Personal
Does Anyone Read Your Blog?
TL;DR – I know of a few people that “follow” me, but for the most part, I’m talking to myself. 😁
I get this question off and on by people. I don’t really know the answer. I’ve never installed a counter and SPAM is rampant in the comments. I have some Lurkers that have made themselves know IRL a few times, but that’s rare. Occasionally people mention this blog, but I don’t particularly think I have a following. This is my response to this question when it came last week:
The Blog serves a few purposes for me…
- It gives me a semi-public place to organize my thoughts when I have opinions on things. It usually keeps me from saying something I regret or saying something without having back-up for it. A lot of times that’s as far as it goes. I did the post with the multiple Main/Davis intersection options before bringing it up at the Plan Commission, to make sure I’d given it sufficient thought. For example, it wasn’t until I’d drawn out a couple ideas that I took the next mental step to consider the other utilities that are in the current ROW, which means those areas would have to remain ROW.
- Occasionally, a blog post becomes a payroll stuffer if the topic is appropriate.
- Occasionally it gives me a time-stamped document to point to when someone tries to appropriate an idea I’ve put forward. (A few individuals come to mind…)
- It gives me a place to post things that do double duty as advertising a project and providing an easy place to point people with questions. I’m doing a lot of that with Twitter and Instagram for the Riverside Commons project. When the bank asks about status, I can point them to the ECC instagram or a recent blog post on this.
- It’s a trick to keep my website current. Since the blog posts appear as updates on the front page, it appears that my page is constantly being updated, despite the fact that the website is pretty stagnant. I just don’t have the time to do that justice and struggle to justify the expense of paying someone to do it. I paid someone to do the Sand Hill Farm website and it’s slow, hard for me to edit and overall clunkier than the ECC site which has been up forever. Currently it’s even lost it’s home page and I haven’t had time to research a fix. There’s a blog there too which I try and speak from with a different voice, i.e. less personal stuff.
- When someone chooses ECC they are really buying me. If they are interested, the blog shows them some of my community involvement, some of my politics and some of my sense of humor. From my blog, people have met my grandfather, know my disdain for Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and DST, and friends that have passed like Mary Ellen, Pete, Bobbie and Richard. They’ve even gotten to see some personal art.
- It gives me a place to write. Facebook is too sappy and promoted for some of what I just need to get off my chest. I don’t necessarily want a big following or someone sending me hearts. Though occasionally I cut & paste a blog entry there if I think it’s appropriate. The blog is much easier to correct and I like being able to include pictures and links within the text.
Davis Street/South Main Street Intersection
In my previous post, Culver needs an Infrastructure Czar, I discussed whether The Dunes development was an opportunity to improve the Davis Street/South Main Street intersection in Culver. I flippantly said there must be at least 6 options for improving that intersection, while offering a round-about as one of them. I decided to make that a creative challenge to myself and sketched up a few additional options here with some thoughts to go along with them.
The original sketch of a round-about remains an interesting solution. Considering the increased traffic from The Dunes, this might be a way of calming that traffic. It also provides a better way to access the dunes rather than dumping all of those vehicles out onto the narrow street that is South Main at an offset intersection to Tampa Street. (Not only is the offset from Tampa problematic, the adjacent drive for Garden Court that runs parallel to the new street will be problematic as well.)
As stated before, this improves existing intersection issues and preserves the proposed developer units. While this doesn’t eliminate the S-curve as South Main Street transitions through Davis Street, it does lengthen it. That would make it a little safer. It brings South Ohio Street in with a cleaner connection as well. It may also encourage some of the boat trailer traffic to find alternate routes rather than coming through the downtown area.
This does take a fair amount of buffer property away from The Dunes, but the traffic calming should be a reasonable trade-off.
The first additional option strictly reworks Ohio/Davis/Main without any changes to The Dunes layout or proposed street connection. The main advantage to this revision is further stretching out the Main Street S-curve as it transitions though Davis Street. Davis Street would still connect on the west curve, but it’s a broader curve with better site distance. If some additional right-of-way (ROW) could be purchased from 535 South Main Street to broaden that curve too, then all the better.
This again cuts into the buffer area for The Dunes, but would not affect their marketable area. The benefit to the Town would be significant.
Option #2 Doesn’t improve the S-curve, but it does eliminate the west connection between Davis Street and South Main Street. This brings South Ohio Street further south and connects into South Main Street south of the S-curve. This would provide a cleaner intersection.
The pavement for Davis Street from South Main Street could be removed, but the ROW would need to remain for the water, sewer and storm lines that pass through there. This issue will be the same on any realignment of South Main Street. There may need to be enlarged ROW to accommodate the existing utilities, but the pavement could be removed and the areas could be landscaped. There would be private utilities, such as electric, gas, phone & cable to consider as well.
Again, if some additional right-of-way (ROW) could be purchased from 535 South Main Street to broaden that curve as shown in the previous option, then the S-curve could be improved as well.
Option #3 is basically Option #2 repeated, but with the extension of South Ohio Street further south, so as it is returned to connect to Main Street, it lines up with Prado Street. It is generally good practice to align intersections, but as seen throughout Culver, good practice wasn’t always followed in the past. The same comment as above regarding obtaining ROW from 535 South Main Street applies.
This option is more onerous for the developer of The Dunes, as it severely reduces the buffer they have established between the development and the streets.
The other piece of interest here is the possibility of creating a pocket park here. This has been a Comprehensive Plan goal in the last two Comp Plans and has come up as the current plan is being reviewed. This could tie into future plans the Town has for 530 South Ohio Street, the demolished restaurant site on the corner of Ohio & Davis. This would increase their options on that site.
Option #4 contemplates the Town purchasing 535 South Main Street. This would allow a complete rework and softening of the South Main Street S-curve and would roll additional Town-owned property into 530 South Ohio Street increasing options. (The same curve improvement could be accomplished by purchasing 604 South Main Street, but I would perceive this as less beneficial and more disruptive. Plus it does not provide the benefit of expanding the Town’s existing property at 530 South Ohio Street.)
This could be done as part of any of the options listed above with much the same benefits. Softening that curve would make that intersection much safer and if combined with the round-about option or Option #1, it would vastly improve the traffic flow and safety in this area.
The connection to Davis Street is somewhat problematic in this option, but could be helped by narrowing Davis Street and making it one way east from South Main Street to Obispo Street. This would change traffic patterns as Davis is feeder street, but it would only directly affect three homes with driveways on this section. This would allow for additional green space between the street and trail for this section as well. This would be similar to the recent change of East Washington Street to One-Way.
Option #5, the 6th and final option in this exercise, is to just toss in 4 stops signs and put the brakes on South Main Street. While this is the least effective in any attempt to improve traffic flow, it would be the most economical and provide added safety. For those of you that say changing the existing pattern would lead to accidents, this decision was made a number of years ago at the transition from North Main Street to Lake Shore Drive. It’s not particularly ancient history when North Main Street did not have a stop sign and just “curved” into Lake Shore Drive, while Lake Shore Drive did not have a stop sign for west bound traffic at that intersection. Never an issue for locals, this peculiar pattern lead to a couple of fender benders for out-of-towners, prompting the full stop requirement for the connection of the two main drags…
The point of this exercise, as a continuation of my last post, is that there are always options that should be considered. And along with the options, there should be every effort made to discern the potential unintended consequences. This is often not best handled locally, but better done with the assistance of professionals in their respective fields.
Edit 11-15-22: Oops! It was pointed out to me that the round-about concept appeared on page 97 of the current comprehensive plan! Geez, as many times as I’ve been through that plan, you’d think I would have remembered it! (see right) This is a more elegant drawing and shows some of the benefit I suggested. It is also suggesting that the eastern curve be abandoned in favor of a three-way stop intersection with crosswalks. This was suggested before development of The Dunes property was considered, so it does not show the forth round-about connection for that street which I still think would be prudent.
Alternatively, the comp plan suggests straightening Davis Street and creating two distinct T-intersections with three-way stops in lieu of the S-curves.
Culver needs an Infrastructure Czar
I had lamented about this in the past, but decided to put my thoughts together here for a post as I see this happening over and over again. Culver is doing a great job at obtaining grants and adding improvements to the Town. Unfortunately, these projects seem to continually suffer from a two step forward, one step back syndrome. We have “plans” for what will come in the future, but we continually use different consultants for different projects with no one tasked with seeing the big picture.
This is not the job of the Town Manager. While the Town Manager is generally aware of all the projects and project plans, we have yet to hire one that is a Urban Planner or Landscape Architect. We hire them for the management skills, administration skills, grant writing skills, public relations skills, etc. Some towns choose to go with a “Clerk of the Works” in lieu of a Town Manager. That person has a different skill set and in my opinion, what a Town Manager brings, is what is best for Culver.
But…
The best example of the problem I think needs to be addressed is the various improvements that have been completed over the last couple decades in the area of State Street, Lake Shore Drive and the Town Park. This occurred over the tenure of multiple Town Managers and again, I don’t think this is on them.
- The brick street that was State Street was deteriorating in front of the fire station. The Town decided to pull the brick and redo the street in concrete. Once construction started, the deteriorating condition of the storm water inlets was pointed out. It was also suggested that the other infrastructure (water and sewer lines) should be examined. The decision was made not to do this, patch the storm water inlets (and sewer manhole) the best they could and move on.
- The storm water lines continued to deteriorate and eventually the lines on Lake Shore Drive needed to be replace. These connected to the State Street storm lines, so the new concrete street in #1 was cut (reducing the integrity of the soil compaction, concrete and reinforcing steel) to replace those inlets. As part of this work, the sidewalk from the Park parking lot to the public pier was removed and replaced.
- The Town moved forward with the trail project that runs through the Park. This ran from the end of Washington Street, through the Park and up past the Beach Lodge. The newly placed concrete in #2 above had to be removed and reworked in order to make the trail ADA accessible.
- The Town reroofed the Beach Lodge. This while planning for the Beach Lodge renovation was underway. Approximately 20% of the new roof had to be removed in order to complete the addition to the Beach Lodge.
- The Town moved forward with the Beach Lodge project the year after the Trail was completed. Additional costs were incurred protecting the new trail in #3 as it passed through the construction area.
Okay. While there is not a infrastructure Master Plan and there is no guarantee when or how much grant money comes in for projects, these issues were unforced errors. All of these projects were on the overall to-do list, just without a master plan or time frame. #1 was a Town Manager/Street Department project. #2 was contracted to the Town’s Engineering firm. #3 was contracted to the Town’s Landscape Architecture firm. #4 was a Town Manager project. #5 was contracted to an Architecture firm. Again, not faulting any of them, as they can only work with the information provided, but no one had the overall vision. They were each working in their own silos as directed.
The past several Town Managers have depended heavily on Culver’s Utilities Superintendent. Again, it would be unfair to blame any of the above on that person. They are tasked with keeping things working, not having a vision for the future. They often are not called in until the grant has been obtained and the architect or engineer have been hired. They can help oversee the current project per the plans, but at that point it’s often too late to adjust for the connections.
There are other examples, such as Cavalier Drive, where the sewer line was not extended to either end of the street & the street does not serve all of The Paddock on the north end and the South Main Street Trail, where once the trail leaves Davis Street, where there was a curb, it drops down to road level without planning for future South Main Street improvements. (South Main Street is currently hard to traverse due to sunken inlets in the street in the travel path of car tires. Improvements including curb and gutter and curb inlets would be a prudent consideration.)
Now there are four significant projects planned for Culver. None of these are particularly objectionable. The Plan Commission and their subcommittee, the Technical Review Committee, have reviewed and approved the multi-family development at 415 Lake Shore Drive. While it does not follow the Comprehensive Plan completely, it does transition from Commercial to Residential, which was a Comp Plan goal for this parcel. But how does this increased density change the vision for this area? Why was it not required to follow current detention requirements? (Yes, the existing site was fulling impervious, but there are existing drainage problems in this area and this was an opportunity to alleviate some of them.) What should be done as part of this project to prepare for the next project? Maybe there’s not much that can be done because of the state of development in that area, but has it been considered?
The second one is municipal projects at the intersections of South Main Street, Davis Street and Ohio Street. The town is expanding their well field. They are considering a new facility on Davis Street where the restaurant was torn down. How will these new uses affect development? Will they increase traffic? Is there anything that can be done to improve the poor intersection traffic at this location?
The third one is a storage facility on Tamerack Road, south of the cemetery. Again, this does not quite follow the Comp Plan, but it’s been reviewed and found to be reasonable by the Plan Commission. How will this affect future projects? This facility is designed to house recreational vehicles, so it will increase traffic from large vehicles, trucks and trailers. Does this lend to an upgrade in South Main Street? Remember the trail that just went in, mentioned above? Will it make sense to widen South Main Street? Add curbs? How will that affect the trail? Does this put more need for the extension of West Shore Drive to S.R. 17 as discussed as a goal in the current Comp Plan (page 89 shows new connections to S.R. 17 via extensions of Academy Road and West Shore Drive)?
The fourth project is The Dunes. There’s been talk in town that residents were blind-sided with this, but in reality, that property was annexed and rezoned “R-2” years ago with the goal of denser residential development. There were advertised public meetings at the Plan Commission and Town Council. Again, the trail project should have anticipated this, but didn’t. What other things have been missed along here? What else should be considered? As with the storage facility, does this suggest upgrades to South Main Street and the West Shore Drive extension to S.R. 17?
This is where an Infrastructure Czar would come in. (Call them what you want, but this was a starting point for me.) This is someone charged to see the big picture and how all the new projects interrelate with the existing facilities. Someone trained to see this. Trained to have the vision. I’m not really advocating a new position as I don’t think it’s warranted, but the Town hires consultants all of the time. Whether this is a single person or a firm, the consultant fees would be minimal and money well spent and paid for by saving the reworking of things as pointed out in the Lake Shore Drive list of 4 above.
A prime example of a current issue most probably being increased by the last three on this list is the unsafe intersections involving South Main Street, Davis Street and Ohio Street. Some of the money being dedicated to these projects by the Redevelopment Commission could be channeled towards improvements here. (Really should have been considered with the trail project.) This could be low end, utilizing better signage and more traffic control or higher end with widening of streets and adding turn lanes, etc. There is also the really radical and progressive option of turning this intersection into a round-about! Wouldn’t that blow some minds!
The point is, once these developments are complete, there will be no options for asking for additional land or other concessions and an opportunity will be lost. We need someone with vision who can think outside the box on these things. Someone to challenge the status quo so improvements can be considered. Infrastructure Czar, Master Planner, The Vision… Call them what you want. Someone needs to be in-charge of monitoring the big picture.
Culver’s Transparency Efforts
I’ve been amused and bemused by some of the hub-bub on TGL and at the Town Council Meeting regarding the READI Grant award for the Culver housing project on South Main Street. The Town of Culver truly is above average in their efforts to keep the public informed, but no good deed goes unpunished… That effort sometimes comes back to bite them when something requires them to be nimble.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was unhappy with the way the Town handled the READI grant decision and project selection, but that doesn’t mean they did anything clandestine. There were discussions in advertised public meetings regarding this project, The Dunes. But this is a case where the Town fast-tracked the application process in order to get it in by the application deadline. Sometimes timelines are dictated by others.
Unfortunately, part of the issue is the uncertainty of Culver’s push to participate in READI. In the 6/14/22 Town Council Meeting, the Town Manager said Culver was unlikely to participate in READI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKWHap7j99g Time Stamp 21:44 because they didn’t want to proceed with the housing project submitted in the first round: Culver Sand Hill Farm‘s submission for Spirit Townhomes (Which was done with the Town’s blessing.) That was confusing for me, since in a recent Plan Commission meeting she referenced this and said they couldn’t have done The Dunes without that submission! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Jd1gPlNzA Time Stamp: 1:36:45 Just to be clear, I have no connection to The Dunes. I had a much smaller project in mind, which would have been community improvement and in an already developed residential area. I was disappointed in the change in direction the Town took.
Part of what’s interesting with the public outrage is, this project could move forward without the PUD aspect. It was already in the works with this developer before READI became a factor. The Redevelopment Commission was already working on a commitment to this. READI just allowed the capture of grant funds.
Very little, if any, of what is planned couldn’t be done under the current R-2 Zoning District designation as I pointed out in the Plan Commission meeting referenced above. The use of a PUD will allow the developer some additional flexibility and will allow the Town to capture TIF dollars, which they would be unable to do in a straight residential development. This becomes somewhat of a win-win, though that hasn’t been explained well. Those that are unhappy with the idea of 60 acres of new residential development on those parcels should have paid more attention when they received notification of the, annexation and rezoning several years ago. Both those things were made public and required public hearings before the Plan Commission and Town Council.
As someone who participates in town meetings and town committees, I’m always shocked by those that chose to remain ignorant of what is happening around them. It is unfortunate that everyone can’t attend meetings and be involved, but thanks to advances in technology and in large part, thanks to Covid, Culver is broadcasting nearly every meeting and posting them for posterity as well. I have also cringed at some of the things that they have recorded, but it’s a learning curve and their willingness to put themselves out there is commendable. They have gone above and beyond the other local communities where I attend meetings. They are also more open to public input in these meetings.
The whole debacle with The Dunes looks so familiar with what I went through with the Sand Hill Farm apartments and, in the same neighborhood as The Dunes, what I went through with Culver Garden Court apartments. Yes, The Dunes has hit the press a little late, but I don’t know that it would have mattered. Both my projects were well publicized and detractors still came out of the woodwork in the 11th hour. With the negativity currently expressed and the recent “win” against the 415 LSD townhouses, I would expect the Plan Commission and Town Council meetings to be interesting in the next few months…
The Roger Umbaugh Impact Investing Fund
A little history…
I’ve talked about my friend, Roger Umbaugh, a couple of times here. Roger was a past board member of on the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF). While on that board, he was also on the MCCF Investment Committee. When I joined the MCCF board, I also joined the MCCF Investment Committee.
One of Roger’s goals was to get MCCF into a better home. While the generosity of Key Bank was always appreciated, it was not always the best solution. On top of that, the Community Foundation had grown and needed more space than was available at Key Bank. When financing for the community pool project was under discussion, Roger found a way to finance it using New Market Tax Credits and to put MCCF in a position to facilitate this while also getting a new home as part of the deal.
Another of Roger’s goals was to see some of MCCF’s investment funds invested back into the community. He always thought it would serve two purposes… providing some income and doing good in the community. At the start, he didn’t know that there was a name for this: Impact Investing.
When the New Market Tax Credit project needed additional funding, Roger broached the subject of MCCF providing the funding gap as a loan. This resulted in $500k of Community Foundation funds be loaned to the project. This was a win-win for MCCF and project.
After Roger’s passing, I wanted to carry this forward for him. In his name, I championed designating the $500k as the start of an Impact Investing Fund. I also suggested that the fund be named the Roger Umbaugh Impact Investing Fund. The board voted to approve both measures. I have the feeling that this will be a draw to a different kind of donor for the Community Foundation. Another win-win.
This is still new. I have sat in on a seminar on Impact Investing. I have done a little research. There appears to be a lot of different ways we could approach this. At the last MCCF board meeting, I suggested that we should start this process by setting some goals which we’ll be doing in a future meeting. This seems to range from self-run scenarios to hands-off options where 95% of the heavy lifting is done using outside financial institutions.
So… I’m throwing this out here to see if there is any input from followers. This is your chance to add suggestions on how this new venture should be structured. Any ideas? Contact me by email (mail@easterdayconstruction.com) or feel free to use the comments.
