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Porter County parks board approves appropriations for Aukie Key restoration, consulting and site work
Summary
The Porter County Parks and Recreation Board voted to appropriate multiple funds — including $115,000 for park capital and $100,000 for landscape restoration at Aukie Key — and approved smaller appropriations for consulting and site work to prepare property for seeding and future infrastructure.
The Porter County Parks and Recreation Board on a unanimous vote authorized several appropriations to advance work at Aukie Key and other park projects, including $115,000 toward parked capital needs, $100,000 for landscape restoration at Aukie Key and $10,212.37 for engineering and consulting related to stormwater and restroom permitting.
The appropriations package follows staff presentations on site-prep estimates and consultant fees needed to move a former agricultural parcel into park-ready open space. The board’s action funds initial earthwork, seedbed preparation and engineering work needed for wetlands/drainage permitting and future entrance and pond work.
Board members said the money will pay local contractors to disc and grade fields, slice- or drill-seed drought-resistant turf, and cover state permitting costs tied to drainage control. Staff said the estimate to get the first 22 acres seeded and graded is roughly $15,905 (about $4,400 for excavation and $11,500 for seeding and prep); the $100,000 appropriation will fund a broader landscape restoration and seed program across the northern half of the parcel.
Board members asked for local sourcing where practical; staff identified Advanced Turf Solutions as the recommended vendor for the specialty drought-tolerant seed and a local contractor (Katz) to perform the grading and slice-seeding. The board moved and voted on each appropriation separately; roll-call votes were recorded as unanimous.
Staff said additional work on the site — including stormwater design, state permitting to discharge to a nearby ditch and engineering updates — will be completed by consultants paid from the new appropriations so construction can move quickly once ground conditions permit. The appropriated funds were transferred from auction/dedicated funds into operating accounts to make them available for vendor invoices.
The board approved the following appropriations (motion and roll-call recorded in meeting minutes): an appropriation of $115,000 to Park Capital (for sign electric work and related capital), $10,212.37 to consulting for stormwater and restroom site-plan reviews, $100,000 from the dedicated Aukie Key fund for landscape restoration, and $42,732.87 moved from the same fund for additional consultant/engineering work. A separate motion approved $15,905 to Advanced Turf Solutions to seed the first acreage and pay the local contractor for ground prep.
Staff said the $100,000 restoration appropriation will allow grading, seeding and initial stormwater work and provide flexibility to pay state permitting fees as needed. The board did not set new timelines beyond staff’s estimate that, if ground conditions improve this spring, initial seeding and grading could begin within weeks.
The board did not take any action to change land use policy or authorize commercial development; the appropriations are limited to restoration, site preparation and permitting.
Ending note: the board indicated it will track spending against the appropriations and bring further contract approvals back to the board for required signatures and any larger procurements.
