Are Golf Carts the Vehicle that would allow Culver to Annex the Lake?

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Golf Cart 1I’ve been watching all the hullabaloo about golf carts in town.  It’s obviously a State-wide issue as the legislature has taken it up and clarified things.  (Is that possible?)   In the case of Culver and Lake Maxinkuckee, golf carts can be used within the Town of Culver as long as they meet minimum safety requirements and are registered with the Town.  This puts 3/4’s of the Lake and a large portion of the Culver Academies on the wrong side of the law when it comes to operating golf carts on public streets and highways.

Child restraints? We don't need no stinkin' child restraints!

The new State Law  really hasn’t changed anything for the residents outside the Town.  It was and remains illegal to operate golf carts on public right-a-ways.  The new Law clarified the rights of Cities and Towns to license golf carts for use on their streets if they chose to to so.   Culver’s Golf Cart Ordinance is available for review on the town website here. 

C'mon! Do you really think this would stand up to a collision with the real thing?
C'mon! Do you really think this would stand up to a collision with the real thing?

It’s unbelievable how passionate people are on this issue!  I find it somewhat unfathomable that so many people are willing to send their children out in these vehicles to compete for right-a-way with cars, trucks, SUV’s and Semi’s.  I’m sure some of these same people check out Consumer’s Reports for crash test ratings before buying a car.  How would a golf cart rate in a collision with a car?  To paraphrase a classic movie line, “Child Restraints?  We don’t need no stinkin’ child restraints!”

But that’s not why I’m typing at you today.  Tongue firmly in cheek, I propose that the Culver Town Council is missing a wonderful opportunity to Annex the Lake!  This has always been a divisive issue.  The Town always feels that they are providing services to property owners that don’t support them through taxes.  The Lake residents feel that they are already under too much Town control without representation.   Are golf carts the vehicle that would allow Culver to annex the Lake?  I say, “Full speed ahead!”  Heck, it’s only a golf cart… What is that, like, maybe 20 mph?

At least one current Town Council Member, Lynn Overmyer, has a golf cart and uses it around town regularly.  I would suggest that she run for re-election on a Golf Cart Platform.   Admittedly a precarious position where she would have to balance many issues… but could this be the issue that unites the Lake, Town and Academies?  I’m picturing Lance driving the cart while Lynn expounds on the virtues of community in a rousing oratory from the bag rack…  like off the back of a train, Herbert Hoover style…

Marshall County with Union Township in Orange
Marshall County with Union Township highlighted

Personally, I think we should think big on this.  Our Man Mitch would like the State to do away with the townships.  Let’s be a progressive community and form our own smaller version of Indianapolis’s uni-gov by absorbing all of Union Township while we’re at it.  There’s only a thin ribbon of area to the south and west between Culver’s Zoning boundary and the County Line anyway.  Burr Oak and Hibbard will become suburbs!  Culver will once again have train service.  Our boundaries will encompass a river and a couple of additional lakes.  (They’re small, but they’ll look good in the brochure text.)  We’ll pick up a connection to another state highway (110) and bring us within spitting distance of State Road 8.

Oh, sure…  There are naysayers that will bring up issues like water and sewer as well as police protection.  Those are just details.  Our Senators are voting 1,200 page bills into Law without reading them, so we shouldn’t get caught up in the details when we  can vote for… wait for it… “Change”!

Oops!  I slipped off my original soap box onto an adjacent one.  Sorry.   We were talking about golf carts.   Annex the Lake!  Annex the Lake!

There are lots of good reasons for pursuing additional annexation.  Unfortunately, good reasons aren’t often good enough.  The Town is pursuing annexation on South Main Street, but one property owner is threatening to oppose it.  Why?  No apparent reason.  The property is already within Culver’s zoning boundary and any tax increase would be minimal since the property is undeveloped.  Since part of the package is the extension of water and sewer to this area, the annexation would only enhance the property and increase the value.  Apparently those aren’t things worth consideration.

Towns are either growing or dying.  There is no staying the same.  Culver needs to plan for growth and pursue it diligently.  The golf cart debate is kind of silly.  Annexing the Lake should remain on the table for consideration.

Happy Anniversary!

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DSCN2523

Becky and I were fortunate to have the opportunity to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Will and Kathy Pearson this past Sunday.  Both have been employees of Easterday Construction Co., Inc. for many years.  Congratulations to Will and Kathy and best wishes for many more.

Antiquarian Entrance

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Culver Antiquarian and Historical Society Museum Entrance
Culver Antiquarian and Historical Society Museum Entrance

We’ve been working on a couple of projects for The Antiquarian & Historical Society of Culver.   This is a continuation of the Museum room renovation we completed for them in the basement of the Culver Union Township Public Library.  We’ve been working with their Museum Designer, Ted Swigon of Chicago Scenic Studios, Inc., as he creates the displays for the museum build-out.  The first project is a simulation of the train station shelters in the hall leading to the museum entrance.  Mr. Swigon had us recreate one of the posts from the west pavilion at the Town Park.  The Park pavilions were formerly attached to the train station and served as shelters for loading passengers.   The pavilions were  later relocated to other areas in the park.  We also created a simulation of the dentils at the top edge on a slightly smaller scale.  We reduced them in size and eliminated some of the details.  Mr. Swigon wanted the feel of the station but didn’t want the details to be overwhelming.  The “CULVER” sign is a scaled recreation of the sign found shown in pictures of the station when it was in operation.   A vintage picture of a train at the station will be blown up and adhered to the doors beneath the display.  This not only will draw visitors to the museum entrance, but helps disguise the existing mechanical room doors at the end of the hall.

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Aunt Lana

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Aunt Lana in the middle. My Aunt Jeanette and my father on either side.
Aunt Lana in the middle. My Aunt Jeanette and my father on either side.

My Aunt Lana passed away this past April.  She lived in Aurora, CO.  She had no children and I was the oldest of her nieces and nephews.  A couple of years back she asked me if I would assume her various Power of Attorney responsibilities including the position of Co-Personal Representative for the execution of her will.  I had a little trepidation in accepting this responsibility, but decided to take it as an honor that she trusted me with her affairs and potentially with her life decisions.  Besides, there would be no need for this until some far off date!  At that time she was only 63…

Aunt Lana as a teenager
Aunt Lana as a teenager

Aunt Lana was diagnosed with possible kidney cancer early this Spring.  She had various tests and went into the hospital for a biopsy and hopefully to have the cancer removed.  To the best of my knowledge, everything went well with the surgery.  They removed the cancer and she was released to return home.  The Doctor deemed the surgery successful.  She complained of some pain, but that was expected.  She passed away just a few days later on April 9th, just four days before her 65th birthday.

Aunt Lana, "Hahahaha...."
Aunt Lana, "Hahahahahaha...."

I have several reasons for sharing this.  First and foremost is to tell you that Aunt Lana was a lurker on this blog.  She never posted a comment, but she generally sent me emails with comments on what I had written.  They were always positive and often tinged with her signature humor and her standard sign-off, “Hahahahahahahahaha…”  I miss hearing from her.

Aunt Lana's Yearbook Picture
Aunt Lana's Yearbook Picture

My second reason is to explain to any other lurkers and clients that might peruse this blog, why I’ve been a bit distracted lately.  Posts here have slipped as well as other things, both personal and professional, as I’ve dealt with this.  As you may well guess, there are emotional issues from the unexpected loss, issues with responsibilities of being her Personal Representative and the physical issues of trips to her home in Colorado and dealing with the personal things she left behind.   Colorado requires that a Personal Representative on a will be a resident, so I am Co-Personal Representative with her friend Peter, in Aurora.  Peter has been extremely helpful.  He obviously was a good friend of Lana’s and I think I can count on him being a personal friend when this is over.  My parents have also been helpful, making two trips to Aurora to help sort and pack her things.  The rest of the family has been supportive in various ways as well.  I have heard many horror stories about these things and I have been pleased that my family has not given me any of those to tell…  so far…  (And I can hear Aunt Lana, “Hahahahahahahaha…”)

Aunt Lana and "The Boys". Here dogs were her life.
Aunt Lana and "The Boys". Her dogs were her life.

And lastly, some tips.  Aunt Lana lived alone with her dogs.  Those dogs were her life.  In the end she failed to make arrangements for the pets that meant so much to her.  While she left me with some instructions regarding her personal things, they were not extensive.  If you don’t have a will, consider that this is something better done sooner rather than later.  Aunt Lana left me with some tough decisions to make.  I am doing my best to follow what I would believe to be her wishes, but I am guessing at best.

As I mentioned previously, Aunt Lana had named me as her Power of Attorney.  One of the responsibilities included administering her Living Will.  Fortunately I did not have to exercise those powers.  If you don’t have a Living Will, you should have one.  If you do have one, you know that the document is somewhat vague.  Lana’s Attorney provided her with a Living Will Value Assessment that allowed her to answer questions based on various health scenarios.  While it wouldn’t make the task easy and it can’t cover every possible scenario, it gave me a lot of insight into her thinking and would have made the difficult decisions easier.  (I have it in a PDF file if anyone is interested.  Contact me with an email address and I will send it out.  I still haven’t figured out how to link things other than pictures to the posts!  <sigh!>)

I’ve also learned a few things about Life Insurance.  Aunt Lana took out a policy that named me as beneficiary.  It was taken out at about the same time that I was named as P.A., so I assume that she did this in order to make sure I had some money for expenses.  Life insurance is outside the estate and can be paid in as little as 10 days from when the company receives the death certificate, while it took nearly 8 weeks to gain access to the accounts due to various filings with the State.  It was only a $5,000 policy, but it would have covered some of the immediate expenses.  Unfortunately there was fine print with the contract.   Since she passed away within 24 months of starting the policy, all the policy would do would be to return the premiums paid.   In reading the terms of the policy, I was quite surprised that she would have paid more than the $5,000 value within 6 or 7 years, but the policy would not mature for 30 years!  Not the best value!  It was particularly interesting that this was a policy endorsed by AARP.

This is a learning experience for me.  I’ve learned things about my Aunt that I didn’t know.  I am learning about the process of tying up the loose ends of one’s physical life.  I would hesitate before accepting this responsibility from someone in the future and I would definitely quiz the individual before hand.  I am already pestering people that have asked me to serve as their Medical Power of Attorney to fill out the Value Assessment.  Hopefully all this will help me leave a more organized estate, but you never know.  Procrastination is very convenient when dealing with decisions about your death.  It’s not like it’s going to happen tomorrow… right?  Right???