Granton Village Board hears requests on horse hitching posts; park improvements
By Cheyenne Thomas The Granton Village Board received updates on some ongoing improvement projects in the Granton Community Park, as well as approved some updates to the village’s hitching post used by the local Amish community, during its regular meeting on Aug. 14. The board also listened to other requests by organizations and residents during the meeting, approving some while having others put on the board’s September agenda.
Harvey Borntrager spoke to the board on behalf of the local Amish community to discuss the village hitching posts. He told the board that Dollar General is in the process of updating their hitching post to make it safer to use and to add a shelter for horses to protect them from the weather in the winter. With those improvements being made to the Dollar General site in mind, Borntrager asked the board if it was possible to update the hitching post the Amish used near the center of the village on Second Street.
“We would like to rebuild the one here in town so that it’s open and the horses can be hitched on the south side (of the lot) rather than the north side,” he said. “Maybe get a shelter built too to tie the horse out of the wind when it gets cold.”
The board agreed to have the hitching post in the village updated and moved to the local Amish preferences. The board was more reluctant to agree to having a shelter built on the lot, wondering what the issues would be with liability on the building. “If the village buys the materials, the Amish can put in a new hitching post,” said board member Bryan Vine. “If you want a shelter, we’re going to have to think hard on that. We haven’t seen a shelter in any other local municipality. You would have to look at the prices and if it’s an enclosed building, there is going to be liability on it.”
The board also listened to a report from Dana Klein of the Granton Park Committee. Klein told the board about some of the current improvement projects being completed and started in the Granton Community Park. The Growing Granton Strong Committee had recently donated $2,500 towards adding a new swing for parents and children in the park. Although a swing was picked out, Klein said the company that makes the swings has a more than year-long waiting list to have the equipment installed. If the park still wanted the swing, she said they would have to look at options to install it safely; otherwise, the committee would have to look at other swing options. She said the total expected cost to put in a new swing would be about $5,000, with the $2,500 donation and park funds covering the costs of the project.
Klein also updated the board on progress to repair the park’s basketball courts and plans to fix the volleyball court. She said sealing work is being done on the basketball courts to fix cracks in the court surface, and the work should be completed in time for the Granton Fall Festival in a few weeks. The volleyball court was also discussed, with plans to re-edge the court to make it square and add in new sand to resurface the court sometime in the next year.
In other action taken by the board at its meeting,theboardapprovedaddingFabreann Buffington as the new village clerk/treasurer on its village bank accounts and removing former village clerk/treasurer Emily Steinbach from the accounts as she resigned from the position. The board also approved a request from Feed My People to have its pop-up food pantry site moved from the village park to the Granton Fire Station beginning in October. The board approved of the move, provided the organization makes sure to keep parking spaces and the bay doors at the station clear for volunteer firefighters and first responders in the event of emergencies.
The board also listened to a request of a resident to annex out of the village because of limitations the village has on animals as part of its village ordinances. The board decided to put the request on next month’s agenda to discuss the process of annexing out and asked the resident to follow village ordinances with regards to animals on their property until the day came that they were annexed out of the village.
