As summer ends, so does controversy over Corps Vets’ practice at RHS

A disagreement between homeowners whose properties border the Rockmart High School football field and a private drum and bugle corps that rents the field during the summer, has fizzled out from natural causes.

The Atlanta Corps Vets (CV) Drum and Bugle Corps competes with other Drum Corps Associates throughout the U.S. every year.

The marching band performs using brass and percussion instruments and also specializes in stylized drills using flags, rifles and sabers.

The CV paid to practice on the RHS football field last summer, according to assistant superintendent Greg Teems.

The Corps brought bands from throughout the southeast to Rockmart in August to compete in the Drum Corps Associates “Southern Showdown” competition.

Mark Terry, who owns a home adjacent to the practice field, has complained to the school board repeatedly about the noise he and his neighbors have to endure on summer weekends when the band practices.

His petition made it on the board’s agenda in August.

Terry told the board that he and his neighbors have to plan their weekends around the Corps’ practice schedule.

He said the music is so loud that he can’t enter- tain outside or even sit on his deck and relax. “It is so loud,” Terry said, “you can’t even hear each other talk.”

During public comment, a member of the Rockmart High School Booster Club told the board that the club depends on the Corps Vets’ fees for a large part of its funding.

She proposed the value of the fees to the RHS band should take precedence over any inconvenience being caused to the neighbors.

At the end of the discussion, board member Tommy Sanders said he was concerned about the use of the field by the Corps for different reasons.

He said he monitored the condition of the field over the past sum- mer and saw evidence that the Corps practices were doing damage that had to be repaired by the school before football season.

For that reason, Sanders said he was leaning toward terminating the Corps Vets contract from 2016 forward.

The meeting ended with board chair Harold McDurman asking for more time to look into the controversy in the hope of working out an agreement.

Last week, Teems said the issue is moot now that the Corps Vets have concluded their practice for the year.

Next year, the corps will have to find a new home due to ongoing construction on the field house, Teems said.