Burgin City Council Discusses RV Park
File image.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
Ken Stewart, the owner of the Burgin RV Park, returned to the Burgin City Council with plans and state approval in hand at their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Stewart presented the board with a full set of engineering plans including sewer, water and electric which had been submitted to the state.
“It was really expensive,” Stewart said. He said the plans to serve up to 56 units have been approved and sent off to the state division of housing with state.
“It’s a self-contained RV park,” Stewart said. There will be no tents and no campers without showers. He said the state will perform inspections to make sure everything confirms with the plan.
Stewart said the plan conforms to state requirements. The lots will have 1,500 square feet per RV. Each has its own sewer trap and water spigot. He said the park is designed to be used year round, not just during camping season.
” That all gets inspected by the state,” Stewart said. “You can’t do anything without getting inspected.”
Commissioner Sindicat “Sid” Dunn asked about the sewer. Dun was worried RV park residents would not be billed because sewer bills in Burgin are based on water usage. Stewart said they could install a flow meter. He said he’d already paid the tap fee.
“The whole process is expensive,” Stewart said.
The park would be served by three two inch lines with grinder pumps similar to what’s in use at the campgrounds at Chimney Rock and Kamp Kennedy.
“I can’t build this all at once,” Stewart said. He said the first phase would be 15 sites with another 15 sites in the second phase and the rest in the third phase. Stewart said he has a strict policy on beautification of the lots, which customers would purchase or rent for a year at a time, with specifications for car canopies and concrete pads. The roads will be gravel, Stewart said they cold possibly blacktop the roads in the future. Asked about runoff, Stewart said it would go into the sinkhole.
“There is standing water at other places,” said Councilman Jamie Keebortz. “That’s my main concern because flooding is the main issue.”
“I’ve done what I was told to do,” Stewart said. “I stopped when you all told me to.”
Stewart last appeared before the city council in October 2022. He said he had spent the last year getting approval from the health department and the state.
“This is going to be an upbeat nice community that’s going to be good for Burgin,” Stewart said.
Mayor Joe Monroe said he was concerned about increased traffic. Stewart said he would install gates to help alleviate congestion.
“I’ll do whatever I’ve got to do,” Stewart said. He said phase one could start this winter. He said he would come back in the spring to discuss phase two if there are no issues.
“Would you all be comfortable meeting in the spring?” he asked.
While Dunn said he hoped the development would bring in more restaurants, others worried about the headaches of development.
“This is not going to benefit anybody that’s lived here all their life,” Keebortz said. He said only Stewart would profit from it.
“I might go in the hole,” Stewart said. He said he’d talked to local residents and no one had said they opposed the park, which will be surrounded by a solid hedge, 40 to 50 feet high.
“You won’t be able to see the campground in season,” Stewart said. He said potential residents were calling him every day. Stewart said he would be glad to do a flood survey before the second phase of construction.
Mayor Monroe asked Stewart to bring in a physical copy of the state permit and approval from the Mercer County Sanitation District.
“We need those before you start any construction,” Monroe said. “The flood survey can wait until you start the second phase.”
Stewart said he’d have all the information in by the end of the week and left a set of plans to keep on file. Monroe said the city will send Stewart his business licenses.
