Kevin Berger

Owner of Easterday Construction Co., Inc. in Culver, IN.

Culver Achieved Stellar Designation!

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OCRA

October 18, 2017

Lt. Governor Crouch Announces the 2017 Stellar Communities Designees

INDIANAPOLIS –  Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch announced today that the City of Madison and the Town of Culver are the 2017 Designees of the Stellar Communities Designation Program (SCDP).

Between May and October, representatives from the SCDP State Team visited all six finalist communities where they heard highlights from each local team as well as toured project locations from their local Strategic Investment Plans (SIP).

“The hard work, dedication, and passion the six finalist communities demonstrated throughout this process was clearly seen firsthand by the Stellar team during the site visits.” said Lt. Governor Crouch. “Each community demonstrated their capacity to strengthen local and regional partnerships in reaching transformative outcomes in their respective communities.”

Launched in 2011, the SCDP is a multi-agency partnership designed to recognize Indiana’s smaller communities that have identified comprehensive community and economic development projects and activities as well as next steps and key partnerships. The designations are separated into two divisions based on population size. Division I are communities of a population of 6,000 or more and Division II are smaller cities and towns with populations of fewer than 6,000.

Division I Designee –
City of Madison
Madison’s SIP includes the Madison Connector, a bike and pedestrian trail connecting Madison destinations; adaptive re-use of historic buildings; creation of a mixed-use facility in a former cotton mill; improvement of a riverfront park; overhauling the community gateways and neighborhood revitalization.

Division II Designee –  
Town of Culver
Culver’s SIP focuses on creating workforce housing with the Sand Hill Farm Development, expanding the Lake Maxinkuckee bike and pedestrian trail, renovating the local landmark Beach Lodge, and improving the western gateway into Culver to create an appealing multi-modal corridor into the town.

Seven communities submitted letters of interest (LOIs) for the 2017 Stellar Communities Designation Program. Of those seven, six communities were chosen as finalists, received planning grants and were required to submit local Strategic Investment Plans. The SIPs detail the projects, partnerships and proposed sources of funding based on feedback and input from the local community. The next step was the site visits which were conducted by the Stellar Team, comprised of staff representing the partnering agencies.

On October 25th, a Stellarbration hosted by Lt. Governor Crouch, will be held at the Indiana Statehouse to celebrate the 2017 Designees. The event will include presentations from Madison and Culver.

The Lt. Governor and state team members will also travel to Madison and Culver later this fall to participate in local Stellarbrations with the local community members.

The SCDP State Team is comprised of the following agencies:

Funding for the SCDP comes from multiple existing federal programs. Both communities have proposed projects involving public and private dollars; although they have been designated as a Stellar Community, the projects are proposals and no specific funds are guaranteed. Both communities will meet with representatives from the state Stellar Team in the coming weeks to discuss details of the proposed projects including feasibility, available funding, timeframes and partner participation.

The finalist communities will receive follow up from the state team to discuss details about their submitted SIPs and provide feedback on the SCDP process.

Eligible applicants must be a Local Unit of Government which includes a city or an incorporated town not entitled to direct Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Click here for more information about the SCDP.

Funerals, Flags and Football

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Last week was a rough week. Two funerals for a parent of two different good friends. Those obligations just added to what was an already stressful week. Fortunately neither were unexpected. Both of of the passing parents were in their 90’s. It’s never good, though.

The second funeral was for a Navy veteran and he received military honors at his funeral. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this done. Both my grandfather’s and my mother-in-law’s 3rd husband’s funerals included military honors. It is always a moving and touching display.

The respect for the Flag that the seamen displayed was particularly noteworthy considering the current controversy. I wonder how many of the football players using the National Anthem and Flag presentations as a time to protest have seen this? Would it affect their choices?

I don’t dispute that they have the right to protest. That’s one of the things our Flag represents. Veterans often would be there first to affirm that, though often with a look of despair as they also recognize the disrespect. The Flag represents so much more to so many people. To many, the Flag is sacred. Would the players have better served their cause by choosing another form of protest? it would appear so… My favorite unsourced quote about Free Speech is, “While it is true that you have the right to free speech, you do not have the right to be heard.” To the NFL’s chagrin, some fans are now former fans because of the protests. They’ve chosen not to listen. Probably not what was intended.

I wasn’t an NFL fan before the protests started, but this has brought them onto my radar… and not in a favorable light. Without commentary on their goals, I wish they would have chosen another form of protest. Another comment I heard recently resonates. “If we don’t teach our youth respect for our Country, will they feel bound to protect it if necessary?” There was a news story about a Pee-wee football team that chose to kneel during the national anthem because that’s what their “heros” are doing. We reap what we sow… and sometimes we regret it.

Image borrowed from a Daily Mail article on Beau Biden’s funeral.

Careers in Construction

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I just finished an article in the September/October issue of Building Indiana by Brad Benhart, Associate Professor of Practice at Purdue University’s School of Construction Management. A quote in the article resonated with me as it’s been something I’ve been talking to my friends in education about for years. “The message needs to change to all kids should learn skills for a career. College is not for everyone, and our society needs education and training to match the needs of the workers required.”

My perception for years has been that high schools quickly divided students into two categories, either college bound or not. The discussion with those students was then modified to where the college bound students were directed to classes that would get them in the best schools and with the best preparation to do well when they got there, while the goal for the remaining students was a high school diploma. Well, a high school diploma doesn’t get you much anymore. I’m not saying it isn’t important, but if you want to advance in any company, you will need additional education. At a minimum there will be on-the-job safety training, but more than likely, to advance you will need outside training. Whether that is an apprenticeship program in the construction trades or a some form or associate degree from a technical school.

I’ve been pleased in recent years to see a change in thinking in the schools in our area. Many of them are providing technical school equivalency training in high school. Non-college careers are receiving more discussion. Things are improving, but we still have strides to make to end the bias towards college programs. We also need to instill the idea of life-long-learning as a positive thing and requirement for survival in today’s society. When I receive an application from a student who has been through a high school building trades class, they do receive preferential treatment because they have shown an interest and hopefully shown some aptitude for the trades. Unfortunately, this does not qualify them as a Journeyman Carpenter as some of them seem to think. Easterday Construction will help them achieve that goal through apprenticeship training if they are serious about it, but it requires a commitment to additional education on their part.

I don’t think this qualifies as a rant… I’ll reiterate that I have seen progress in recent years. But as per the quote, kids need to learn skills for a career. And if it’s your career, you should be interested in learning all you can to be the best at it you can be. This means education… and Life Long Continuing Education… Never miss the chance to learn and improve.

St. Mary of the Lake – Blessing of the Pets

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It’s always nice to see a past project appear in the news. The picture at the right, borrowed from The Pilot News, Thursday, October 5th, 2017 shows the North Addition to the St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Culver, which was completed in 2007.

We have completed several projects for St Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Culver over the years. We appreciate being one of their go-to contractors and are proud of the work we have completed in partnership with them. We have completed minor and major renovations at the Church, some of which are listed on our website, working with three different priests and building committees.

The North Addition project created a handicap accessible entrance to a newly created Day Chapel behind the alter. We were extremely pleased with how the brick matched and the floating arches came together for this project. We’re also please to see it being used a the backdrop for photo ops like this. 10 years later, it has become an established fixture for the Church. The picture to the left, borrowed from the St. Mary of the Lake website shows the steel, wood and glass dividing wall that we installed between the Day Chapel and the Sanctuary.

 

Below is a color picture of the entrance as it was being completed in 2007.

Stellar Site Visit 2017

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State Stellar Evaluation Team with the Culver sign

Yesterday was the Stellar Site Visit in Culver. Despite some stress, it went well. Everyone hit their marks, attendance from State representatives was good and distractions were limited to one plan blowing off an easel and one sea-plane doing touch-and-go’s on the Lake. Now it’s down to waiting to see what happens. For anyone interested, below is the outline of my presentation at Sand Hill Farm. (It’s an outline, so it’s not word for word) Top representatives from Culver’s three largest employers stood with me. Karen Shuman – Superintendent of Culver Community Schools, Josh Pretzer – Dean of Faculty at Culver Academies and Brian Meek – Plant Manager at Elkay Industries. They all spoke eloquently about the need for entry-level housing in Culver. One thing that seems to come up over and over is the lack of available full time rentals. Sand Hill Farm will address this as it will be all 12 month rentals. Also addressed was the declining numbers for school faculty and plant employees who live in Culver. Hopefully Sand Hill Farm will be an opportunity for people to live and work in Culver… and become part of the community…

I’ve also included some pictures from yesterday’s event. Thanks to all of those that contributed. It was great getting to know everyone better and help work towards the common cause. Now it’s down to waiting for the results. We should know in the next few week.  Cross your fingers for Culver. #CulverisStellar!

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TM Jonathan’s introductory pitch at the Beach Lodge

Stellar Presentation – Sand Hill Farm

I’m standing here with Culver’s three largest employers, Brian Meek from Elkay, Karen Shuman from Culver Community Schools and Josh Pretzer from Culver Academies. Culver Academies is also the largest employer in our County.

  1. A Little History about the site
    1. Tourism Rep Becca making her presentation

      The property was previously owned by a great aunt & uncle. I purchased it from their estate in 2005. I lived just to the east and used to play on the property as a kid. We used to refer to it as going to play at the “Sand Hill”. Thus the name I’ve placed on the property.

    2. The Sand Hill used to extend to the west past the current location of State Road 17, but was mined for fill during the relocation of State Road 17.
  2. Affordable/Entry Level Housing
    1. MACOG’s James Turnwald speaking about the Jefferson St Corridor

      The need for affordable housing has been recognized for the past decade. Culver has become a community of “second homes”. Many of these have become retirement homes for their owners.

    2. The need for affordable housing was prominent in our Comprehensive Plan which was completed in 2014, but prior to that, it showed up in various town surveys, and was discussed each election season by candidates for Town Council.
    3. In the Spring of 2014 Elkay applied for a $4.5 million tax abatement. At the meeting when it passed, the Town Council asked if there was anything else they could do to assist them. Elkay asked for help with the housing issue as it was affecting their hiring. This was the catalyst to actually start a Task Force to address this. Discussions began with the two schools, Elkay, MCEDC and representatives from the various Town commissions and boards to put together an Entry Level Housing Task Force.
      1. In November of 2014, I partnered with the Town to represent the Town of Culver at the Affordable Housing Conference in Chicago. That was almost too much information. I was attending the 4oo level class when I needed Affordable Housing 101, but I did make some good contacts and brought back information that was useful.
      2. In 2015, the Task Force began meeting in earnest, examining 6 sites throughout the town, sending RFP’s to developers and generally getting a handle on what our resources were and what was needed.
      3. This site, Sand Hill Farm, was selected as the best option for available infrastructure, expandability and a landowner that believed in the cause. (Me)
      4. Most of 2015 was spent in this assessment. It was determined that we wanted a mix of housing types to expand our appeal and expand our accessibility to various targets in our market.
      5. While we had made progress, we were left at an impasse. In 2015 MCEDC arranged a meeting with the OCRA director to discuss options and it was there that we were directed to consider a Stellar Community application.
  3. 2016 Stellar
    1. Park Supe Anna presenting the Beach Lodge Renovations

      When Stellar was discussed in 2016, Housing was the prominent goal on our agenda. Housing is the truly transformative need to address. It will help our employers, put children back in the school and provide the critical mass to make most of the rest of the projects flourish. The more we talked, everything came back to housing. Hopefully that was reflected in our application.

  4. After 2016 Stellar
    1. We were disappointed that we didn’t achieve Stellar status, but we recognized that it didn’t change the housing issues that had been building for years. We continued to move forward. To this end:
      1. The property has been subdivided and annexed.
      2. A Special Use Variance was obtained through the BZA to allow multifamily apartments on the property.
      3. The Zoning Ordinance section on Planned Unit Developments was updated in anticipation of this project’s next step. The Planned Unit Development plans are underway.
      4. An allocation of $270,000 was committed through Regional Cities towards housing on this site. Our SIP (Strategic Investment Plan) from Stellar 2016 was instrumental in selling the need. It also sparked conversations throughout the County and two other communities were awarded Regional Cities money for housing projects.
      5. Park Supe Anna presenting the Damore Amphitheater Project

        A partnership was formed with Elkay Cabinets. They will be providing cabinets, sinks and faucets at a reduced cost.

      6. $400k in infrastructure money has been committed by the Redevelopment Commission which has been matched with $400k in other town funds through their streets, water and sewer funds.
      7. An Economic Development Commission has been created and the site has been designated as an Economic Development Target Area which clears the way for a Tax Abatement. A Tax Abatement hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday.
      8. The Right of Way has been dedicated to the Town and as you can see, clearing is underway.
      9. A development agreement has been executed between the Town and Sand Hill Farm
      10. Plans are also nearly complete on a 24 unit apartment building. There is a set at the Beach Lodge if anyone wants to look at them at the end of the tour.
      11. Plans are nearly complete on the road and infrastructure construction which the town will be handling.
    2. Stellar 2017
      1. Mike Reese from Troyer Group and Dana Neer & Don Fox from Culver Academies presenting the Trail project

        In our current application we’ve worked to more clearly tie the housing project to the rest of the projects. While that was the case last year we’ve strengthened those connections.

        1. The bike & walking trail will have a stop here and the open space provided will tie into that trail.
        2. The Jefferson Street Corridor improvement will enhance the connection to the Town. We want these residents to be part of the community. We are targeting Elkay employees with this development and we want them to make the after hours connection as well as the work connection.
        3. Long range, this the extended section of property to the north backs up to the Little League diamonds which are included on the Cavelier Park project.
        4. While the other projects don’t touch this one directly, they all enhance Culver’s livability and frankly, EVERYTHING in Culver is within walking distance.
      2. Karen Shuman from Culver Community Schools discussing the connections and benefits of Cavalier Park

        We’ve talked to Elkay, the schools and some local residents about education programs that can be offered to residents here. Things like opportunities to learn about finances, nutrition and continuing education for advancement.

      3. We feel the PUD with the mixed use will provide the best opportunity to integrate the new residents into the community and provide some New Urbanism opportunities. There will be a mix of apartments and single family residences through duplexes and townhouses on the site.
      4. The development agreement includes a site for a Habitat for Humanity home, again enhancing that town connection.
      5. We’ve had several meetings with IHCDA representatives over the past two years. (Name Carmen, Samantha and Dani if they’re here.) We’ve explored several of their programs with them, but the only one that seems to apply at our scale is the Tax Credit Housing program. Unfortunately, we don’t have an infill site, a brownfield site or a dilapidated building to renovate, so we’re unlikely to score well for in the general competition for those funds. Stellar is our “in” to qualify. If we don’t make Stellar this year, as with last year, that just means we have to change our target and work the housing differently… as we did this past year.