2023 Year in Review – Feb
Continuing WNEG News’ look back at 2023, we take a look at the top stories in February:
The Toccoa City Commission and the Stephens County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement for an Airport Lighting Project. According to city and county sources, the entire airfield lighting system, which had been in place since 1992, needed to be replaced. The local share of the expense was to be paid entirely by remaining CARES grant funding.
In February, the City of Toccoa was recognized at a presentation in Atlanta by Georgia Trend Magazine and Georgia Municipal Association as one of three medium sized cities in the state to receive the Visionary City Award. Each city was recognized for actions and initiatives taken that increased civic engagement, created community partnerships and made people proud to call their city home.The City of Toccoa was recognized for the development of Lake Toccoa Recreational Park.
The bones for the idea of what would eventually become Lake Toccoa Recreational Park were formed with the establishment of the Community Facilities and Comprehensive Plans in the late 1960s.
\But development stalled for 50 years, with substantial work not beginning until 2018.
Today, the park includes an ADA-accessible walking trail, a boathouse with paddle boats, two pavilions, fishing landings, a restaurant and more. Toccoa was the only Northeast Georgia municipality to be awarded the 2023 Visionary City Award. The other cities recognized were Camill, Norcross, Sparks, Tybee Island, Watkinsville, Valdosta, LaGrange, and Douglasville.