2008 Woodie Awards
Coles County removes Sixth Street park plans
Kristina Peters/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 5/22/08 Section: News
Extra shade and greenery in the city may have had a price tag not worth paying.
A county-owned lot at Sixth Street and Madison Avenue will not become a park as planned, but other options are being investigated.
On May 13, the Coles County Board voted 10-2 against an agreement with the city of Charleston to turn the lot near the courthouse into a park with more trees, landscaping, seating and a gazebo.
The lot was originally purchased as a place to put an annex, said Mike Weaver, chairman of the board's Finance Committee. This idea is still desired by the committee, so investing money into a park did not seem logical, he said.
Weaver voted against the park, along with eight other members and board chairwoman Jan Eads.
Board Vice Chairman John Bell and member Dan Lawrence voted in favor of the agreement.
"It was a pretty simple vote," Weaver said. "The County Board has a pretty much unanimous mindset."
Weaver said Eads told him they will investigate other options.
The county is committed to beautifying the lot, which would including controlling animal usage on the lot, said Wilson, who is also on the Building and Grounds Committee.
The board cited financial reasons as the motivation behind the vote against the agreement.
The agreement would have called for the county to contribute $10,000 to the park's cost of $40,000. Future maintenance costs would also be split with the city.
"It was way too much money, and we had a bad year financially," Wilson said.
The county had taken over a $200,000-hit in its current fiscal year budget, he said.
"We had no control over that," he said. "So far this year, we thought we had a balanced budget. I just don't think it's wise to invest in."
The board also did not see a need for the park from locals.
Wilson said he talked to many locals - and not one thought the park was a good idea.
"When you get the pressure from your constituents that it's not a good idea, maybe it's not a good idea," he said. With the board's decision, the city has put the park on hold.
"I think the city has pretty much lost interest in it," said Curt Devore, city superintendent of parks and facility maintenance. "It's on hold for right now."
Devore still thinks the park was a potentially good idea.
"I think it could have been a nice addition to the uptown area," he said. "The city asked the county to share the cost of maintenance down the road, and they were not willing to split the cost."
Kristina Peters can be reached at 581-7942 or kmpeters@eiu.edu.
A county-owned lot at Sixth Street and Madison Avenue will not become a park as planned, but other options are being investigated.
On May 13, the Coles County Board voted 10-2 against an agreement with the city of Charleston to turn the lot near the courthouse into a park with more trees, landscaping, seating and a gazebo.
The lot was originally purchased as a place to put an annex, said Mike Weaver, chairman of the board's Finance Committee. This idea is still desired by the committee, so investing money into a park did not seem logical, he said.
Weaver voted against the park, along with eight other members and board chairwoman Jan Eads.
Board Vice Chairman John Bell and member Dan Lawrence voted in favor of the agreement.
"It was a pretty simple vote," Weaver said. "The County Board has a pretty much unanimous mindset."
Weaver said Eads told him they will investigate other options.
The county is committed to beautifying the lot, which would including controlling animal usage on the lot, said Wilson, who is also on the Building and Grounds Committee.
The board cited financial reasons as the motivation behind the vote against the agreement.
The agreement would have called for the county to contribute $10,000 to the park's cost of $40,000. Future maintenance costs would also be split with the city.
"It was way too much money, and we had a bad year financially," Wilson said.
The county had taken over a $200,000-hit in its current fiscal year budget, he said.
"We had no control over that," he said. "So far this year, we thought we had a balanced budget. I just don't think it's wise to invest in."
The board also did not see a need for the park from locals.
Wilson said he talked to many locals - and not one thought the park was a good idea.
"When you get the pressure from your constituents that it's not a good idea, maybe it's not a good idea," he said. With the board's decision, the city has put the park on hold.
"I think the city has pretty much lost interest in it," said Curt Devore, city superintendent of parks and facility maintenance. "It's on hold for right now."
Devore still thinks the park was a potentially good idea.
"I think it could have been a nice addition to the uptown area," he said. "The city asked the county to share the cost of maintenance down the road, and they were not willing to split the cost."
Kristina Peters can be reached at 581-7942 or kmpeters@eiu.edu.
The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.
Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.
Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.
If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
mike
posted 5/27/08 @ 6:34 PM CST
Who is this person? Why can they write better than everyone else? Did someone plagarize? Kristina, I love you- please write every story for the Den. Can you take pictures? maybe YOU should be the editor!
wow
posted 6/04/08 @ 12:11 PM CST
Wow. Get over it.
Post a Comment