Published: August 20, 2008 04:37 pm      

County considering purchase of park land

DANVILLE — If an area family has its way, Hendricks County could one day soon have another public park.

William Roche, Hendricks County Parks superintendent, told county commissioners this week about a family wishing to sell 147 acres for $1,858,000. Roche says the property, located in the southwest corner of Washington Township, is heavily wooded.

“They want to leave something behind for the community,” he said. “They want it to be a place of beauty, relaxation, that type of thing, instead of just another housing development. They want to see something good left behind after they leave.”

The property owners originally approached the county about selling the land a year ago. Negotiations thus far have yielded in the parks department leasing the property for 12 years, after which they’d become the owners with zero interest.

“They’re really going above and beyond to make this happen,” Roche said.

Commissioners offered their support for the project by implying they would waive any processing fees associated with zoning compliance and other studies.

They also signed a grant application and letter of support on behalf of the parks department seeking a $1 million Indiana Department of Transportation enhancement grant to connect the National Road Heritage Trail from Cartersburg to Plainfield.

The master plan of the NRHT, conceived in 2003, is to extend it 150 miles across central Indiana, and nationally all the way to Baltimore. Part of the Indiana stretch includes 20 miles in Hendricks County, connecting Coatesville, Amo, Clayton, Cartersburg, and eventually Plainfield. A three-mile section already exists in Plainfield and is called the Vandalia Trail.

“It really has turned into a nice resource,” Roche said.

The grant would help the county acquire a significant chunk of easements for the future trail development. Receiving it would require a $100,000 investment from the parks department. Roche says they currently have $600,000 in their land acquisition fund.

Grant applications are due this week. Roche says last year there were $100 million in requests for the enhancement grant, and only $20 million allotted. However, trail development has become a high priority for both INDOT and the Department of Natural Resources. In fact the DNR named the NRHT a “visionary trail” in its 2006-10 master plan.

“I never feel confident we’re going to get the grant because there’s such stiff competition,” Roche said. “I feel confident it’s a very good proposal. This project should rate highly on their list.”

Roche says he expects to hear whether the county got the grant before the end of the year.

In other business, commissioners approved Grade X’s bid of $2.2 million for phase one construction of Westpoint Business Park at Interstate 70 and State Road 39. They also authorized the issuance of Tax Increment Finance (TIF) bonds for the park.



wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com