While fishermen and boating enthusiasts were perhaps getting accustomed to launching from the Yarberry Peninsula Recreation Area boat ramp free of charge during a previous 1 1/2 year closure, the campground came under new management earlier this year. Along with the change came some upgrades to the site and a new fee schedule.
Cliff and June Hamblin, who previously managed a campground in Alabama before coming to Lenoir City, work for Recreation Resource Management, a campsite operator with facilities in numerous states, including Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida and California. Yarberry, which is located just off Highway 321 southeast of Lenoir City, has a total of 45 campsites, a bathhouse with showers, a dumping station and a boat ramp. Recreation Resource Management is currently leasing the campsite from the Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the property.
June said the couple decided to come to live and work in Tennessee based on previous experiences in the state.
“We had lived here when our children were young — actually we lived in Athens — and we loved the area, and it was just something that we could start and see the end result,” June said.
Travis Brickey, spokesman with TVA, said the previous manager of the property decided to relinquish a 19-year lease that began in August 2004 because of health concerns. TVA then pursued a request for proposal to establish a 30-year easement with a commercial operator. The federal utility subsequently awarded the easement to Recreation Resource Management. The campground reopened in March.
Since taking over management at Yarberry, the Hamblins have brought numerous upgrades to the recreation area, including running electricity and water to all campsites, adding new sites to bring the total to 45 and renovating the dumping station. The campground also has waterfront sites, some of which are available for long-term use, and canoes for rent.
The campground is currently charging $27 for single-family campsite use and $29 for waterfront locations per night. The day-use boat ramp fee is $7, and residents can purchase an annual usage pass for $70.
Some residents, including anglers in Tellico Village, have taken issue with the new daily boat ramp fee.
Jim Goyert, a member of the Tellico Village Fishing Club, said an extra fee to use the ramp seemed like a double charge for a piece of property that’s already supported by taxes through TVA.
“For the local — quote — fishermen in our fishing club to go over and launch at a facility, where in our opinion a lot of tax dollars have already been used over the years to build all of these ramps facilities, to have to pay a fee on top of that seems to be a little out of line,” Goyert said.
Goyert said most boat ramps in Loudon County can be used without a charge.
“If it was private property and the like I could understand that, but when it’s TVA property it’s our opinion and only our opinion that oughta be available” for free, Goyert said, noting that he recommended club members use other facilities for launching their boats.
Anthony Chitwood, with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, said campground managers charging a fee to use the Yarberry boat ramp was “nothing new.”
“TVA they lease it out, but the previous lessee of it, they charged also,” Chitwood said. “I think the new ones (the Hamblins) are charging a little more, but they’ve also done a lot to upgrade the area. It’s a business, and they’re trying to do what they’ve got to — I reckon — to stay afloat.”
Chitwood said the boat ramp was originally intended as an amenity for campers at Yarberry.
“Other people that might live nearby and what have you and want to access Fort Loudoun (Lake) and don’t want to drive all the way across or down to the canal where there’s so many boats, they use it as a place, but for the last couple years it has been unattended,” Chitwood said.
He questioned why residents from Tellico Village would venture to Lenoir City to use Yarberry.
“They drive past three boat ramps to get there,” he said.
June said she has fielded some complaints about the Yarberry boat ramp and recommended frequent boaters just purchase the yearly pass for $70.
“They can come in three times a day 365 days a year,” June said. “And that’s what we try to explain to them that if they’ll buy the annual use, then they really don’t have anything to complain about because if they come every day paying $2 a day for 365 days, if you do the math,” it’s cheaper.
Recreation Resource Management’s future plans for the site include adding an additional bathhouse, creating a beach area and kayak and pontoon boat rentals. For more information, visit the campground’s new website at http://www.campyarberry.com.
For more information on Recreation Resource Management, visit http://camprrm.com.
