Chesterton Tribune                                                                                   Adv.

Porter plans July 4 parade and fireworks

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By PAULENE POPARAD

Hawthorne Park in Porter will host a full day of events July 4 to celebrate the nation’s Independence Day.

Park Board president Rondi Wightman on Tuesday outlined a tentative list of planned activities, and the Porter Town Council approved the necessary assembly permit for a 10 a.m. parade July 4 on Porter streets.

The Duneland-area holiday celebration officially begins Friday, July 1 with fireworks at dusk from a barge at the Indiana Dunes State Park co-sponsored by Porter and the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce.

Additional community groups including the Duneland Business Improvement Group are cooperating to bring back an old-fashioned, family-oriented festival to Hawthorne, said Wightman. It likely will include a pancake breakfast, turtle derby, brick toss, sack races, and for kids both bike-decorating and poster contests.

In addition, a beer garden and food vendors will be on-site as well as entertainment. If arrangements can be made, a fireworks display will close the evening’s festivities, said Wightman.

Applications to have a unit in the July 4 parade are available at the Porter town hall.

Gateway talk, no action

Consultant A.J. Monroe of SEH described the benefits and challenges involved with the Porter Redevelopment Commission’s Gateway to the Indiana Dunes project, but the council took no action on it.

Last month the Porter Plan Commission, at the request of the RDC, reviewed the Gateway plan and recommended that the Town Council incorporate it into the town’s comprehensive plan as a guide for future growth in the Indiana 49/U.S. 20 corridor area.

Last night, Plan Commission member Greg Stinson said their recommendation formally hasn’t been certified by the commission and it would be premature for the council to act on the Gateway. The commission next meets May 18.

Town attorney Patrick Lyp said it’s public record the Plan Commission voted 7-0 to endorse amending the comprehensive plan.

Monroe’s Power Point presentation was given for informational purposes only. “There’s such wonderful potential here,” he told the council and about 20 persons in the audience.

At Monroe’s conclusion council president Trevin Fowler said, “I love the project. It represents a plan to guide our town, its economic development, and preserve our most valuable assets. It brings jobs and a lot of benefits.”

Councilman Todd Martin said developers will come and through the Gateway project Porter can emphasize its strengths.

Timm, Kremke swap seats

Fowler closed the meeting by announcing that Republican Ken Timm is trading his seat on the Porter Plan Commission with Democrat John Kremke, a member of the town Board of Zoning Appeals. Both men were present and have resigned their previous appointments to accept the new ones.

Fowler said the mix-up came to light after BZA member Elka Nelson, an attorney, raised questions that the Plan Commission didn’t have the required balance of Democratic and Republican appointments. Nelson, a Democrat, last night said her concerns were voiced months ago and they never were directed to Timm or anyone specifically.

Timm is a Republican candidate for Town Council, but he said when he first was appointed to the Plan Commission in 2004 it incorrectly was posted on the town website’s list of officials that he was a Democrat. When reappointed to the commission in 2008, Timm was considered a Democratic appointment unbeknowst to him because “I’ve always been a Republican.”

 

 

Posted 5/11/2011

 

 

 

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