A newly established county parks board seeks to establish new parks in unincorporated areas of the county, maximizing on local natural resources. This photo taken by Rick Petersen at the Thornwood Nature Preserve, part of Greenfield’s city parks, was sent to the Daily Reporter as a Take Your Best Shot submission.
Rick Petersen
HANCOCK COUNTY – Hancock County has developed a park board to explore how the county can establish its own parks system.
Next week, the board will hold its second meeting since being established by the county council and county commissioners over the summer.
Each group appointed two county employees to the board. The council appointed Heather VanDyke and Hollie Kinker while the commissioners appointed Kayla Brooks and Miriam Rolles.
At their initial meeting in July, Brooks was named president, Rolles vice president, Kinker secretary, and VanDyke treasurer.
The group will continue meeting every two months, working with a variety of consultants to explore the possibilities for building a county-wide parks system.
Hancock County currently has multiple parks departments run by local municipalities, including the Greenfield Parks Department and smaller parks departments in other towns.
Rolles said the newly formed county park board will seek ways to establish parks in the unincorporated parts of the county.
At the board’s first meeting July 18, commissioner Bill Spalding read a proclamation declaring the month of July as Parks & Recreation Month for the county.
Rolles said there’s a long road ahead to actually establishing county parks, but that the board is up to the task.
“The next step is implementing an impact fee committee, and that committee will be part of creating our five-year master plan,” said Rolles, an administrator who works with the county commissioners and highway department.
“Once those two things have been put into motion, then we’re compliant to apply for grants which can help us buy land and do what we need to do for the county. We are hoping to have that five-year master plan ready by November 2025,” she said.
“We hope to have the community’s input as we move along to create the type of quality of place that everyone one really wants to see. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”
The board will be working with a variety of consultants to bring the master plan to fruition, including Baker Tilly, Pro Consulting and Context Design.
Rolles, who has lived in Hancock County since 1996, is excited about bringing more parks to the community.
“It’s important for quality of life,” she said.
“We have a lot of development that’s happening in our county, and when you’ve got new housing development and more residents there really needs to be a place for people to go and get healthy and make memories, to just be outside and explore the natural beauty of our county,” she said.
Rolles said the park board is seeking to work with community partners who would consider donating land or leaving some land in their wills for the development of parks and preservation areas.
“If someone has a really beautiful piece of ground they would like to donate or work with the county to make it a park, we could name it after them. We’re looking for legacy properties,” she said.
The county parks board’s next meeting is at 10 a.m. Sept. 19 at the Hancock County Annex, at 111 American Legion Place in Greenfield. All meetings are open to the public.
For more information, or to work with the parks board on a legacy property, contact Rolles at [email protected] or 317-477-1111, ext. 2028.
