SURPRISING STUFF

The Hillmoor AD Hoc Committee is brainstorming for a vision of the property.
Before any real goals can be acted on, the understanding of what the land is and was needs to be understood. The property is mostly man-made, as it was once a golf course. The land is not naturally shaped, and the white river was manually straightened through the property. The land has been not been maintained for years and has many problems that need to be remedied before it is something that can be used by the public.

The property is currently posted “no trespassing,” which the city claims is for legal reasons. The city administrator states: “The property needs a walkthrough of the entire property to determine the scope of issues.”

The Municipal League Self Insurance Fund wants to know what issues are out there and until then no trespassing signs need to stay in place. The goal is to have the property inspected by Earth Day April 22. There are some known issues with the property that need to be looked at closer, including the old pump house, well hole, and tree damage. With or without the no trespassing signs the property has been and continues to be used by citizens who walk through regularly, including an alleged homeless community.

There are many ideas out there on what the property could be and how that can happen. The main dream for the property is to keep it a green space of some kind for the people. The public is antsy to get the ball rolling and want to know if volunteers can start the process once approval is given to start some kind of clearing of dangerous debris and creating walking paths. This would keep costs down as the public works department did not budget for the maintenance of the Hillmoor property, as it was purchased after the budget was created, however, the public works department is not opposed to the work once the city gives its approval. Whatever is to be is at the mercy of the insurance requirement decisions.

Peg Esposito