Kosciusko County Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program Coordinator Amy Roe, second from left, speaks at a special Pierceton Town Council meeting on Monday, June 19, at the Pierceton Community Building, as Michiana Area Council of Governments representative Zach Dripps, left, and Council President Matt Brubaker, second from right, and Vice President Janet Castle listen. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — Spending special monies on park improvements, a water utility study, sidewalks and a recreational building were discussed at a special Pierceton Town Council meeting on Monday, June 19.

The council mulled how to use its $200,000 from K21 Health Foundation and some of its American Rescue Plan Act monies via the town’s participation in the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program.

Town Superintendent Casey Boggs presented before the board regarding the former on behalf of the Pierceton Park Board. K21 Health Foundation agreed in 2019 to give small towns up to that amount for health and wellness-related projects.

Pierceton wants to spend those monies on a variety of items at Pierceton-Washington Township Park and the town’s skate park.

Those items estimated to cost between $240,000 and $280,000 in total consist of: redoing the tennis courts at Pierceton-Washington Township Park and adding space for pickleball; fixing dugouts, the concession stand and bathrooms there; extending Pierceton Elementary School’s sidewalk to Seventh Street and putting crosswalk signs on Seventh Street; putting in rubber mulch at Pierceton-Washington Township Park; buying one or two pieces of new skate park equipment; repairing concrete bases at park pavilions; replacing two grills and a piece of playground equipment at Pierceton-Washington Township Park; adding concrete bag toss boards and dog waste stations there; and creating a sidewalk north of the concession stand at Pierceton-Washington Township Park to the T-ball field.

The park board added they had other things they wanted accomplished, but had narrowed it down to the above list.

The council decided to have another meeting with K21 to help decide which of the projects to do.

H.E.L.P.

The council also prioritized doing a water utility study using part of its ARPA money from the federal government.

That choice was made through the town taking part in OCRA’S HELP.

The state created HELP to assist local governments with spending their ARPA money on projects to better their communities in four specific areas: Advancing E-Connectivity; Enhancing Quality of Place; Promoting Community Wellness; and Strengthening Local Economies. Kosciusko County was selected to participate, and county representatives invited any of the county’s cities and towns to take part as well, with Pierceton being one of the towns to join.

The county also hired a HELP community coordinator, Amy Roe, to facilitate the process. She was present at Monday’s meeting along with Michiana Area Council of Governments representative Zach Dripps, who is helping with the process.

The state is to provide special funding to add to Pierceton’s monies for the study if the town can prove the project benefits a majority of people deemed lower- to moderate income.

A survey should be going out soon to randomly selected residents in the area Pierceton’s water utility serves inquiring about people’s income. Those individuals need to fill out the survey to help Pierceton with the process.

The town is to post online advising people the survey is real and not a scam.

The council also talked about other projects it wanted to do through HELP: fixing sidewalks and creating a recreational building. It chose the water utility study over the others, but leaders discussed seeing if those projects could be accomplished through other funding.