BROWNSTOWN — The Brownstown Town Council unanimously approved the pursuit of a $20,000 grant to fund the hiring of a contractor to create a biking and walking trail master plan.
Jane Ellery, a former assistant professor of wellness management at Ball State University in Muncie, presented the idea to council members during their meeting Monday night at the town hall.
Jane and her husband, Peter, own and operate E2 Praxis LLC, a local consulting group that specializes in placemaking design initiatives, health impact assessments and environmental impact evaluations.
“We are in the process of writing grants to help move our community well-being ideas forward, and we learned about a project with the Indiana Department of Health where a community of our size can request up to $20,000 to hire a contractor to develop biking and walking trails,” Ellery said.
Ellery said they are currently exploring the idea of biking and walking trails around the middle school and high school in addition to elongating the current walking path from town to the fairgrounds out to the campgrounds at the state forestry.
Ellery’s father, Jack Gillespie, a former Brownstown Township trustee, helped put together the path from town to the fairgrounds in addition to creating a master plan for the space around the former depot in Ewing.
She said by September, community events will need to have been organized to discuss with people from the Brownstown area to see what they would like out of biking and walking paths. A plan will then be created and implemented over the next five to 15 years.
Ellery said they have received letters of support from the schools, Brownstown Ewing Main Street and Healthy Jackson County.
In May 2023, Ellery discussed the Together We Will Program with the town council. The mini-grants and technical assistance program is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administered by the Indiana Department of Health.
The council unanimously supported the pursuit of a $75,000 grant to fund a position to help improve the quality of life in the county seat and Brownstown Township; however, funding was not received as a result of late submission of the application.