Guest Posts
It’s interesting having a blog and the interactions it generates. I am contacted often about people wanting to do guest posts. Most I ignore out of hand, since the email solicitation is full of spelling and grammar errors. A few I have responded to that looked decent and I’ve spent as much time editing and cleaning them up as if I would have if I’d written them myself. Then there is the occasional one that is a bit amusing like this:
Message: Hey,
I was researching about adult toys this afternoon and stumbled upon your blog – a great collection of high-quality articles.
I am reaching out to you because I’d love to contribute a guest post to your blog.
I promise to fill the piece with solid points and actionable tips. I contribute regularly to blogs .
Here are some topics:
[Why do people like to use sex toys?]
[How do I introduce my wife to sex toys?]
[Sex Bloggers name their favorite Sex Toys]
Let me know and I’ll be sending you the draft as soon as possible.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Adutoys Team
Hmmmm… what did they read in my “great collection of high-quality articles” made them think this was my audience? Or do they know something I don’t? Ha!
I found it amusing and thought it was worth sharing. No links here though… I’ll let you search for Adutoys on your own if you’re so inclined. Solid Points and Actionable Tips are yours for the asking…
<Image from: https://www.memesmonkey.com/>
Culver Redevelopment Commission & The Dunes
The October 16th meeting of the Culver Redevelopment Commission had a pretty full house and the majority of the meeting was taken up with a Public Meeting (not Public Hearing) on The Dunes. I was pretty proud of Culver as the majority of the questions were well thought out and asked respectfully. There were only a few questions I thought were irrational and even those were asked succinctly and calmly. I was also pleased to see that all of the Town Council members and a few of the candidates for Town Council were in attendance to listen.
Burke Richeson spoke for the Developer and did a nice job. Only getting a little vex’d when another attorney representing opposition spoke. Kevin Danti, Culver Town Manager, did a good job of keeping things moving and controlling the conversation. (I was going to link to Kevin’s page on the town’s website, but it hasn’t been updated.)
There were questions about environmental concerns, but these seemed to center on the effect on Lake Maxinkuckee. It was stated by Karen Shuman, who is on the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council (LMEC), that LMEC had determined that the property is not within the Lake Maxinkuckee Watershed. I’m not sure that’s 100% correct, but it is at least mostly correct. Lake Maxinkuckee’s watershed is not large, but since the lake is mostly sustained by springs, the quality and quantity of ground water is important. That said, besides the lake, there are other environmental concerns, one the bigger ones being the surface runoff flow to the wetlands at the north side of the property and the town well fields just north of the property. Protection of those are critical.
Most of the conversation was well presented and questions were mostly answered with the exception of questions regarding the bond structure. Those got rather deep and ended with an offer from the town to provide a visual chart and breakdown to make the flow of funds more understandable. At this time, an agreement between the Town and Developer has not been reached, so the final numbers remain in flux. Progress is being documented on the Town’s Website in a link to Dunes. They stated a plan to document the questions heard at this meeting as well as others under a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.
Aside from the bonding, which was confusing to all involved, I was a little confused about the Tax Incremental Financing District (TIF) discussion. This was presented by Marty Oosterbaan, Commission Chairman, and I think most people in attendance didn’t know the right questions to ask. A couple of the things that left me puzzled were: 1) was the new land area for The Dunes being taken into the existing downtown TIF as discussed or would it stand alone; 2) was there one new TIF area or two? There was discussion of a 20yr TIF (residential) and a 25yr TIF (commercial) to cover the areas with rental apartments. How do these fit? There was also a discussion about how this would affect local residents and again, the discussion of taxes were muddy. It was stated that there would be no effect for the life of the TIF, but I don’t believe that to be correct, since there will be a reassessment and taxes levied on the new development which could affect neighboring property.
Another positive I heard last night was the future involvement of Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG). Culver is already working with them on the new Comprehensive Plan and have engaged them for help on The Dunes as well. They will be conducting traffic studies, apparently including boat traffic studies. Hopefully they will also step in to fill the Urban Planner role I suggested here before. It would be interesting to see if they address the issue of suburban sprawl and disconnection of subdivisions in Culver I discussed in this post. Would this development be more acceptable if it followed the streets and alleys development grid found on the east side of South Main Street rather than as a controlled access, separate neighborhood? An interesting question…
Though there weren’t pitchforks and torches at this meeting, the tenor of the conversation made it clear that the community is not embracing this project yet. There were comments about screening it so it’s not seen and changing the entrance to face S.R. 17 in lieu of South Main Street, as discussed here before. These ideas treat it as if they expect an eyesore or having nothing to contribute to Culver. While there may be reasonable concerns, the Town government seems to be on a path to address them the best they can. There is good reason to be cautious, but there should also be efforts to take advantage of the positives that could come from this.
Senior Expo is Thursday, October 19th! You can get a Hearing Screening from Dr. Berger at the Berger Audiology Booth
This is a great event for seniors and has been something Dr. Becky has participated in as a community service since she opened Berger Audiology. She’s always hopping when she’s there, so make sure you get signed up early.
She only has the time and equipment to do the screenings there, but if you haven’t met her, it’s a good time to make a connection. She’s the only full time Audiologist in Marshall County and has better equipment at her office and more education and expertise than the hearing aid dealers in Plymouth. Make it a point to stop and see her!
One Marshall County
Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) and Marshall County Crossroads started conversations earlier this year about creating an over-arching organization to coordinate efforts throughout the county. This was looked at as the next step forward for Marshall County Crossroads. (Marshall County Crossroads seems to be faltering. Their website has not been updated since 2021. This is at least partially due to a lack of funding.) They created what was called the Collaborative Council, which has adopted “One Marshall County” as the name for the new organization. I was asked to join this group late in the game as they were missing input on housing; a target on the local, regional and State level. As I understood the initial mission, there were two main goals, 1) to try and coordinate the efforts amongst the various groups to better use funds and personnel, and 2) to form a united front and coordinated funding request when READI 2.0 project requests are announced.
While I’m generally supportive of the effort, I’m feeling a bit of Deja Vu’. I helped form the Second Century Committee in Culver. This came about around Culver’s bicentennial as a collaborative planning committee to coordinate the efforts of the various clubs, organizations and the town government. In Culver’s case, it was started as a subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce. It did a lot of good things, including helping work through a charrette and motivating a new comprehensive plan. One Marshall County has bigger plans, and is looking for funding, but I don’t know that they won’t suffer from some of the same issues that came to plague the Second Century Committee.
The Second Century Committee had a core group forming a steering committee that pushed hard to get it started. There were regular meeting, agendas and great collaboration. But when the torch was passed to new steering committee members, the passion and vision didn’t follow. Without common goals, the group meetings changed from planning meetings, to just lunches. As the direction faltered, the group meetings had less and less participation, until they ended up being just the steering committee meeting amongst themselves. Then, instead of being the planning and vision for the collaborative group, the steering committee started doing projects on their own. Some of these were great, but without the help of the larger group, funding became an issue and the steering committee members became burned out. Their efforts to be independent from the chamber lost them some of their chamber support. In the end, they could not find replacements for the steering committee and the group withered and dissolved.
One Marshall County has more grandiose plans. They are requesting funding from municipalities and are planning to solicit businesses as well. They plan on having a director to make sure things proceed. I like what they are trying to do, but there are just a few drivers of the initiative and as with the Second Century Committee, I’m concerned what happens when those drivers are ready to step aside. I am also concerned that many of the groups they hope to pull under this umbrella organization are not currently involved in the planning. They can’t just assume that they will have to fall into place. As an example, Argos is not interested in participating and plans to go their own route.
My other concern is for MCEDC. As a founding member and past board member, I know the good that MCEDC has done and the gap that would be left without them. One Marshall County is targeting the same funding sources with MCEDC slated to fall under One Marshall County. That concerns me. For those not in the loop, and that includes a lot of those funding decision makers, it is going to be hard to differentiate between the two and justify doubling their contributions. (I understand the ask to be a match of what’s being giving to MCEDC for most of those involved.)
I will continue to be involved. The idea of One Marshall County is still evolving and I think it has potential. It’s just hard not to look at this through the lens of Culver’s, now defunct, Second Century Committee…
Culver Building Permit Fees
October 23, 2023
Kevin Berger
Commentary, Culver
Building Commissioner, Building Inspector, Community, Culver, government, Plan Commission, Town Council
Sometimes it takes an outside voice to change things… Rob Hurford with Culver Storage Unit Solutions came before Culver Plan Commission on October 17th to request relief from permit fees on their project. They are building mini storage units on the property west of The Paddocks.
Around 2017/2018, Jonathan Leist, then Culver Town Manager, spearheaded increased building permit fees. The increases were based on what was being charged in larger surrounding areas rather than the cost of services rendered. I protested this at the time, saying they were punitive, unreasonable and comparable fees had been cherry-picked to justify high fees… I was mostly ignored with the argument being presented that the building permit fee was still such a small part of the overall project cost for lake houses and commercial structures that it would not stop construction. I argued that wasn’t the point! The money collected does not go to the plan commission, but to the town’s general fund, i.e. it was a money maker, not a service fee.
The permit fees for the storage unit project were over $17,000. That was partially because the County was requiring each building to be permitted separately, rather than looking at the project as a whole, but also because Culver piled on. These are simple. single story, pole building construction with no water or sewer hook-ups. There will be minimal electrical for lighting. That means that Marshall County’s Building Inspector will have very little to look at and Culver’s Building Commissioner can almost do his job looking at setbacks with a drive-by…
Mr. Hurford is the Building Inspector for Warsaw, IN. He said in Warsaw, the permit fees would amount to 6% of the Culver fee. They have completed these projects in Winamac and Bass Lake and fees there were less than 15% of the Culver fee.
Culver’s Building Commissioner, Steve Gorski, did a review of permit fees based on costs and has provided the plan commission with revised numbers. These changes were passed on first read and were used to lower the fee for the project to $9k. Still high (and still inflated by the County in my opinion), but much better than the original $17k.
I’m pleased to see that the Plan Commission is taking steps to correct this one. It ultimately falls on the Town Council to make the Ordinance change. Hopefully they follow through. There are other, regressive, junk fees the town charges that don’t reflect services rendered, i.e. private fire hydrants, private fire sprinkler systems, etc. Hopefully this will prompt a review of some of these fees as well.
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