Tag:Culver
End of an Era
Plaque I received for my time on the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council
Last Friday was my last day as a Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Fund (LMEF) board member. I decided 20 years was enough. I joined the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council (LMEC) in 1993 and served two 3 year terms. The last two +/- years on the Council, I was Council Chairman, which automatically put me on the Fund. When my Council term ended, I was asked to continue as a Fund board member, which I did.
To the best of my knowledge, I served the organizations longer than anyone else, though Tom Sams may be in the running. I’ve been there to work with all three directors, Karen Dehne, Tina Hissong and Kathy Clark. The three large wetland construction projects were mostly complete when I joined, but I was there through most of the other major projects. I lead the beginning of the renovations to the outlet control structure as Council Chair and then saw it though as a Fund board member. I can walk away proud of my influence on the direction of the organization. I’ve told them that I would be available for consultation as needed, but I’m sure it will be a different board going forward. I believe they benefited from the historical context I could give, but I’m also sure they will find their way without me.
Commemorative Glasses for my time with LMEF. Dates are a little off, but it’s the thought that counts
My tenure length was more the doing of others than myself. I was not interested in taking a leadership position, so I had offered to step down and allow someone with an interest in leadership to step up several times in the past. Past Presidents at those junctures asked me to stay on. I felt I still could contribute on that basis, so I remained. Every board should have a Devil’s Advocate and I often found myself in that position. My sense of history often propelled that. Personally I think that’s more valuable that just saying yes to be agreeable. I hope someone new fills that need for LMEF going forward.
Best wishes to the organization going forward. I hope they are true to the mission set forth by the founders four decades ago.
Blast From the Past: Marge Baker
Very cool that Marge still has friends like this looking out for her. She still calls us on occasion to help with minor household needs.
Marge is a former Easterday Construction Co., Inc. employee, working for us into her 70’s. She was always a cheerful influence around the office and a huge “Company Woman”. She would always promote Easterdays and was thrilled with the logo-wear we would give out at times during the year. The last time I saw her she had to show me the hat she still had. I would have given her another, but she was still keeping that one in immaculate condition.
It’s hard to believe that she’s still going strong at 87. We all wish her many more good years. It’s a loss to the town that we don’t see her peddling her old blue bike with the big basket on the front around anymore. She was one of Culver’s iconic fixtures.
Article scanned from the Pilot News – 8-28-17
Sand Hill Farm Apartment Rendering
Apartment Rendering from SRKM Architecture
Here’s a cool “aerial” rendering of what the base two bedroom apartment layout will look like at Sand Hill Farm. This same layout will be repeated throughout the units. The one bedroom units will be sans the back bedroom and bathroom. The three bedroom units will have stairs from the living room to the third floor bedroom. We’re considering faux wood laminate floors and a gray & white color scheme. Leave your thoughts in the comments if you want to provide input.
Thanks SRKM for the visual!
Burr Oak Revival
Burr Oak Whistle Stop
Did I call it, or what? A few years back I wrote an article here that went viral. Well, it got picked up by the Culver Citizen and the MCEDC newsletter anyway… The post, “If it Ain’t Burr Oak, Don’t Fix it” talked about the potential renaissance for Burr Oak, citing the access to electric, rail, State Highways and proximity to Culver. Since that article was written, the sub station renovation is nearly complete. I drive through there several times a day every weekday and I can tell you the train traffic has increased as well. And apparently Kevin Overmyer has decided to lead Burr Oak’s renaissance. Last year he began hosting events in the family barn with Burr Oak Barn Rental and this year he renovated the old General Store building and opened it as the Burr Oak Whistle Stop this past July. (Grand Opening article here.)
My article title came from my friend, Eric Freeman, who enjoyed a good play on words. In the case of the Whistle Stop, Kevin Overmyer decided there was something broken there and he took it upon himself to fix it. He remembered the history of the building from his childhood and was disheartened by the building’s deterioration. With the work he has done, it is nearly unrecognizable.
Is Burr Oak likely to see a true renaissance from these small beginnings? Hard to tell. Does Kevin have other plans for the Town? He’s not saying. But there is another commercial building there that could be put back into operation and the drive-by exposure is pretty good there. Maybe he’s started something. At the quarterly County Development for the Future meeting MCEDC hosts, I asked Kevin if he was planning to start giving a report on Burr Oak and it’s goals and progress. He just laughed, but there was a twinkle in his eye and he didn’t say no.
I’ll have to let Eric know that Burr Oak may be looking for a Mayor soon. Though he may have to run against Kevin, who’s always been a shrewd politician…
Sand Hill Farm Update
Preliminary Floor Plan
I haven’t written anything about the Sand Hill Farm project in a while. Not because it’s stagnant, but more because of being too busy with it! The basic idea of a mixed use development hasn’t changed, but the path towards that continues to be a bit bumpy… Some of this has been here before, but for new readers, I’ll reiterate.
Last year, the Stellar competition was supposed to be our “in” for IHCDA Tax Credit Housing. When we didn’t get Stellar, I had multiple meetings with IHCDA, which indicated they were eager to help, but we just didn’t meet the threshold needed for a project. In discussions with Town leaders, we decided that the need was immediate and we needed to do something. The Town will be competing for Stellar again this year, but the changes to the program mean that the funding wouldn’t come through until 2019 and that’s too late.
Preliminary Front Elevation
I have gone through the process to have the eastern portion of the project annexed. I have been through the BZA and gotten a Special Use Variance allowing multifamily housing on the property. I have worked through MCEDC to secure Region Cities funding for the project. I have formed a new LLC (Culver Sand Hill Farm LLC) and transferred the eastern portion of the site to that entity. I’ve had multiple meetings with accountants and banks on how best to structure the project. From there, it became an issue of defining what the project would be.
Preliminary End Elevation
I had discussions with the Town about doing a small townhome project, but the dollars didn’t work. It wouldn’t have been enough to justify the Regional Cities money and didn’t really fit what the goals were. We are now proceeding down the path to create a 24 unit apartment building. The sketches I have included here are the preliminaries for that. Final designs may change, but they’re what pricing is currently based on.
In order to meet the cost goals for the project, the Town has agreed to provide infrastructure. That’s allowing the rental rates to be reduced and hit some of our target audience. This will bring in water, sewer, streets, street lights, sidewalks, etc. to the project. They will also be providing a Tax Abatement for the project.
Preliminary Site Plan
The public comment periods on this were a bit harsh. Always disheartening when you find out who your friends aren’t. Most of the vitriol was directed at the Town Council, but some got personal. That was despite the all of the employers we were targeting appearing and speaking for the project. This is somewhat baffling since affordable housing has been the top request in all the surveys from back to the Comprehensive Plan. It continues to be the top concern in the Stellar surveys. Since those meetings it has been nice that there have been a lot of people providing off the record, positive comments to me. It’s unfortunate that they were unable to speak publicly for fear the naysayers would shun them and their businesses.
Currently we’re working down two tracks in order to make this happen. The first is with the Town to find the most economical route to provide access to the current and future projects on the site. This is being handled by the Town’s engineer with input from the Town Manager, Utilities Superintendent and myself. The second is working to bring the building plan in at or under budget. That is proving to be challenging, but the budget has been set by what the banks will support and what has been approved for the Regional Cities money. Building a project with Market Rate construction costs, but renting it at below Market Rate is difficult. In typical fashion, the banks only want to lend money when you don’t need it.
The conversations with the Town and the buzz through the community has been fascinating. The need is there, but everyone has different ideas of how to address it. Several have mentioned the tiny house craze. Enough so that I will probably include that in my PUD as an option. It seems like a reasonable possibility. Mostly, I’m looking at how to most efficiently use the property. I think working on the density is probably the key. Tiny houses might be a component, but I’m still thinking multifamily and zero lot line construction may make more sense here.
More to come!
Tiny house image via Cass Community Social Services
