Limo Service in Mc Cordsville, IN

By Maribeth Vaughn | Daily Reporter

McCORDSVILLE — Fifty care packages were lovingly packed by a group of girls, complete with a note to remind the recipient that they’re treasured.

Girl Scout Troop 3232 based in McCordsville recently donated 25 care packages to The Landing Place, and an additional 25 packages to the Center Township Warming Center, located at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenfield.

There were 15 girls who collected items with their families, packaged them with them and wrote a note of encouragement in each bag around Thanksgiving time.

The bags were made just in time for the holiday season and the onslaught of cold weather.

The Landing Place, located at 225 Gaslite Lane in Greenfield, is a gathering place for those facing mental health issues, substance abuse or other challenges.

Center Township Warming Center, serving all of Hancock County, is open during the coldest nights for those who need a place to stay. Doors open at 7 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club at 715 E. Lincoln St., Greenfield, where volunteers welcome those without a home for a warm place to sleep.

The center is run through Center Township government but is open to any Hancock County resident.

Amy Connolly said the girls are in the first and second grades, so for some this may have been the first time they ever heard about being without a home during the cold winter months.

“It’s a great opportunity for our girls to learn about what it means to be homeless, and it served as an opportunity for them to think about what they’re grateful for over the holiday season, acknowledge our own blessings and find a way to give back to people,” she said.

While some may have seen a person who is homeless once or twice before, Connolly said others were surprised to hear that people in their own community are struggling.

Connolly, who has a daughter in the troop, said they enjoyed the project of collecting the items, spreading them out on tables, and filling the bags. Each bag contained hand sanitizer, lotion, shampoo, body wash, a toothbrush and paste, comb, lip balm, hand warmers, socks, snacks and more.

The project also helped the girls earn badges. Daisies earned a Good Neighbor Badge, and Brownies earned a Celebrating Community Badge, for their work on the service project.

“It was a good way for them to learn that there is something that we can do to offer a small bit of assistance to people who are struggling,” she said.

McCORDSVILLE — McCordsville officials have accepted an offer to purchase the Round Barn Inn and an adjoining homestead on Mt. Comfort Road after several months of negotiation.

At Tuesday’s McCordsville Redevelopment Commission meeting, the commission voted unanimously to buy the parcel containing the Round Barn Inn for $500,000. Last month, the RDC voted to purchase the homestead next to the property for $375,000. The purchases will be made with park impact fees the town has accumulated over the past several years.

The Round Barn Inn is not to be confused with the Littleton/Kingen Round Barn, which is located outside of town limits.

At Tuesday’s meeting, McCordsville town manager Tim Gropp expressed excitement for the purchase, with the long-term goal of turning the area into a combination history and agricultural park, while restoring and maintaining the round barn and homestead on the properties.

“In the end, I was going to be shocked if we got these two properties for a million dollars,” he said. “So to come in under that is really good. I think it’s a good deal for us, and it’s going to be a really nice four-acre urban history park when we’re all done with it.”

Earlier this year, the town’s redevelopment commission passed resolutions allowing Gropp to execute all documents necessary to complete the purchases of the two parcels. Per state law, the initial price offered for parcels of land may not exceed the average of two independent appraisals; the averages of the two parcels of land are $230,000 and $437,500, with the latter being the parcel with the Round Barn Inn.

Gropp said in previous meetings that he received inspiration for a history park combined with an agricultural park from a similar park in Fishers, and wanted the area to be interactive while also becoming a property of the nascent town parks department.

The town manager has been an advocate for honoring the history of McCordsville and maintaining it for future use; this year, work began on transforming a former McCordsville fire station into the town’s new community center.

In November, the RDC accepted the counteroffer of $375,000 for the homestead, with Gropp noting that the owner of the Round Barn Inn and the town were having difficulty coming to an agreeable number — the first counteroffer came in at $690,000 for the Round Barn Inn parcel, a price RDC members were hesitant to accept.

However, they were still interested in the property, and authorized Gropp to send in a counteroffer for the town, this time to negotiate up to $500,000.

“I think it would be a very unique buyer that would be interested in that, because that you wouldn’t necessarily see an investor buy that because you’re up against residential, and you know you can’t convert it to commercial,” RDC member Dale Needleman said.

Gropp noted the town did structural engineering reports on the properties on the parcels, and said there will need to be some work on the structures, including the house that is currently half-renovated.

“It’s going to be a really nice asset to this community,” he said.