SPENCER — After several years of discussion, the town is holding a public hearing Feb. 6 to hear the public’s input on the creation of a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

At the most recent board of aldermen meeting, Special Projects Director Joe Morris proposed a change to the town’s ordinances that would create not only a board, but a position that would be responsible for coordinating activities and managing relationships with other organizations in planning and/or executing activities.

Right now, Morris said, the town has a number of individual activities or projects on the table, including the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, the donation of the Carter property, the Grant Creek Blueway Trail Head and a pending application for the Rocky Branch Loop Trail, among others, and yet there is no one group to oversee them.

“This board would act in an advisory capacity to the aldermen,” said Morris. They would do the research, the ground work, on proposals or on possible changes to existing programs or facilities, and then “recommend strategy or policies to the town. And they would present an annual work plan that would include costs so they could be taken into consideration at budget time.”

The town has discussed some sort of advisory board as well as adding a separate parks and recreation department to the town for well over two years as it has developed more and more activities. When plans for the Yadkin River Trailhead began to come to fruition two years ago, the idea was again raised, and when the town moved forward with the creation of the Spencer Park in front of town hall, it became even more clear that some sort of leadership should be established to just work on parks and recreation.

In writing the proposed ordinance, Morris said he used much of the same language the town used in creating the Historic Preservation Commission, with adaption for the intended goal of the board.

To date, much of the planning and implementation of parks and recreation has fallen to Morris with help from Steve Blount, who oversees Planning and and Zoning and Town Manager Peter Franzese.

An advisory board would help take some of the burden off the aldermen and scattered staff by creating a group of “folks who would have their eyes on all the existing recreational areas and possible improvements as well as new opportunities,” said Morris. It would also create a point person who could investigate potential grants the town could apply for to help with funding.

Having an established department and board will help continue to establish Spencer as a place to be with a lot of things to do, he added, and the aldermen unanimously agreed.

Morris said the town is not actually required to hold a public hearing, “but in the interest of public information and transparency” and to get public feedback, he suggested the town hold a public hearing on Feb. 6 during the board’s pre-agenda meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the town hall. The board approved that proposal and then will take up the amendment to the town ordinances to create the advisory board at its regular meeting Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. in town hall.