Starke County residents have a chance to weigh in on Constellation of Starke’s plan for its $333,000. About 60 percent of those who responded to a previous survey were in favor of sticking with physical projects, rather than redirecting it to COVID-19 response efforts, according to the region’s executive committee.
Now, the group has come up with a Regional Improvement Project. It would include a new trailhead and restroom at county roads 210 and 450 East in Bass Lake, new restrooms at Norwayne Field in North Judson and the Koontz Lake Lions Park, and a new pavilion, parking improvements, and electrical upgrades at Wythogan Park in Knox.
The executive committee thinks that all of those items could be accomplished with the funding available, but they want residents’ input on how to prioritize them. To do that, Constellation of Starke is asking residents to take another online survey. They’re also hosting an online community outreach event this afternoon at 3:30. It will be streamed live on the Constellation of Starke Facebook page.
Only one of the upgrades now being proposed got much discussion during the last public input session held in March, although most of them do appear in the group’s regional development plan. The executive committee notes that the locations they recommended have money available for the required local match.
Constellation of Starke got the $333,000 for being a finalist region in last year’s Stellar Communities Designation Program.
As for why the region lost out on the designation and the millions of dollars in funding that would have come with it, the executive committee’s decision not to wear capes during its presentation to state officials may have had something to do with it. North Judson clerk-treasurer and executive committee member Andrew Rowe told the town council Monday that the superhero outfits were given to the group by one of the major donors for its proposed projects.
“We put them on after our presentation, took a picture to send to her as a thank-you,” Rowe explained. “And the first thing they said in our interview after was, ‘If you guys would’ve entered the presentation walking on either sides of the aisle with those capes on and been authentic and played that up because it wasn’t a gimmick. It was somebody gave them to you.’ That’s what they wanted to see.”
Constellation of Starke was planning to reapply this year, but the Stellar Communities program was placed on hold, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
