Neighbors Need Conservation Support
on December 6, 6pm at Parks Board Mtg. in PoCo Admin Bldg.
Our Chapter was addressed by Andrea Buinicki about the Kilmer property during our Nov. 17 mtg.
Ms. Buinicki spoke to our group in hopes of getting support from a local conservation group such as ourselves. She is a resident of Andover/Spectacle neighborhood in Valparaiso. She stated that there is 13.7 acres of woods connected to those currently housed properties which provide shelter to birds and animals. Dr. Kilmer was the original owner and his wishes were to keep it undeveloped. It is unclear whether he stated that desire in his will and now his descendants want to sell the property. The potential buyer(s) are talking about developing the woods into housing. It is believed that not only will the development wipe out spaces for wild creatures, but also cause damage to the waters surrounding that land due to run-off from hard surfaces.
The Andover Spectacle neighbors ask for your support at the next PoCo Park Board meeting on December 6, 6pm.
Porter County Park Board Meeting
Please plan on attending the Porter County Parks Board Meeting on December 6, 2018, at 6:00pm at the Porter County Commissioners Chambers, PoCo Admin Building, 155 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso. This property will be a topic for discussion on their agenda. The Parks does not care who holds the title to the land, but they are interested in being a hub for community support for this project!
You need not speak, only show the board that you are a concerned citizen by being present!
Thursday, Dec 6, 2018, 06:00 PM
155 Indiana Ave, Valparaiso, IN, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP!
(Andrea Buinicki created this letter of update and possible future actions.)
Happy Thanksgiving, Neighbors and Friends!
So much has been happening regarding the Kilmer property. But, it is the kind of work that is incremental… in the right direction.
SHOW UP: Please plan on attending the Porter County Parks Board Meeting on December 6, 2018, at 6:00pm at the Porter County Commissioners Chambers, PoCo Admin Building, 155 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso. This property will be a topic for discussion on their agenda. The Parks does not care who holds the title to the land, but they are interested in being a hub for community support for this project! Yay Porter County Parks!
- Carol Kilmer Himes reached out to me, and we are in contact about putting together a purchase offer from a conservation group. They are open to the possibility of selling 13.7 acres of the land to a conservation group. I am attaching a picture of what I think she is interested in selling (nothing set in stone). It looks like they want to keep the four acres right along Spectacle—she didn’t indicate why.
- Walt Breitinger, Bonnie Swarner, Larry McAfee, and another donor have come together to order an appraisal of the 13.7 acres the Kilmers are willing to sell, so we know how much the appraised value is. This is likely the maximum amount that a nonprofit can offer to the Kilmers in order to purchase the land. There are other tax benefits of selling to a nonprofit for the Kilmers, but they will need to be willing to sell for no more than the appraised price.
- All of the potential nonprofits are still considering how the property fits within their mission and priorities. Many will also walk the property with the appraiser. All of the nonprofits will need our philanthropy to make the purchase happen. Shirley Heinze, Woodland Savanna Trust, Porter County Parks, Valparaiso Parks each have their own processes. All groups have been invited to the December 6 Parks Board Meeting to see how we can all work together to save this land.
- Ms. Kilmer Himes did indicate that they will be approaching the County with a subdivision development plan. Remember that the property is zoned R2 already, so they are allowed to develop residentially. We need to be on top of the process to make sure that all of our concerns: safety, property damage from flooding, and environmental conservation are top of mind for those people who can approve the development plans. ACTION: Please let me know if you have relationships with County Council Members, Plan Commission Members, Commissioners (current and newly elected). You can find that info on the Porter County website: www.porterco.org. We may need to set up meetings and conversations with them so they understand all of the complicated issues of residential development on that property.
- Soft commitments for giving toward the purchase price: So far, neighbors and friends have made soft indications of their willingness to contribute $94,000 toward a nonprofit’s purchase of this land. THANK YOU. This is amazing progress. I hope that soon we will have an appraised value of the land AND a qualified nonprofit ready to receive the land and our gifts toward the purchase. As you have time for discussions with your family over Thanksgiving, please consider what you might be able to contribute. These are the questions to consider:
· Would you consider making a financial gift to a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization to save the Kilmer property? Y/N
· What one-time dollar amount would you consider donating for this cause?
· If you could make a pledge and fulfill it over the course of three years, what total dollar amount would you consider donating for this cause?
Please do not write a check at this time. Your response is informational only. And I will keep it confidential. I will report on the total number of potential donors and the total hypothetical donations. I won’t ask you to write a check (or transfer assets) until we have a solid plan for the land and a non-profit 501(c)3 willing to engage in the transaction with the Kilmers.
However, a total sense of our neighborhood’s and friends’ capacity to donate is an important piece of information that the nonprofits will consider as they determine if they can purchase and maintain the land.
As you are thinking creatively about the amount of your potential gift, you might consider your regular income as well as appreciated assets (stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets). For those of you who are retired (aged 70 ½+) with an IRA, you might also consider donating a portion of your required minimum distribution directly to a 501(c)3 (when we have one identified) without paying income tax on the transaction.
Thank you for considering these questions. My hope is to have an initial sense of our “soft indication” by November 30.
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to Isaak Walton League Porter County Chapter and Valparaiso Chain of Lakes Watershed Group for inviting a presentation about the property and our efforts to save it. All of the neighbors appreciate your environmental expertise and advocacy as we try to protect the trees and the lakes from destruction. And, thank you (in advance) to Kathy Sipple and https://219greenconnect.com/ for providing news and updates about the project to sustainability-minded people in our region. Dr. Larry McAfee and I will be on a 219greenconnect podcast soon!
As you have questions or hear news, please let me know. Otherwise…. Take some time for family. Be neighborly. Smile or wave to the person down the street!
Happy Thanksgiving! APB
Andrea Proulx Buinicki
301 Andover Dr.
219-531-2222
Orange outlined area: Proposed building site
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