Culver

Fat Cow

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Fat Cow

At the April meeting of the Culver Redevelopment Commission, an audience member repeatedly referred to the Commission as the Town Council’s “Fat Cow”. I assume this was a bastardization of “Kill the Fatted Calf” from
 the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). I found several references here similar to this: The allusion to the New Testament story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) in which the forgiving father ordered his best calf to be killed in order to provide a feast to celebrate the return of his wayward son. Fatted is an archaic form of the verb fat meaning ‘make or become fat’. Nowadays we use the forms fatten or fattened. – Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

Grandpa Murphy

Due to my Grandpa Murphy and my good friend Bobbie Ruhnow, I’m quite fond of idioms and colloquialisms which I use often… much to the chagrin of some of my nieces and nephews who look at me like I’m crazy. My grandfather often shortened/modified his use of colloquialisms too, so I got the “Fat Cow” reference, though I didn’t agree with the sentiment. The reference was used as a pejorative, implying that the Town Council was unreasonably taking advantage of the funds held by the Redevelopment Commission. I disagree with that assessment for several reasons:

  1. First and foremost, the Redevelopment Commission members are appointed by the Town Council. The Town Council members are the duly elected representatives of the citizens. They answer to their constituents. As such, the Town Council should be, using another colloquialism, the pointy end of the spear, setting the direction for the Town. The underlying commissions and boards are made up of members appointed to follow the directions given by the Town Council. If the citizens don’t like the direction the Town Council is going, then they can voice that by electing new council members. Commission and board members are appointed because the council members can’t do everything or take the time to go into depth on issues like the commissions and boards can. But in general, they are there to support the Town Council, not defy it. They serve at the pleasure of the Council.
  2. The money that the Redevelopment Commission has is captured tax dollars from the TIF Districts. The TIF Districts were specifically created for this purpose. A TIF district essentially reallocates funds from property taxes to encourage investment within the district. Any increased tax revenues collected as a result of an increase in property values then go into the TIF fund and can be used by the Town for a wide range of purposes to promote development. These are not new tax funds or separate tax funds from what would have been collected on the affected properties. The funds are being used for the purpose intended.
  3. The funds collected by Redevelopment Commission from the TIF Districts can be returned or redirected back to the underlying taxing bodies, but this would not change the amounts collected from taxpayers. But why would the Redevelopment Commission not use the tools (dollars) they receive? I would argue that the Redevelopment Commissioners are not doing their job if they cannot properly use these funds to benefit the districts as intended. And going back to #1 above, the Town Council should reevaluate their appointments if the commission members can’t support projects that the Town Council has designated as important to our community when they fit within TIF spending guidelines.
  4. Our Town Council has done an above average job of soliciting citizen input over the past few years. The projects currently being pursued are ones that have come from community input in our Comprehensive Plan in 2014 and two outreaches used to complete our two Strategic Investment Plans used in our Stellar Community application in 2016 and our successful Stellar Community designation in 2017. These projects came from community input and our Stellar Community designation has allowed these projects to move forward with funds heavily leveraged from State agencies.

Culver’s Town Council has given the Redevelopment Commission much more autonomy than is seen in most communities. They are allowed their own separate agenda and often push back on Council initiatives. Once again though, they serve at the pleasure of the Council, so Culver’s Council has chosen to accept that autonomy, rather than replacing them with more complacent individuals.

Also somewhat unique to Culver is the interaction allowed to the public. Within limits, the public is allowed to comment and question throughout the Town Council meeting rather than just at the designated “Citizen Input” on the agenda. This new tradition has translated down through the boards and commissions. This is not something often seen in other communities and is likely behind the increased public attendance at meetings and public involvement in Town projects. Citizens may not always agree with the Town’s direction nor always able to sway the direction of the Town, but they cannot say they were not heard.

So it’s fine for citizens to voice their displeasure with the direction of the Council or any of the boards or commissions. It’s part of our local government system. Though a better understanding of the process, the chain of command and how we got here on projects would allow them to make better arguments. An educated debate carries more weight than random heckling.

Damore Amphitheater

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Always nice to see our projects make the paper! The Damore Amphitheater made the front page of the Culver Citizen on May 9th. Check out our name on the dedication plaque when you’re there taking your selfie!

Rights Should Outweigh Expediency

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There was an interesting conversation at the end of Culver’s April Plan Commission meeting. Some commission members were expressing their frustration at the time and expensive necessary to move buildings that have been deemed unsafe through the court proceedings. They wanted to explore ways to expedite this process.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses… against unreasonable searches and seizures…
No Person shall be… deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law…

The discussion revolved around the County-wide Unsafe Building Committee which was formed last year. The committee was formed with the intent of streamlining the process. The committee requested a judge cede jurisdiction to them and expedite the process of condemning property.

Note: This is what I heard at this Plan Commission meeting and others. I have no direct knowledge of how these cases have proceeded.

In most of these cases, the judge hearing the case had granted the property owner time to obtain an attorney, time to present their case and time to make improvements recommended by the committee. At times the judge had sided with the property owner on allowing them to make improvements in lieu of condemnation and reduced the extent of the improvements required.

Listening to this from the outside, I felt the goal of getting the property cleaned up or condemned is worth pursuing, but not at the expense of proper representation and property rights. Not to disparage the current committee, but I don’t think bureaucracy is a suitable substitute for an elected judge. The current committee may be knowledgeable in property rights, but there’s no guarantee that this would always be the case. It’s also unclear what the route to appeal is if the judge cedes authority to the committee. Since the complaints aired by the Plan Commission had to do with the length of process, I am concerned that the rights to due process could be hindered.

It will be interesting to see how this moves forward. I am concerned that this is a case of needing to be careful what you wish for… I don’t know that we want these powers to be unchecked. Thus my choice of title for this post, “Rights should outweigh Expediency…”

Congratulations to Jim Clevenger

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Congratulations Jim! I’ve worked with you as Culver’s Town Attorney, Marshall County’s Attorney and briefly as MCEDC’s Attorney. I’ve always known you to be cautious and ethical, working to keep his clients out of trouble. No surprise that you were on the State’s Ethics Commission, though I didn’t know about it until seeing this award upon your exit from the Commission. 14 years! Way to go!

Best wishes for your next endeavor. Thanks for your years working to keep the State on the straight and narrow. Please keep up the good work and apply those principles here too!

Elkay Visits Sand Hill Farm Apartments

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One of Elkay’s crews at the Sand Hill Farm Apartments Site Visit October 16, 2018

Earl Lilly, Plant Manager of Elkay Wood Products in Culver, brought a large contingency of Elkay employees to observe the cabinets going in at Sand Hill Farm Apartments this past Tuesday. Representatives of several divisions that worked on these cabinets were there including engineering, scheduling, production & shipping. They often don’t get to see their products in place, so this was a great opportunity to see a large installation underway just a block from the plant. Steve Deford of Deford Kitchens, the cabinetry installer for the project, was onsite to discuss how the installation was going. The installation is going well!

It was great to see some of the people that work in our community and could potentially be future residents at Sand Hill Farm Apartments at the site. The optics of the private/public partnership that occurred here was instrumental in Culver’s success in the Stellar Communities program. Elkay Wood Products and Easterday Construction Co., Inc. helped developer Culver Sand Hill Farm, LLC step up to the challenge of creating affordable housing for the Town.

Shelby Harrell, editor of the Culver Citizen, was on site to document the event. Her article appeared in The Pilot News on October 18, 2018. (See the article to the right.) The exposure can only help the project’s success. We count this as part of the community effort to see more entry-level housing in Culver. Thanks Shelby!

Unfortunately progress is currently impeded by the late start on the street. Lack of utilities is slowing us down and may force a stop soon. Currently we’re moving 5 gallon buckets of water to the site from our office in order to keep working. NIPSCO could not bring gas and electric to the building without the completion of street utilities. The furnaces are ready but can’t be fired without gas and electric, so we’ve started providing temporary heat with space heaters in order to keep things warm enough for the various sealants, adhesives and paint needed to finish out the project. The fire sprinkler system is full of water and in danger of freezing with the cold nights we’ve been having.

The lack of fire protection is also a concern, since the sprinkler system has water in it within the building, but does not have a hook up to the Town water system yet. The fire hydrants that serve the building currently have no connections. We’ve been assured these things will be available soon.