A lot has gone on at The Paddocks apartments in Culver since our last post here. Things have been busy in the field so that’s cut into writing time. The latest thing to get underway is some of the masonry. All of the buildings have masonry accents. For the apartments, those accents are split face block on the sides between the balconies/patios. The picture above shows progress on the masonry accents on the first (west – Apt bld 100) apartment building.
The first townhome building on the south side of Cavalier Drive is up and weathered in with shingles on the roof and windows & doors in place. It had inspections on plumbing, electrical and HVAC ductwork rough-ins completed yesterday by the Marshall County Building Inspector. These buildings will be well inspected since we not only have the local inspector looking at them, but they are being visited by an inspector from IHCDA (Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority) and from an engineering firm working for the lender. We are also going for NGBS (National Green Building Standard) Silver status which means there will be another inspector coming out to inspect the HVAC system and the building envelope to meet those standards.
The first two apartment buildings (100 & 200) are up and weathered in with shingles on the roof and windows & doors in place. Most of the HVAC system rough-in is done in both of these buildings. Plumbing rough-in is nearly complete in the building 100 and underway in building 200. Electrical rough-in is underway in building 100. The balcony decks are in place on both buildings. We have ordered the stairs and railings. They will be aluminum in a similar style to what was used at Sand Hill Farm apartments. The masonry accents are now in place on building 100 and are underway on building 200.
The last apartment building (300) has the foundation and slab in place and framing is currently underway. Roof trusses were delivered today. It should be weathered in within a few weeks, weather permitting
Along with the building construction a lot of the site work is in place. The drive for the first townhome building has the base stone in place. The pad for the next townhome building is prep’d and ready for footing excavation. The sites for the last two buildings, another townhome and a community building, are close to grade now. The site water, sewer and storm infrastructure are complete in some areas. We’ll be preparing the main parking lot for its stone base soon.
It is great to see our friends and community leaders at The Lake House Grille supporting the Culver Boys & Girls Club, another great group working to improve lives in our community. Please consider coming out and supporting our current community leaders as they support future community leaders!
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. showed up twice in the latest Culver ‘Stellar Update’ for December. We were part of the Marshall County Crossroads Stellar Team serving on the Housing Subcommittee. Kevin Berger is pictured on the stage with the Stellar Committee after the presentation in Indianapolis last November. That group met once or twice a month from late Spring to late Summer helping to prepare the housing portion of the application. This included two new IHCDA LIHTC projects and additional funds for owner-occupied housing rehabilitation. We were extremely pleased to help make this another successful Stellar application. Congratulations to Marshall County Crossroads for achieving Stellar designation.
We also appeared later in the Stellar Update with an article about the progress of The Paddocks. The Paddocks was the signature project for Culver’s Stellar application and the Stellar designation which Culver achieved in 2017. The investment Culver made in the housing development was instrumental in achieving Stellar designation. It was proof that Culver not only had a plan, but was working that plan.
A lot of additional work has been completed since that picture was taken. The building is mislabeled in the Stellar Update. It is actually one of the townhome buildings. The wall framing for this building is nearly complete and the trusses are currently being set. We’ll be installing windows and doors shortly so as to get it weathered in.
We have been pleased to play a part in the two Stellar designations in our area and look forward to seeing the fruits of these efforts appear over the next few years.
Last Thursday Brandy Pohl appeared before the BZA to get a Special Use Variance for Max’s Playhouse‘s new location at 450 & 454 School Street. I’ve been helping Brandy through the construction process and appeared with her at the variance hearing. The article to the right appeared in the December 26th Edition of the Culver Citizen.
Max’s Playhouse is an interesting project as it is basically residential construction with added caveats required for licensing as a child care provider. Brandy knows her requirements backwards and forwards, but blending those into residential construction has created a few challenges for us.
The location on School Street seems to be a perfect one as it is grouping three of the main child care providers, Max’s Playhouse, Culver Community Schools and Wesley Church within a two block area. There are some issues with the traffic flow which Brandy hopes to work out with the Town Council soon. Solutions there could affect the budget and the work she hopes to do.
As a personal side note, the BZA is a tough sell when the Town is looking for citizens to serve. Very rarely do all sides appearing before the board leave happy. Dan Adams has served on that board for years. He demonstrated his pragmatism and tact again Thursday night as he condensed the hearing down to the basic issues and brought the board to a unanimous decision. There was some public opposition, but most of it didn’t pertain to the issues before the board. He allowed the audience input and then tactfully ended it before it became contentious. I was pleased to hear that Dan has agreed to serve another term on the board. His steady hand there has served the Town well. I always know I will get a fair hearing when Dan runs the show.
Tuesday morning I braved the elements to head to Indianapolis to support the Marshall County Crossroads team for their Stellar Presentation. This was their last effort and last chance to make an impression on the State officials that would be judging the competition this year. This was Marshall County’s second attempt at Stellar Region Designation. The experience they gained last year showed.
I had attended the workshops at Swan Lake, served on the housing committee and helped with the LIHTC portion of the application, so I was familiar with the goals and the changes from last year. I think this year’s application was much stronger than the year before. It was obvious that community engagement was better and the initial partnerships had grown. There was a lot more buy-in from community groups. An example of these expanded buy-in was through the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF). They purposefully reviewed the grants in their Fall round for projects that enhanced not just the Stellar application, but the overall Quality of Life plan. Linda Yoder, MCCF Executive Director, was one of the presenters.
Last year there was no IHCDA LIHTC project, but this year I stressed the importance of including LIHTC. This year there were two – one in LaPaz and one in Plymouth. I met with representatives of all of the communities, but only LaPaz and Plymouth felt that LIHTC was a fit for them, were able to come of with property and were willing to pass supportive resolutions. Brent Martin of SRKM Architecture also stepped up to spearhead the IHCDA Owner Occupied Housing portion of the application, so overall the housing section stood out.
While the presentation was well done, what really stood out was the Question & Answer section at the end. All the presenters were seated on the stage and the State Agency’s asked them questions about the initiatives. The answers were provided seamlessly by various representatives and without any competition for the microphone. They worked well together as a team. Some of us were in the audience as back-up if in depth questions came up. There were very few of those that the presenters couldn’t answer on their own. They were well prepared.
The team had arranged for students from some of the schools to be there. Unfortunately, due to the weather, the number of students were limited, but because of the efforts made to involve them, the attendance was appreciated. At one point, somewhat out of the blue, the INDOT representative turned to the students and asked them questions. With no preparation or expectation of this, the two students that spoke answered the questions flawlessly! Very Cool!
Overall I was impressed with Marshall County’s leadership for stepping up to this. The highest Kudos go to Ginny Munroe, Culver’s Town Council President, for stepping up to this challenge. On the heals of Culver’s Stellar Designation, this was a big undertaking. Culver has been moving their Stellar projects forward while this has been happening at the County level. Despite this, Ginny stepped up and lead our region, building on the experienced gained in Culver. I think that was key to making Marshall County competitive. If Marshall County wins, Culver’s assistance will have been a huge part of making it happen.