By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The City of Decatur is being handed some six and a half acres of land free of charge and it’s accepted, mainly as a look to the future.
Railroad Vest Corp., a property management company in South Bend, will deed the land to the city now that it has been accepted via action at the latest meeting of the city council.
It was explained to the city’s board of works and safety that the land is in two parcels, the biggest being 4.85 acres running north and south,, mostly between Schirmeyer St. and the city’s public works site on Elm St. It extends to an area near the rear of the Eagles Lodge on 11th St.
The 1.5-acre parcel is across Winchester St., an area north of the Adams County Law Enforcement Center.
At one time, a railroad line ran through the parcels. All the track is long gone.
The handover has been in the works for a couple of years, involving Adams County Attorney Mark Burry.
In fact, the city’s operations manager, Jeremy Gilbert, said that as far back as five years ago the city had looked at the bigger parcel as the site for part of a possible trail.
He noted too, that the 4.85 acres could become helpful in reducing some flooding at the public works site.
“It would make sense to obtain it; it would give us something for the future,” Gilbert remarked.
The land offer has one major hang-up – and it’s a big one!
Over the years, Schirmeyer residents and surely others have dumped just about everything imaginable on the railroad property.
“It would take a lot of work, a lot of work, to clean up the area if we wanted to use it for a trail,” Gilbert said.
After some more discussion, the board gave its okay to the acceptance. Later, in the council meeting, final approval was handed down … with no plans for a massive cleanup in the near future.
The city employees’ plate is already full, Gilbert emphasized.
The land will be deeded to the city’s park and rec board, which will make it easier to obtain grants to convert it into a trail whenever that becomes a possibility.
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