Plans for a proposed pollinator park on the east side of Columbus, where flooding heavily damaged housing in 2008, have been approved by the city.
Such a park is designed to support pollinating wildlife such as bees, butterflies and some types of birds. Pollinators are necessary for the growth of some types of food humans eat.
The Columbus Plan Commission voted 7-1 Wednesday to approve a site development plan for the 2.49-acre project on the east side of Pleasant Grove between McKinley Avenue and Fifth Street. Commission member Roger Lang cast the sole vote against the project.
The area is just east of Haw Creek near the Cummins Technical Center.
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The project calls for a looped trail system, benches, signage and native grasses and plants to attract pollinator species, said Rachel Kavathe, a landscape designer who owns Loci Creative, a landscape and urban design firm that helped create the Pleasant Grove design.
Kavathe appeared before the commission with Columbus Parks and Recreation Director Mark Jones, who said the parks department would oversee maintenance of the park.
Jones said a pollinator park fits in with the city’s plan to offer more nature-based programming for children, something that was cited by local residents in the new parks master plan.
Approval by the plan commission was the first of two steps in the process. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also have to approve the plan, Kavathe said.
After the 2008 flood, Columbus purchased 48 flood-damaged homes in the Pleasant Grove area through a buyout program, using $4.36 million in grants provided by FEMA, city-county planning director Jeff Bergman said previously. Those homes were eventually demolished.
Homeowners who voluntary chose to sell their homes to the city were paid fair-market, pre-flood value, he said.
Kavathe said after the meeting that she expects it will take four to six months to receive FEMA approval. In the meantime, fundraising for the project will continue this fall and through the winter.
The project could cost $100,000 to $200,000, with final costs determined by the configuration of parking and other final details, Kavathe said earlier.
Funding is being pursued through a Creating Places grant provided by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, which would provide up to a $50,000 match in donations received, Kavathe said.
If FEMA approves the project, construction could begin next spring with plans to be completed by the fall, Kavathe said.
City Councilman Dascal Bunch, whose district represents the city’s east side, said he thinks the proposed pollinator park would be good for the neighborhood and well used.
The park would also serve an underutilized area in Columbus, commission member Zack Ellison said.
While Lang said while he is not opposed to the project, he preferred to see other activities at the site to help attract a larger segment of the city’s population.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency will have to approve plans for a proposed pollinator park on the east side of Columbus before any construction work can begin. If approval is granted, development of the site could begin as early as next spring with plans completed by the fall.
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