MIFLIN, Ala. — The county shared preliminary development plans with citizens on Tuesday regarding a 20-acre park and boat launch on Wolf Creek. The meeting, which lasted a couple of hours, was standing room only at the Miflin Community Center in Elberta.

Public input was the hallmark of the meeting as regards the park, whose tract is along Hance Lane and Wilson Road.

Yvonne Harris, who lives at the end of Wilson Road and whose homesite will be adjacent to the park’s proposed 150-vehicle parking lot, said the hours-long meeting left little doubt that the park is going in.

“They invited several of us to sign a sheet to be on a planning committee,” Harris said on Wednesday, a prospect she hopes will come to pass.

“We hope to be a part of the park planning and want the Wolf Bay Watershed Watch to be a part of it too.”

Cindy Kusnierz, who lives on Bay Point Drive on Wolf Creek, echoed Harris’ sentiment.

“This is a done deal; they’ve closed on the property. As residents affected by this, (the county) is looking for our input, and I feel comfortable that they’re wanting to work with residents.”

Paul Ware, president of Wolf Bay Watershed Watch, said his organization will be represented on the committee that will be looking into issues and concerns related to the proposed park, some of those issues and concerns environmental.

Harris called the park property a “very beautiful area” and said she hopes the county will do the park correctly. She has some concerns in that regard since the $350,000 she said the county is currently committing to the park’s development appears to leave little for landscaping and beautification. As she understands it, the money is slated toward a boat ramp or two, picnic tables, portolets and a gravel parking lot.

Kusnierz said her concerns about the park involve security and how to keep Wolf Bay the pristine body of water it is.

“How can we preserve that with sixty some odd boats coming down everyday, which is what they’re proposing.”

Baldwin County Commissioner Charles “Skip” Gruber, who presided over Tuesday’s meeting with residents, has previously said construction on the park could begin this winter after the property is rezoned, permits obtained and plans finalized. The park could be open to the public next spring.

The county purchased the 20-acres for the park and boat launch in August for approximately $630,000.

Gruber was unavailable for comment on Wednesday morning due to a legislative delegation meeting.

Of the park, Kusnierz said, “It’s going to happen, so we just need to work together.”