Marshall County will find out tomorrow whether it’s been designated a Regional Stellar Community. The announcement was originally expected today, but Culver Town Council President Ginny Bess Munroe announced last week that it’s been pushed back.
“They changed the date on the announcement,” she said. “It’s not going to be Monday. It’s going to be Tuesday because the lieutenant governor makes those phone calls, and they didn’t have it in her schedule. So they’re going to be calling Kevin Overmyer where we met for our Stellar regional meetings at the County Building, between 10:00 and 10:30 on Tuesday.”
Marshall County Crossroads – made up of the county government, along with the county’s six municipalities – is one of five finalist regions. Two of them will be chosen as this year’s Stellar Community designees by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.
In the meantime, the Culver Town Council has approved a Plan B for funding a third phase of the Lake Maxinkuckee Bike and Walking Trail, in case the county is not named a Stellar Community. Town Manager Jonathan Leist said the town planned to apply for funding from the Indiana Department of Transportation, during last week’s call for projects. “MACOG had encouraged us to go ahead and apply on multiple occasions,” he explained, “kind of going back to that idea of INDOT and OCRA like to see that you’re committed to these projects and that you are going to do them regardless of whether you receive Stellar designation.”
As part of the application process, the town council passed a resolution last week, agreeing to contribute a 20-percent local match of up to $220,000. A similar commitment is already in place for the potential Stellar funding. If the INDOT funding is approved, construction would not be expected to start until 2024.
Munroe added that MACOG has agreed to help put together a county-wide master bike/walking trail plan. She said the Marshall County Community Foundation will contribute $25,000, while another $10,000 will be available, if Marshall County Crossroads is designated a Stellar Community.
