of Fish and Wildlife to remove the dam received approval. However, it since has been placed on "hold" due to the nation's economic conditions.
Martin also was behind getting Smith Mountain Lake on the Bassmaster Elite fishing tournament schedule, along with its ESPN coverage.
He planned the development and construction of the county's Smith Mountain Lake Community Park, not far from the state park in Bedford County.
In the economic development field, Martin was credited with Franklin County landing the German-based McAirlaid's company's first U.S. manufacturing plant in the county's commerce center.
Martin also played a role in the existing Empire Foods baking company relocating its 84 existing jobs from Roanoke to a new building in the county/town industrial center on Weaver Street.
He also saw the tourism potential of "The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail" and was working through the tourism department to further develop venue locations in the county.
In an interview this week, Martin said he would like to see the continued development of a public waterline from Smith Mountain Lake along with an industrial park on U.S. 220 north between Rocky Mount and Boones Mill.
Martin said he is proud of what he and the county have accomplished, saying he could not have done anything without a forward-thinking board of supervisors and the hard-working personnel in the recreation department.
"They are the ones who made everything possible, and I very much appreciate the support I have received from the board members as well as Rocky Mount Town Council," he said.
Franklin County Administrator Rick Huff II said, "Franklin County will miss Scott and his vision of how economic development, business recruitment and recreational opportunities interface with each other.
"Scott is a tremendous relationship builder that intuitively understands how to build partnerships, attract the right kind of attention to our positive assets and encourage people to think differently than the culture that formed their original perspectives.
"Scott worked tirelessly for Franklin County, and his influence and efforts will indeed last for decades to come," Huff said in a prepared statement.
Martin, a native of Virginia, earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration in natural resource policy from Boise (Idaho) State University.
In 2005, he was named to the Virginia Business Journal's list of "20 Under 40 Emerging Leaders inﾠWestern Virginia."
Last year, he was named winner of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce's prestigious Marshall L. Flora Award.
He and his wife said they will put their house on U.S. 220, just north of Rocky Mount, on the market and will begin an immediate search for a new home in the Louisville area.
|
