Culver Garden Court Start-up

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Culver Garden Court had a project closing yesterday at the HUD offices in Indianapolis.  FINALLY!!! The closing for this project was similar to a closing on a house where the mortgage is finalized, the previous property owner receives a check and the ownership transfer is made.  In addition to this, the HUD closing for this project included the finalization of contracts for the construction of the new Garden Court facility.  I was back in the office about 4:30 yesterday afternoon and the first round of purchase orders were sent releasing the surveyor, excavator and concrete contractor to begin work.

Culver Garden Court Site Plan

HUD requires the project to break ground within 10 days.  This should not be a problem at this time of year.  Everyone has been waiting for this project to be released for months.  There will be a separate ground breaking ceremony on April 8th at 2:00pm for anyone interested in attending.  Odds are there will be actual construction going on in the background at that time too.

The project has a 12 month time line.  We anticipate being out of the ground within a couple of months.  We should be weathered in before winter allowing interior finishes to be completed regardless of the weather.

You can see a previous entry on Culver Garden Court here.

End of an Era

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Damaged "Green Doors" on North Drive

Last summer when we had a big wind storm come through Culver, the doors on what we call the North Drive were a casualty.  (See picture at the right.)  We have patched and repaired them for years, but this time the mortise & tenon connections were broken in multiple places.  Their structural integrity was shot.

I tend to be sentimental and nostalgic about things at times and this was one of them.  I had some difficulty making the decision to get rid of them, but cost and safety factored into the decision to remove the old doors and replace them with an overhead door.

New Overhead Door on the North Drive

This area of the building is unheated storage.  It is mainly used to house our forklift and provide storage for deliveries before items received are transferred to the site for installation.  The new door will serve the purpose adequately, but without the sense of history associated with the old doors. 

Great Grandpa Easterday was always the pragmatist, so I don’t think he would be too concerned about the decision.

Marshall County Economic Development partners with Small Business Develoment Center

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Marshall County Economic Development is pleased to announce that in partnership with the North Central Indiana Small Business Development Center, free, confidential, one-on-one business assistance will be available at our Plymouth office on Miller Drive once a month beginning Wednesday, March 23rd.

Individual appointments to meet with Alan Steele, ISBDC Business Advisor, will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.  This opportunity is open to entrepreneurs considering starting a business and those new to business ownership.  But it is important to note the wealth of information and support services that SBDC can provide to ANYONE making critical decisions about how to improve their small business – particularly useful for existing strong Marshall County businesses facing new challenges brought by the digital-global-information age! 

See the range of services provided below and at the SBDC website at http://www.southbendbcg.com/ for more information on how SBDC can help you succeed in taking your business to the next level.

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House Democrats walking out

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I was amused when I saw that the Wisconsin State Senate Democrats were hiding in Illinois.  Their new moniker as the FLEE Party was funny.  Now I am ashamed to see that our Indiana State Representatives, including our local District 17 Representative, Nancy Dembowski, are doing the same.  If you’re as embarrassed by her method of representing us as I am, please take the time to send her a note here:  h17@in.gov

This is poor government, poor sportsmanship and just plain poor leadership.  I received an email from the Indianapolis TEA Party that has a lot of interesting links if you want to follow up with them.  You can see the email here.  They are not only taking on the missing Democrats, but also the Governor and the Republican led Senate, asking for better leadership from our representative government.  I don’t think this is an unreasonable request.

There is a billboard at the corner of S.R. 8 & S.R. 17 that I pass every day on the way to work.  It has Nancy Dembowski’s smiling face telling me she’s my Representative.  If that’s the case, why is she hiding in Illinois?

South Side Update

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Tuesday night was the regular meeting of the Culver Plan Commission.   The only agenda item was a replatting of the Rhodes property, combining several lots into one.  This passed with little question. 

Under “Public Input”, John Zehner presented his plans to change the use of the Ten Spot to a restaurant and motel.  The presentation wasn’t required, but was more of a courtesy, keeping the Plan Commission apprised of the change in use.  The Plan Commission also supported this proposal.

I took the opportunity to plant some seeds regarding the development on the south side of Culver, basically outlining the thoughts I had previously presented here.  I was pleased that the Plan Commission was fairly receptive.  They agreed to consider most of what I suggested.  I truly think this is an opportunity for the Town to get out in front of some issues and encourage the type of development they would like to see.  They are considering forming a subcommittee to look into this with the idea that the subcommittee would try and form community partnerships and foster buy-in.  All in all a very positive evening!