by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

An outline of what is called The White River Plan was presented to County Commissioners at their Monday meeting by Tourism Director Brenda Myers.

The plan calls for steps to make the river and its banks cleaner and more attractive to those visiting the county’s major waterway. Beyond that, the plan is to encourage knowledge of the numerous parks and historic sites along the river.

The river improvement plan was conceived several years ago with the intent of making the river a recreational asset for Hamilton and Marion counties. Currently the project’s supporters are in the process of preparing recommendations for what can be included in the development stage.

Myers said “an action-oriented plan” will be created by May 16 taking recommendations into consideration. She stressed that there will be no consideration of purchasing or making use of privately owned land that borders the river. Earlier, there were apparently unfounded rumors of plans to condemn or purchase river frontage.

Existing recreational and historic sites on White River include Strawtown Koteewi Park, Potters Bridge Park and trail, the Noblesville Riverwalk, Conner Prairie, Carmel’s River Heritage Park, Fishers Heritage Park and Hazel Landing Park.

Monday’s presentation was informational only. No vote by commissioners was requested.

The county parks department is expected to coordinate with the plans as they move forward. Eventually, some type of Hamilton-Marion County board for White River development is envisioned to carry out and maintain river improvements including possibly retrofitting dams to maintain a favorable river elevation