Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Trails for bicycle riding and running were listed as the number one request by the public for the Warsaw park department's five-year master plan.
Few people showed up Tuesday at the park board's public meeting, but those who were there said they would regularly use a bike and running trail.
Jeff Noffsinger, assistant city planner for Warsaw, said he is awaiting for word from the Indiana Department of Transportation on a grant application he submitted for a bike trail. The proposed trail would begin in Winona Lake and end at the City-County Athletic Complex.
Members of the public who support the bike and running trail said the trail would provide a safe alternative to running or bike riding in city streets.
Another option mentioned in the park department's survey last year was a multi-purpose facility that would allow for ice skating in the winter and indoor concerts or other activities in the summer.
The Northern Lakes Skating Association has in the past offered to donate to Warsaw the ice rink equipment the NLSA received from Glenbrook Mall in return for a building for an ice rink.
Other suggestions mentioned to the park board include a county park system that would include facilities for winter sports, mountain bike riding, picnics, etc.; parks where people could take pets; expanded programs for senior citizens and teen-agers; and coordinating summer neighborhood programs on school playgrounds.
"I think we have an excellent park system now, it's just a matter of linking all those recreational opportunities and the schools, too," Noffsinger said.
The park board also set a rate of $5 per wheelbarrow for a load of firewood at Pike Lake Campground, with the park department providing the wheelbarrow.
The board's next meeting will be at 5 p.m. in the Nye Youth Cabin on Feb. 17.
