Michiana Area Council of Governments Senior Community Development Planner Donny Ritsema, left, talks to Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board member Aggie Sweeney, right, during a recent meeting about the public engagement activities in March for the master plan. Photo by David Slone, Times Union.

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — The Kosciusko County Parks & Recreation Board has been working on developing its first five-year park master plan to help establish a vision and priorities to guide the establishment of a county parks and recreation system. This plan seeks to address the needs of residents and visitors by providing access to quality parks and recreational amenities. The draft Kosciusko County Parks Master Plan is now ready for public review!

Now through April 6, the Kosciusko County Parks & Recreation Board needs to hear input on the action strategies you would like to see started in the next five years. There are multiple opportunities for you to share your input that includes filling out the Public Review Form at tiny.cc/ReviewKosciuskoParksPlan and visiting one of the three public open houses. The Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board and Steering Committee will be hosting three public open houses from 5-7 p.m. at the following locations and dates.

• Tuesday, March 14, at the North Webster Community Center in North Webster.
• Thursday, March 16, at the Bell Memorial Public Library in Mentone.
• Tuesday, March 28, at the Warsaw Community Public Library in Warsaw.

“It’s critical for the County Parks and Recreation Board to gain public input on our five-year Parks Master Plan to ensure that Kosciusko County residents’ priorities are being heard and incorporated,” states Parks and Recreation Board member Mike Cusick. “We encourage everyone to attend one of the upcoming public open houses or share your input by filling out the Public Review Form to make sure the Plan is representative of the interests and needs of the community.”

The draft plan is available for electronic review on the Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board’s webpage at www.kcgov.com/department/board.php?structureid=235. Hard copies of the draft plan and the public review form is available at any of the local public libraries and municipal clerk offices in the county.

The Kosciusko County Parks & Recreation Board kicked off the planning process in September 2022 and was built upon community engagement efforts to guide the establishment of a vision and mission for the Board, the major challenges and gaps, and priorities to guide implementation efforts over the next five years.

Engagement efforts so far have included holding monthly project meetings that were open for public attendance, conducted stakeholder interviews, and issued a public input survey. The public input survey was available as an online and paper survey from Nov. 30, 2022 to Jan. 11, 2023, and received responses from 500 county residents.

If you need assistance filling out the Public Review Form or other questions related to the County’s Parks Master Plan, contact Donny Ritsema with MACOG at [email protected] or (574) 287-1829, ext. 503.