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.”