News

Village seeks $330,000 grant for park trails

By Bill Moss, Published: February 23, 2015

FLAT ROCK— The Flat Rock Village Council has authorized an expenditure of up to $66,000 as 20 percent match for a potential grant of $330,000 for trails, bridges, boardwalks and culverts at the park.

The village has applied for the federal grant through the French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organization, which guides the use of the federal and state transportation funding in Henderson County.
The money would enable the village to complete the remaining trail work in the 66-acre park, connecting the interior paths to the existing 1.5-mile perimeter trail. Project costs, the grant application says, include $75,000 for paved 8-foot-wide core trails, $125,000 for 6-foot-wide paved secondary connecting trails, $55,000 for bridges and culverts and $75,000 for boardwalks. Engineering and design would take place during the federal fiscal year 2015-16, which starts on Oct. 1, with construction in FY 2016-17.
By resolution the council committed to paying its 20 percent share through village funds or donations to the Flat Rock Park and Recreation Foundation, which raises money for the park.
In another matter during its Feb. 12 meeting, the Village Council appointed Keith Kennedy to represent Flat Rock on the committee drawing up the community land-use plan for East Flat Rock. A retired corporate attorney who worked in Cleveland and Florida, Kennedy lives in Highland Lake Villas. He will be a nonvoting member of the Small Area Plan committee for the East Flat Rock area, which borders the Highland Lake development.