The Dearborn County Board of Commissioners on March 18 approved multiple Park Board actions: a bidding process to clean three ponds at County Farm Park, conditional inclusion of the county-owned pond pending the highway superintendent’s permission, an exploration of running electricity to the shooting range from a county pole, and staff authorization to submit an IDNR Land and Water Conservation Fund application tied to the county’s Stellar Pathways efforts.

Planning and zoning director Nicole Bailey told commissioners the Park Board seeks bids to clean and dredge several ponds at County Farm Park and asked the board to allow competitive bidding. Commissioners approved a motion to solicit bids for three ponds; the county-owned pond will be included in the bid package only if the highway superintendent (identified in discussion as Mr. Crivee) grants permission for work on that parcel.

Bailey said the Park Board will cover the cleanup costs from its budget. Commissioners conditioned approval of work on county property on prior consultation with the highway department so neighboring highway operations are aware of on-site activity.

On utilities, commissioners voted to allow the Park Board to explore running electric to the shooting sports area. Bailey and Park Board representatives described that portions of the County Farm property are served by different utilities (Duke and REMC). Park board members asked to investigate an option that would use a county-owned pole adjacent to the Yes Home parcel; commissioners approved the exploration, subject to required permissions from REMC or Duke.

“we've been trying to do this for a long time, but the problem was getting a staging area,” Celeste Calvito of the Dearborn County anti-litter/Taylor Initiative said when describing a separate Park Board event earlier in the meeting; commissioners had already approved a volunteer staging arrangement for an upcoming cleanup and similar coordination was discussed in park project planning.

Bailey also described the Park Board’s work to pursue an IDNR Land and Water Conservation Fund grant through the Stellar Pathways program. The application is due August 1; the Park Board has hired HWC Consulting to prepare the required environmental assessment and concept materials. Bailey said the Park Board is aiming for a $1,000,000 grant request that would require a roughly 1:1 local match and that the Park Board intends to assemble fundraising, private donations and possible council support over a multi-year schedule if needed. Bailey said the Park Board currently shows a $50,000 cash donation toward local match efforts.

Commissioners approved a motion to allow planning and zoning to submit the IDNR LWCF application and to sign required documents. Bailey said that engineering and construction would follow only if the grant application is successful and that, if the county pursues a county-council match, it would likely be requestable over several years rather than as a single immediate appropriation.

Action taken: Motions to solicit bids for three ponds (county pond conditional on highway permission), to permit the Park Board to explore electricity options using the county pole, and to proceed with the IDNR Land and Water Conservation Fund application all passed on voice votes.

Next steps: Planning staff will coordinate with the highway superintendent before putting the county-owned pond in the bid package, the Park Board will seek utility permissions and cost estimates for power to the shooting area, and HWC Consulting will complete application materials for submission by the August 1 deadline.