Columbus Town Council members have appointed themselves as the first members of a new fundraising committee to raise money for Veteran&squo;s Memorial Park.

Columbus Town Council last Thursday established a committee to raise money needed to purchase property adjacent to Veteran&squo;s Park for a planned expansion.

Columbus Mayor Kathleen McMillian said the committee will begin with council members donating whatever they want to donate towards the park.

The committee plans to meet once or twice per month to discuss ways to raise money for the purchase. Council members said they&squo;d like to see a sign at the park with a thermometer-style graph showing how close the town is getting toward its goal.

The town earlier this year planned to build a stage/shelter, refurbish the fountain and purchase land adjacent to Veteran&squo;s Park. The town has received $34,000 in grants from the&bsp; Polk County Community Foundation (an unrestricted grant and a Bradley foundation grant) for the land acquisition. The land was priced at $100,000 and later lowered to $96,000. The town previously offered $68,000 for the purchase, but it was not accepted. Other donations have totaled $1,400, leaving the town $60,600 short for its project.

The town has also asked Polk County for help in its project, but Polk has not responded to requests.

Donations for the project can be made to the Town of Columbus, P.O. Box 146, Columbus, N.C. 28722.