With new parks department, Westfield eyes grant for Monon Trail underpass
Westfield City Council’s establishment of a parks department will make it eligible for millions of dollars in grants that could kick-start construction of a tunnel under 161st at the Monon Trail.
The city was the only one in Hamilton County without a parks department and a board, instead folding the function under the Public Works umbrella. But the structure greatly diminished Westfield’s chances of qualifying for or receiving federal and state grants for park projects, said Chris McConnell, Westfield’s superintendent of parks and recreation.
“It didn’t prevent us from qualifying for some of these grants but it would hurt our scoring in competition with other cities,” McConnell said.
The council unanimously approved the new parks department this week.
A grant would be a boost to the city’s plan to build an underpass on the Monon Trail crossing at busy 161st Street. Newly-elected Mayor Scott Willis has told the DPW to move ahead with planning the project after three years of indecisiveness because of the cost.
During the lull, the city installed an intersection traffic light called a HAWK system for $120,000. More than 14,000 cars and trucks a day travel on 161st and up to 100 pedestrians an hour cross the Monon during peak hours, city officials said.
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DPW Director Johnathan Nail said the tunnel would cost $8.8 million but would be about $1 million cheaper than a bridge.
The new parks department, McConnell said, “increases the likelihood of us qualifying and applying for a grant.”
The most likely source would be an Indiana Next Level Trails grant, a program that distributed $31 million to local governments last year.
Fishers snared a $4.5 million Indiana Next Level grant to help pay for a bridge over the Nickel Plate Trail at 96th Street in 2022. Indianapolis received $5 million and Noblesville got $3.4 million in Next Level funds to build their portions of the Nickel Plate.
McConnell said grants the board can apply for include:
Indiana Next Level Trails: up to $2 million.
Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund: up to $700,000.
Indiana Trails Programs: up to $400,000.
Next Level Conservation Trust: minimum of $100,000.
The board will be composed of four appointees by the mayor and a member chosen by the Westfield Washington School District board who each will serve four-year terms. It will oversee 400 acres of parks and 14 miles of trails.
The new parks department will need to add positions, McConnell said. They include a landscape manager, program manager, parks manager and a laborer.
Willis told councilors he anticipates the city will merge its parks system with the Washington Westfield Parks, which runs parks, including MacGregor Park, in the unincorporated areas.
“My vision is a consolidation as a more efficient use of taxpayers dollars and a way to lock in the land in the rural areas and make sure it stays as parks,” Willis said.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on X/Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Monon Trail in Westfield: City eyes underpass grant money; forms parks dept.
