Parks board recommends $5,000 transfer to county fund to advance Winona Lake–Pearson trail

The Kosciusko County Parks & Recreation Board voted Feb. 12 to recommend that the Community Foundation transfer $5,000 from the Friends of the Trails special-interest fund into the county parks and recreation donation fund to help advance the Winona Lake–Pearson trail acceleration project. The motion was moved by Speaker 2, seconded by Speaker 4, and carried on a roll-call vote with members answering “aye.”

The transfer would be combined with a separate $2,500 donation already in the county fund, creating $7,500 available for the Pearson portion of the trail project if the foundation approves the recommendation. Speaker 2 said the board’s recommendation would preserve the original donor restrictions for the trail-acceleration project while moving the funds to county accounts to streamline project accounting.

Board members also heard project updates and preliminary cost guidance. Speaker 4 said vendors and Maycog estimated about $40,000 would be a reasonable target for pre-planning and noted the board received permission from county commissioners to pursue fundraising for the pre-planning work. “Maycog did indicate though that they believe $40,000 is the, the amount we should be shooting for,” Speaker 4 said.

Staff and board members reviewed a timeline for grant applications. The project team will meet Feb. 17 to prepare application materials after the LOI stage; Speaker 1 said the board has been invited to submit a full application after a favorable cap-committee response to the project’s letter of intent. The board discussed timing to appear before county commissioners (April 7) and county council (April 9) and noted K21’s LOI/application cycle (the transcript discussion cited May 1 for a K21 deadline and a separate CAP-related deadline near May 29 and June 30 for distinct review).

Several speakers stressed confirming recent process changes at funders before preparing full applications. Staff said both K21 and the Community Foundation now require a letter of intent (LOI) or preapproval step; staff committed to forwarding emails from funder contacts (Jennifer Stewart and others) summarizing the new steps.

The board also heard from the newly formed Friends of the Trails group, which plans a kickoff meeting on Feb. 28 at CCAC and will focus initially on the Chinworth Bridal Trailhead project. Speaker 7, representing the Friends effort, invited the board and the public to the Feb. 28 meeting at 3:30 p.m.

Next steps identified by the board include the project-team meeting Feb. 17, confirming LOI requirements with funders, preparing grant paperwork for March submission, and proceeding with applications so the projects can be considered by the commissioners and council in April.