Residents of the North Judson area will soon be invited to comment on the town’s park facilities. According to Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe, city officials are preparing a poll and planning a public engagement session for next month. âChanges you’d like to see, have you used the park in the last year or in previous years, those kinds of issues,â he says.
This is part of the city’s five-year park planning process.
Rowe says the park council and a few city council members held an initial meeting on Monday with planning consultant Mike Reese with the Troyer Group. âWe didn’t go too, too deep,â Rowe says. âWe discussed things at the surface level like upgrading equipment, removing trees, routes to the Hidden Diamond. We don’t want this to be a hidden diamond anymore, so what does that mean? “
In addition to the public engagement session, the Troyer Group also wants to organize focus group meetings for individual stakeholder groups, such as public safety officials, students, and other community organizations.
Rowe says the five-year park plan will cover the municipal park and the Norwayne field, but could also identify opportunities to develop new, smaller parks. A draft of the plan is expected to be completed in January, with the final version due to be submitted to the state in April. Having a current park plan would make North Judson Park Council eligible for more grant opportunities.