Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board heard updates and discussed priorities for 2025 at a meeting on Thursday.
John Nelson, project site manager with Triad Associates Inc., told the board all paperwork is signed and moving forward for the Chinworth Trail extension project.
Board Vice President Aggie Sweeney asked if permits were needed; Nelson said no. Sweeney asked if the contractor's request for a staging area was figured out; Nelson said he hadn't heard updates from the contractors on that.
Katie Clark, landscape architect and project manager at Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group, then joined the meeting on a video call and shared updates on the master trail plan. She shared the plan on her screen, which was projected for the board and audience to see.
Clark said the plan had an added executive summary. She then went into detail about the updated list of things to do. The list was divided into data collection/planning and design/implementation. She discussed how steering team discussions directed the outline of the priorities. Clark said the steering committee will share this document with the board via email on Dec. 20. Sweeney recommended sending that to community members for review as well.
In other business, Board President Rob Bishop discussed 2025 priorities. After discussing a few ideas, board members said that they need to revisit which items from the plan are the priorities.
Board member Matt Metzger asked if they pursue funding or get approval from the commissioners first. Bishop said he expects to learn a lot with the current project, which can inform how to proceed in future projects.
The board voted for the 2025 president and vice president. Bishop was reelected board president and Sweeney was reelected vice president.