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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indianapolis Airport Authority board is set to vote tomorrow on a plan to lease 209.5 acres now used as a bat conservancy to Hendricks County Parks and Recreation as a public nature park.
The proposed Sodalis Nature Park is west of County Road 975 East, between County Road 750 South and County Road 800 South.
The area would continue to serve as a permanent protection habitat for the endangered Indiana bat, as required under an agreement with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Hendricks County would build nature trails, bat roosts and viewing platforms, and proposes educational programs on bats.
Under the proposed 20-year lease, Hendricks County Parks would make upgrades to a dam on the site. The agreement calls for annual lease payments of $8,660, although Hendricks County would receive credits for dam upgrades and for grass mowing.
The park would be completed in 2010, according to an airport board memo.
The airport authority began setting up bat habitats in the 1990s as part of the construction of the former United Airlines aircraft maintenance base, and later due to the construction of the $1.1 billion midfield terminal, which was completed last year.
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