• By Todd Luck
• Posted Thursday, November 17, 2022

County to consider next steps in Tobaccoville and Belews Lake Park projects

Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will consider the next phases in the creation of new parks in Tobaccoville and Belews Lake in their upcoming meetings.

Commissioners will hear about items concerning these projects in a briefing on Monday, Nov. 21, and are scheduled to vote on them in their regular meeting on Thursday, Dec. 1, which includes a public comment session. Commissioners' meetings are held on the fifth floor of the Forsyth County Government Center, 201 N. Chestnut Street, at 2 p.m. and are live streamed on the county’s website, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.

The Forsyth County Agricultural Park Complex project in Tobaccoville will include passive park activities such as walking trails and a picnic shelter, a center for agricultural events and a new location for the Forsyth County Cooperative Extension Center, which will be located on undeveloped county-owned property off Rolling Hill Drive.

Commissioners will consider approving Shelco, LLC, as the Design-Build Team for preconstruction. A selection committee comprised of General Services and Parks staff reviewed the Design-Build proposals and identified Shelco as the most qualified firm for the project.

At the completion of the preconstruction phase, the design-builder will prepare a Guaranteed Maximum Price proposal for construction and, if staff determine that proposal is acceptable, commissioners will then vote on it. The total budget for the project is $9,950,000.

For the Belews Lake Park project, Bar Construction Company, Inc was approved by commissioners as the Design-Builder for the preconstruction phase on October 21, 2021. Commissioners will now consider a Guaranteed Maximum Price of $6,655,000, which includes a 3% Design-Builder fee, with total preconstruction and construction fees not to exceed $7,038,835.

Belews Lake Park will be on a 216-acre tract of undeveloped land in the northeastern corner of Forsyth County and formerly acquired from Duke Energy. It will be a regional passive park with nearly 2 miles of lake frontage.