As we approach Memorial Day, Vietnam veterans in Warner Robins are waiting on a memorial park that's been approved but not started.
For Vietnam veteran Tom McLendon, building a memorial park is a 10-year labor of love for Georgia's veterans.
“This park would be a way of saying thank you to the 1584 vets who lost their lives in Vietnam,” McLendon says.
McLendon served in the Air Force during Vietnam on a search and rescue helicopter team. He’s originally from Alabama, but moved to Warner Robins and 10 years ago had the inspiration to create a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park.
In October of 2016, the money was approved and since then parts of the project have been funded.
Within the last year and a half, Mayor Randy Toms and Warner Robins Council have approved fund allocations for memorial sculptures and a granite memorial wall with the names of Georgia’s soldiers killed in Vietnam.
But, there's no actual construction underway on the park itself.
“I'm not saying there's a bunch of red tape, but right now, I think the land and also who is gonna serve is what's causing the delays on it right now,” McLendon says in his home.
McLendon says it’s frustrating, but now that he has actual funding for the project and the support of Councilman Tim Thomas, he’s trying to be patient as the process continues.
The park is supposed to go on three acres of donated land near I-75 and Russell Parkway, along with a visitor's center.
But Mayor Toms says even though it's city land, it's not their utility area.
“Fort Valley has had some issues with agreeing to letting us serve out there, they want to service it, it's their service area right now,” Toms says in his office at City Hall.
Toms says the land donation is dependent on securing a utility agreement for the property.
So far, the Mayor claims Fort Valley will not allow Warner Robins to service the three acres with existing utility infrastructure currently under Russell Parkway.
Fort Valley Mayor Barbara Williams says they plan to service the area with utilities eventually and don't want to let Warner Robins encroach without protections in place for future projects.
Fort Valley recently rejected a provision on a service delivery document with the regional commission that would have allowed other municipalities to encroach on service areas if the original rights holder could not provide service within a “reasonable” time period, according to Williams.
Williams argued the provision would be bad for Fort Valley and leave them without protection if they could not provide the services in a very short time.
But Mayor Williams says she did not know a memorial park was part of the plan for the three acres.
Williams claims she was only ever told the property was going to be used for a visitor’s center.
However, when asked over the phone if the planned Memorial Park would sway the city’s decision to let Warner Robins service the area, Williams said Fort Valley would not forfeit their right to the area without protections in place.
Williams told 13WMAZ to speak with the Fort Valley Utility Commission for more detailed information about the discussions between the two cities, but calls to Commission leadership were not returned on Wednesday afternoon.
In the meantime, veterans like Martin Habecker are waiting for a memorial if their own right here in Central Georgia.
“It gives them some closure, something tangible that they can put their hands on and say, respect their brothers, who they lost in Vietnam,” Habecker says.
Habecker served in the Marine Corps for 21 years and originally enlisted near the end of the Vietnam War.
Mayor Toms says if the two cities cannot come to an agreement soon, Warner Robins will move the project to a different part of the city.