Conservation Club not the right place for youth center

To the Editor:

Let me start by saying I am all for a youth center, in the best location! A location closer to Linton that can be used all the time by the youth, not adults, or clubs!

What happened with the community building? That's one mistake we made a few years back. Let's have some meetings with the youth of Linton and the county, find out what they would want. So maybe this time we could get it right.

Let's put the money in a new building in a safe place for our youth. Half a million is a lot of money, and we don't need to put it in infrastructure and dirt work. The Conservation Club is not flat enough for a baseball complex with two to four ball fields. This is what the soccer club ran into a few years back.

As a property owner next to the Conservation Club, I can honestly say this is not the right location for several reasons. We have a lot of trouble out here all the time. People running off the roads during all hours, shooting guns, drinking parties, who knows what, dumping, and hunting at all hours, homes shot at, trespassing of private property, mainly by adults. A deer was shot in February off Park Road with a high-power rifle.

The neighbors are the supervision out here. Most of the lakes are water holes: Waterways were filled up with dumping over the years. The lakes are in need of restructuring, new dams and stocking. There's very little place for fishing from the banks.

Hunting is not an option, because too many houses around the property are too close to public roadways, and too close to a city. Just ask your local conservation officers about the safety and dangers. The liabilities are endless. Ask the city's insurance company. I think you need to leave the hunting to professionals or the parents to teach the youth in more suitable locations.

The Conservation Club is full of rats due to the illegal dumping. There are also poisonous snakes and coyotes.

Is the city going to build living quarters for a security officer and caretaker? Our police department has their hands full with city issues. The conservation officers have been a big help in patrolling this area a lot too. Control, danger, safety, and liability should come first when it comes to our youth -- at a time when we are marching our students away from our school in case of a crisis. And we are going to build a youth complex outside the city? I guess we could march our youth in the woods in time of a crisis.

I welcome the public to come see, drive around the club, and see what it has become. This is not the club that I as a young adult visited. Let's clean it up for a place for parents to being their children to observe, learn, teach, and train our young people to respect our wildlife and nature. But let's not use youth grant money to do it. The youth did not make this mess.

One suggestion on the youth center, what about the property on the north side of the school, its setting empty. There's baseball, basketball, tennis, volleyball courts and playground equipment. It's easier for the youth to reach walking or riding a bicycle. There's already suitable sewer and waterlines. We could save money for the youth. There's better police and fire protection, and better oversight and a lot less danger. Good roads, parking areas and access. A lot of flat land for a ball complex. Better phone lines for the Internet. Closer to the school for activities. This new building could be used for a lot of activities. After ball games, school bonfires, spring break, summer break, proms, graduation, computer parties and a place to evacuate students in case of a school crisis. Meeting place to take field trips to all the forest, fish and wildlife, parks, and riding areas. DNR could host their youth hunter safety classes for their youth hunts.

What is the ulterior motive for the need of a new water and sewer line up Park Road? It might have something to do with Sunset Park, new cabins in the Conservation Club, soccer club, clubhouses, and personal property on 200N. The newspaper should print an itemized list of what the youth grant is going to be used for in this project. The Conservation Clubhouse is too small to $500,000 to remodel. It's not going to hold very many young people.

I invite the public who wants our youth center out here to pitch a tent for a week to watch what goes on out here! Bring your own self-protection.

The official from Indiana Rural and Community Affairs Office said that youth center can be put at other locations. The grant could be submitted that way the next time. EPA impact study would only cost $1,500.00 for this location. What is the real reason for putting this youth center in an unsafe place? How about putting a questionnaire in the mail next month to see what the people of Linton and our area have to say about this location! Give all the people a say, not just the planning commission.

In closing, I commend the few council members who have decided to take a better insight into this youth center project than we did on the community building. Let's spend all the youth grants on the youth and what they want. If we are going to do this, but at a different location. Thank you.

Ron Barnes

Linton