LIVING HERE
The Knowles-Nelson Grant was submitted in the nick of time.
This grant is just one of hopefully many that will be utilized in the creation of what Hillmoor will be. The grant revision was on the agenda at the last city council meeting on March 19th. The Knowles-Nelson Grant has been in the works, and it was publicly announced during the previous administration that there may be issues with the grant. The former mayor never allowed public comments at the other twenty Hillmoor AD HOC meetings, but they have been made public since then. The public stated on numerous occasions the desire for hiking trails but never specified where.
Michael Kojovic stated that amendments may have been needed to deal with the issues and a special meeting may have helped to remedy the issues. The new administration formed the new Hillmoor Commission with its first meeting on March 13th. Unfortunately, right before that there was a special Hillmoor meeting on March 6th to discuss the Knowles Nelson Grant, leaving little time for Kojovic to gather the information needed to address the potential issues. On March 6th the public was presented with different options to revise the grant and was able to make comments.
The current administration is all about transparency and wants the public heavily involved in the planning of the property. The original trail layout with some proposed revisions was the option recommended for approval at last week’s special city council meeting. The revisions needed to be done quickly as the grant would expire, and the city could lose it. The Knowles-Nelson Grant is approximately $242,000, to be matched by the city. This is a good chunk of funds to get the ball rolling at the Hillmoor property. If this grant goes well and the work is done, the city will be able to apply for other Knowles-Nelson Grants in the future. Michael Kojovic has been a vital part of getting this done, speaking with the DNR and other entities that needed to be part of making this grant happen. The improvements made with the grant money will be near the disc golf area, the white river, and by the entrance off of Main Street by the old railroad bridge, which is one of the main entrances to the property. Some of the old paths will be dug up and removed, and new twelve-foot or close asphalt paths will be made, making them ADA compliant. In the future there will be more rustic hiking paths included on the property.
The new administration has and will continue to give the public many opportunities to weigh in on the future of Hillmoor. There will be an open public forum on Wednesday, April 2nd, regarding the Hillmoor property. The public will be able to speak on Hillmoor at the forum and are encouraged to do so. The planning of Hillmoor is just getting started and the public needs to be involved.
