Tracts
of land targeted for park use at Dearborn
Deal
on a second tract should be done this week
by Ivan Foley
Landmark editor
Thanks to grant money from
Platte County, the City of Dearborn is now making major
strides in improving its park facilities.
Platte County has offered
$300,000 from its half cent park sales tax fund to Dearborn,
just as it has done with the cities of Camden Point
and Edgerton.
The county last week signed
a land acquisition deal for 13 acres of property owned
by Mr. and Mrs. Tex Wampler at Dearborn.
In addition, this week
a deal is expected to be closed on another six acres
of land that will be used as park ground at Dearborn.
That six acre tract is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Rick Rawlings.
According to Brian Nowotny,
parks and recreation director for Platte County, the
13 acre tract sits on the south side of Z Hwy. in Dearborn.
These 13 acres are in an
upland wooded area near the fire station and will have
a passive use, such as walking trails, park and picnic
areas, Nowotny said.
The six acre tract sits
on the north side of Z Hwy. and is adjacent to North
Platte High School and Bee Creek, Nowotny said.
The six acres are envisioned
by the city for being used as sports fields, such as
baseball/softball fields and perhaps a soccer field,
Nowotny indicated.
Nowotny praised the efforts
of new Dearborn Mayor Delba McAuley for her role in
acquiring the land.
"Their mayor has done
a tremendous job identifying property and was the lead
negotiator. It was all a friendly process. . .she led
the way," Nowotny said.
On Tuesday night, McAuley
emphasized the deal on the six acres is not yet complete
but acknowledged the negotiations are ongoing.
Dearborn will gather community
input to come up with firm plans for development of
both tracts of land.
"Hopefully we'll have
community input. I'd like to see this be a community
project," McAuley said.
"It has taken us a
long time to get to this point. We haven't done a whole
lot of planning beyond acquiring the property."
McAuley said she'd like
to see the parks ready for use by next summer, but said
she's not yet sure if that's a realistic goal.
Dearborn's current park,
which currently sits across the county line into Buchanan
County, will eventually be sold by the city.
Purchase price for the 13 acres is $50,000. The land
was appraised at $57,000 and the seller agreed to write
off the $7,000 difference as a donation.
The six acre tract will
bring a price of $42,500. It was appraised at $38,500.
Nowotny said the city will cover the $4,000 difference
in value with its own funds.
The contract on the six
acres is expected to be signed by the county commissioners
this week, Nowotny said.
By using only about a third
of the county's grant for acquisition costs, Dearborn
will have about $200,000 remaining for development of
the land, Nowotny pointed out.
