SHIRLEY — A Stellar Communities project to add a walking trail in town is getting started as the town council prepares to accept bids.
The town received two bids for the project, which will be funded by the state Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The bids will be reviewed before the next town council meeting, when a vote on awarding the bid will take place. One base bid came to about $1.58 million and the other to about $1.77 million.
The project is the latest one to be undertaken by the Health and Heritage Region, a collaboration among Greenfield, Fortville and Hancock County that was chosen by the state’s Stellar Communities program to receive funding for community improvement projects. Another Stellar work in progress, the Depot Street Park in Greenfield, is under construction in Greenfield.
“We’re especially thankful that we can provide some of the Stellar impact in Shirley,” Greenfield city planner Joan Fitzwater, one of the local administrators of the Stellar program, said.
Shirley Clerk-Treasurer Teresa Hester said she doesn’t yet have a full schedule for the trail construction, but hopes it will be able to start in early August. The majority of the trail will be located on city-owned park land that is currently undeveloped, while another section will run parallel to Shirley’s Main Street to offer walkable access to the rest of the town. In total, it will be about a mile long.
The trail project will make improvements to the town park, including its softball field, and create a concrete trail that loops around the small town and connects the park with Shirley’s historical area that includes the Jane Ross Reeves Octagon House. Renovations to the park’s basketball and tennis courts are also on the docket, and the possible addition of a second softball field is included in the bid document as an alternate.
Various exercise stations will be located along the trail route to provide options for outdoor exercise.
The Shirley trail project, like several other Health and Heritage Region ideas, grew out of an initial trail plan for the county that leaders from all its incorporated communities drew up together in 2016.
Initially, that plan included a trail that would connect Shirley with neighboring Wilkinson. Fitzwater said that the plan fell through because not all of the property owners along the planned route were willing to cooperate. However, she said, she’s happy with the final design that will provide a recreational opportunity for Shirley residents.
“Health and Heritage is definitely a regional opportunity,” Fitzwater said.
The Stellar region set aside $1.6 million of its funding for the Shirley trail project; anything above that amount would be paid for locally.
Andy Ebbert, president of the community improvement group Shirley Visionaries, said Fitzwater and others involved with the administration of Stellar projects have been good collaborators. He said he’s pleased with the way the final design for the trail will make Shirley more walkable.
“I think it’s going to enhance our park area,” Ebbert said. “…It’ll give more access to the grounds that were just open fields before.”
Ebbert said he’s happy with how involved Shirley community leaders have been in the planning for the trail project ever since the county created its initial collaborative trail plan. When Stellar grant funds became available, he said, Shirley leaders didn’t even have to approach the group that had put together the Stellar proposal to ask how their town could be involved — the Stellar group came to them. The Hancock County Community Foundation also helped encourage stakeholders across the county to get together.
For a part of the county that often feels disconnected, Ebbert said, that’s unusual, and it gave him confidence in the working relationship with the Health and Heritage Region.
“This is kind of the first collaboration that has stuck,” he said.