HHCC Coalition advocates for the City of MP’s rec trail vision

The Healthy Henry County Communities Coalition took a close look at the City of Mt. Pleasant's plan for recreational trails during a meeting on Tuesday, June 4.

Brent Schleisman, city administrator, was invited to the meeting to talk to coalition members about the trail visions map he started in 1989.

'It's evolved as we grow and come up with new ideas and new developments occur,” Schleisman said as he distributed an already outdated Trails Vision Map. 'This is a living document. It changes based on circumstances that come into plan and whether we can get easements for what we thought was a good route.”

Schleisman said the route has been modified many times over the years as the city has struggled to get easements for where they envisioned the trail crossing through from homeowners.

The discussion about trails in Mt. Pleasant is a part of the coalition's Healthy Hometown Master Plan, which is a plan to help Henry County residents to eat well, move more, and feel better.

Kelly Carr, community outreach coordinator with Henry County Public Health, said that as they were studying the Healthy Hometown Master Plan, they wanted to review the community's sidewalks, trails and safe routes to schools.

'We're updating them and looking at what policies we could put in place and what we can do to enhance what's out there,” Carr said. 'We're looking at what we can be doing for sidewalks and trails to help get people to move more in our community.”

Schleisman said his top three priorities for the recreational trail are connecting Iowa Avenue to South Street, connecting Grand Avenue to Bell Drive and over to Hy-Vee on Washington Street, and adding trail on Winfield Avenue.

Schleisman said that Iowa Avenue to South Street is his highest priority because 'it's a gap in our whole system.”

The trail also needs to reach Hy-Vee because residents need a safe route in that commercial district, Schleisman said.

'We have an ADA Compliant sidewalk, but it stops,” he said.

Elise Klopfenstein, coalition member and Henry County Health Center dietitian, asked for data she could share with the public about how recreational trails help improve the community.

Schleisman responded that he is the planner, designer and visionary, and the data is where the Coalition comes in.

'That's where I need you,” Schleisman said. 'If it's important to a community, the community needs to say it. It always comes back to money, but it also comes back to what the community's priorities are.

'To me, it's critical,” Schleisman continued. 'I wouldn't have started this thing in 1989 if I didn't believe in it. You can truly see it's starting to materialize and now the trail is starting to connect.”

Schleisman said that the city council has allocated $15,000 in match grants to help Mt. Pleasant residents fix their existing sidewalks. Residents have to rebuild sidewalks to be ADA Compliant and up to the city's codes.

'We haven't had a whole lot of knowing on our doors yet, but we have had two or three done this year,” Schleisman said. 'We're trying to address the issue (of deteriorating sidewalks) with a helping hand.”

The grants are administered through Mt. Pleasant's Public Works Department, Schleisman said. Anyone interested can call Public Works or City Hall for more information.