photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

A picnic table area at Lone Star Lake Park on Friday, November 22, 2024.

Douglas County commissioners will consider buying a 23-acre parcel on Wednesday next to Lone Star Lake Park to improve park access.

According to a memo included in the agenda, county staff have spent the past several months evaluating the long-term public value, cost, and compatibility of a newly identified property with the county’s adopted plans, particularly the Open Space Plan. The site at 579 North 600 Road, is being considered by commissioners on Wednesday at a price not to exceed $425,000.

Lone Star Lake Park – a county park featuring a 185-acre man-made lake that was created by damming Washington Creek – has already been undergoing improvements, including replacement of shelters, docks, fire rings, picnic tables, and the installation of an accessible kayak launch.

photo by: Screenshot

The proposed 23-acre parcel county commissioners will consider purchasing on Wednesday is outlined in pink.

The area south of North 600 Road is currently inaccessible to the public, and it limits accessibility of the park, the memo said. The acquisition of the proposed 23-acre wooded parcel would protect wildlife habitat, increase accessible public lands and enable land restoration and water quality improvement in the area.

There is no development being proposed on the site at this time. The memo said a vacant residential structure is on the property, and county staff is recommending that its be discontinued and the structure removed. Any future development and improvements to the site would have to go through a separate engagement process and it would require county commissioners’ approval.

As the Journal-World reported, in April 2024, the county commissioners adopted the Open Space Plan – which provides a vision and guidance for conservation, collaboration and enhanced access to natural and heritage resources in unincorporated areas of the county. One of the priorities in the plan has been to enhance current county parks to improve public use while conserving natural resources.

The purchase will be funded by the remaining American Rescue Plan Act dollars dedicated to Open Space Plan projects. Of the $2.78 million allocated by the county commissioners, $1,477,922 remains in the Capital Improvement Plan, making the acquisition feasible, the memo said.

In other business, county commissioners will:

• Consider approving the 2026 Natural and Cultural Heritage Grant Program materials and allocate $40,000 from the Heritage Conservation reserves to support grant projects next year. The program supports community-led heritage conservation projects across Douglas County, and up to $250,000 is available for grant awards in 2026 with $40,000 of that total to go towards projects with a budget of $5,000 and below.

According to a memo in the agenda, several updates have been made to the program materials. The maximum award has been lowered from the long-standing $75,000 to $60,000; fewer application questions will now be required for requests of $5,000 or less; and $40,000 from the Heritage Conservation reserve’s unspent balance will be added to support 2026 seed grant projects, bringing the total funding pool to $250,000.

• Consider vacating all unused roads within the original Prairie City plat. Laid out in the mid-1850s, much of Prairie City’s original street network has long since been abandoned. Several remaining rights-of-way have not been used for decades and now cut through private property without serving any public purpose. A landowner north of North 200 Road has requested that the county formally vacate these unused corridors.

• Consider approving a lease agreement with the City of Lawrence for the Senior Resource Center for Douglas County, 749 Kentucky St., effective Oct. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2035. Before becoming a county department, the resource center leased the property from the city, and the agreement will mirror the terms of the previous lease agreement.

The County Commission’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Commission meeting room at 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.