projects
Continuing Tough Times in Construction
“The struggling economy is causing both nonresidential and residential construction to continue to slump, with the exception of a handful of stimulus-impacted segments such as highway/street and conservation/development.”
—ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu
MCEDC Culver Representative 2010-2012
I have served as the Town of Culver representative to the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) for the past three years. This took the group through incorporation as a 501(c)6 corporation. Since that time I have been vice chairman of the corporation. My term expired at the end of December last year and I volunteered to be reappointed to the corporation board. I am pleased that the Culver Town Council chose to reappoint me at their meeting, February 10, 2010. (Pilot News Article here.) I have represented Culver to the best of my ability and believe I have served the Town well.
MCEDC has made great strides in the short time it has existed. We have established offices in Plymouth and hired an Executive Director, Administrative Staff and just recently a dedicated Grant Writer. We have a functioning website and have established ourselves as a regional leader with State and local officials as well as site locators throughout the nation. We are currently working to increase our regional position through cooperation and strategic partnerships with surrounding counties.
Culver Garden Court Property Annexation Continues to Move Forward
The Culver Town Council held a public hearing on the annexation of 80 acres on South Main Street on January 26, 2010. Part of this property is the parcel slated for the Culver Garden Court. There are three properties involved in this annexation. One property owner is protesting, but the Town Council has chosen to move ahead despite this. The Annexation passed on the second reading by a vote of 4 to 1. The article is currently online here and is available in two scans, Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
Despite the protest, this annexation should benefit all three property owners as well as the Town of Culver. The Town plans to extend water and sewer to this area in an effort to promote future development. There is a distinct dearth of developable land within Culver that has adequate water and sewer. The few parcels that do have the potential for development are currently held under ownership with no interest in development on their own or in selling parcels for development. Two of the parcel holders within this annexation have expressed an interest in development. Regardless of their intentions for their property, the third property owner will no doubt see and increase in their property value resulting from the potential achieved here.
Pulaski County Public Library Grand Re-Opening
Grand Re-Opening Brochure
On Sunday, November 15, 2009, I attended the Grand Re-Opening of the Pulaski County Public Library. They went through a remodeling and addition project over the last couple of years. While we were unsuccessful in our bid to do the initial project, due to our past relationship with previous head librarian, Katherine Scott, we have been asked to consult on some issues that have developed. This has led to some miscellaneous small projects. From this we have developed a relationship with the new head librarian, MacKenzie Ledley. I was pleased to be invited to their Grand Re-Opening. I enjoyed hearing the presentations and talking to some of the patrons in attendance.
The Grand Re-Opening was fairly well attended with approximately 40+ people in attendance. The Library Dedication was conducted by Roberta Brooker, Indiana State Librarian. She made a nice presentation. Board President Paul C. Baker presided over the ceremonies and Ms. Ledley unveiled several sculptures that had been donated to the library by a former resident.
This is the second major renovation to the Pulaski County Public Library. The original Carnegie Library is still the prominent portion of the building visible from the street. The Carnegie portion of the building is still in use, though mainly as offices and administrative facilities at this point. A previous 1987 addition houses the library’s geneology section while the new addition houses a new computer lab, children’s section, community room and a several reading rooms. There is some history written by past librarians here.
Raffle tickets were distributed for chances at door prizes. They had several gift baskets as well as library logo items that were given away.
There were refreshments and door prizes (I didn’t win…) and tours of the library. Overall the event was interesting and worth attending. We wish Ms. Ledley, the library staff and the library board all the best as they move into this next era for the Pulaski County Public Library.
LaPaz Garden Court Ground Breaking II
LaPaz Garden Court Ground Breaking
We had the official Ground Breaking for the LaPaz Garden Court yesterday, Thursday, October 29, 2009. An article and some pictures are in the Pilot News here. There were about 25 or 30 in attendance, representing various entities that support the project. This was about 10 days after we began the actual earthwork on the site. Today’s unfit weather has slowed us down, otherwise we would have been cutting in the footings today.
