Dubach council members discuss fledgling ‘Legends Fund’

DUBACH — The Dubach Town Council will have to decide if it wants to give permission to a local renovation fund to start work on improvements to public spaces.

Randy Rogers, a longtime Dubach resident, came to Monday’s council meeting with a newly formed, grassroots fund aimed at trying to improve Dubach’s assets and aesthetics to make the town a more attractive destination for residents.

The fund, which is two weeks old, would be used to put in a new fishing and kayaking dock in the town lake, put up a new flag with an LED floodlight, repair the town pavilion and replace the old fountain near the pavilion.

“I think Dubach has some assets that we can leverage,” Rogers said. “When I spoke to some Dubach kids a couple of years ago, they said, ‘there’s nothing to do in Dubach.’ And I said, ‘there wasn’t anything to do when I was here either.’ You have to make your things to do around here. We’ve got the most beautiful lake in the South right there. And so what we want to do is try and leverage that lake.

“God put that lake here, we’re going to figure out a way to leverage it.”

Rogers said he’s already gotten significant donations from former Dubach residents to try to help with potential project renovations the fund supports.

But he said the fund won’t be able to be used to fix up the town’s land without the council’s permission — an idea met with a mix of support and questions.

Mayor Mona Wilson supported the fund and thanked Rogers for having the initiative to try to start the process of saving town assets, not letting them continue to go ignored.

“I think promoting anything that promotes our town and brings people to our town is a plus,” Wilson said.

Questions arose surrounding the idea of what comes after building the pavilion back into usable shape, or the dock’s place on the lake.

Councilwoman Evelyn Graham was hesitant in giving potential permission to Rogers and the fund, citing questions about who would oversee the use of the pavilion or dock after refurbishments.

Rogers and fellow council members responded by saying the use of the fund is to solely repair and build assets for Dubach.

Any use of the land after that is a separate matter according to how Rogers has put together his funding efforts.

“Nobody in this room is against having that place over there look like this. I don’t think anybody would say that doesn’t look good what we see on paper,” Graham said. “My thing is, he wants to fix it up and I’m for it. There’s nothing wrong with what he wants to do, it’s just the other business part that we have to look at.”

As far as putting in a new dock alongside the lake, public comments were asked about increased liability for adding another chance that someone would fall in the lake or to invite patrons to kayak on the lake with gators still potentially in the water.

Like the other proposed uses of the fund, Wilson was in favor of the dock.

“As far as the dock and all, to me that’s just a plus,” Wilson said. “There’s no more liability in the dock than there would be in the lake. Somebody can fall in the lake but we’re not responsible for that.”

The council adjourned without giving official permission to Rogers or the Dubach Legends Fund.