Developing the River Walk  This process, no doubt will be long and continuous, and require considerable volunteer effort.  Heritage Park currently includes 10 miles of bike trails.  These trails were proposed, designed, and built entirely with volunteer effort by the biking community.  Oconee County has a strong precedence for outstanding volunteer programs.       <rob swap 3rd picture with one at the bottom and try to make it look more like russ' picture.>   The initial stages of development will require expertise in landscape architecture, river protection, and river walk design.  A design team will make a preliminary plan for the entire length of the river frontage available at the start, so that all portions of the walk will be coordinated and flow together.       Specific design aspects will follow, starting at the trailhead and proceeding at increments, which set out design aspects for building volunteers to follow.  Again, this is a rustic path of split rail fence and wood chips, so there will be a minimum of cutting digging out, filling in, and actual building.  The whole premise is to preserve the natural beauty of the space, protecting the river bank, and at the same time making this footpath safe for walking.  Path designers and landscape architects have volunteered to be involved in this process.  Setting of posts and fabrication of the split rail fence do not require any specific skills, and many volunteers will be available for this task.  The spreading of wood chips as the base of the trail will again pose no skill challenges and will be conducted by general volunteers.  Much of the river frontage already has visible open paths, sections of it having been walked for generations by Oconee inhabitants.  Because such roughly cleared paths already exist on much of the river walk’s length, each of these phases should pose minimal challenge.  Perhaps the biggest challenge is to leave it as it is.  There are a few small tributaries and seasonal creeks which empty into the river, therefore there will be a need to design and build various small bridges which will allow safe crossing for the elderly and very young walkers.