Flat Rock taking possession of park land Friday

Just as an FYI--while Flat Rock takes possession of the park on Friday (November 15), the park will not be open to the public for walking until sometime in mid-December. From the Hendersonville Lightning:

One day before the Flat Rock takes possession of its new 67-acre park land, the Village Council decided that it needed to hold a workshop to order priorities for park development.

The council has been talking about acquiring the former Highland Lake Golf Club property for 14 months. It closed on the $1.1 million purchase in July and allocated $832,000 last spring for park development in the current budget year. It adopted a master plan for development and set out a phase 1 of improvements. Part of that seem to unravel Thursday when council members debated what exactly should happen first. Before the council started discussing plans for the 67 acres along Highland Lake Road, CPA Carl Shaw suggested that the council segregate park spending in a capital project ordinance. . .

[Vice Mayor Nick] Weedman's comments drew the council into a few minutes of friction, a rarity in Flat Rock, where political accord and smooth operations are the usual order. Weedman suggested that the council still needed to set its priorities. Mayor Bob Staton and Councilman Dave Bucher countered that the council had already done that. It adopted a master plan in a special meeting earlier this month and decided that the first phase would include a new entrance, a perimeter walking trail and restroom and pavilion. Weedman said he is not sure a new entrance, reconfigured parking lot or lighting are needed. The village might be better off, he said, waiting to see how much the park is used. . .

Read it all.