Tag:Culver
Super Tuesday Thoughts
All of the news organizations are lathered up about today being “Super Tuesday“. It’s all a little frustrating as I generally feel like the decisions on the national candidates have been made long before Indiana’s Primaries roll around. Hoosiers have the opportunity to support candidates financially before the primaries, but in the end it’s the votes that count. I guess we’ll have to see if the new method of awarding delegates makes Hoosier votes relative this year.
Along with the changes with the national delegate counts, we’ve seen some local changes as well. For those of you that haven’t seen the new district maps, Marshall County occupies the majority of Indiana House District 17. Fulton County to the south shares a portion of District 17 as well. (See the map to the right) We will no longer be “represented” by Nancy Dembowski as she will be in District 20. The latest information I’ve received is that she didn’t file to run so she is retiring after this year. That will leave Tom Dermody to run unopposed in the general election. Mr. Dermody is the current Representative for District 20.
There are currently two Republicans, Francis Ellert and Tim Harman, running in the primary to represent District 17. As of this time I haven’t had the chance to learn too much about Mr. Harman, but I did support Francis Ellert in 2010 (previous blog post here) and feel he would do a good job representing the interests of our district.
On the Senate side, Marshall County is split along what appears to be township lines. (See the map to the right) West Township along with Union, Green, Walnut and Tippecanoe Townships along the south side of the County fall into Senate District 18. District 18 covers all or part of 5 additional counties south of Marshall County. The remainder of Marshall County is part of Senate District 9 which includes portions of Elkhart, Kosciusko and St. Joseph Counties to the north and east.
State Senator Randy Head currently represents District 18 which includes Culver. Senator Head came to Culver to speak last Saturday, but unfortunately I was unable to attend. Hopefully Culver generated a good turnout for him! Senator Head is running unopposed in the primary and general elections.
State Senator Ryan Mishler currently represents District 9 which includes Plymouth and the remainder of Marshall County to the north and east. Senator Mishler is running unopposed in the primary and general elections.
I would encourage you to take the time to learn about Francis Ellert and Tim Harman. We often mistakenly think that our State representatives aren’t important, but they are key to decisions that affect our daily lives and how competitive our State is nationally and worldwide. I’ll be cursing their decision a few years back to go to Daylight Savings Time when the alarm goes off next Monday just as I cheered their decision to implement Right to Work in the current session.
Culver Knox Box Program
Since the walk-thru with the Emergency Services Personnel last week, I have made several presentations on a proposed Knox Box program for Culver. Initially I spoke on this topic with the Town Council on Tuesday the 14th. The Fire Chief and the EMS Director were both at that meeting and were charged by the Council to come up with a program. They also asked the Clerk to look into any insurance implications. The Council also agreed with my recommendation that it go before the Plan Commission as a possible addendum to the Zoning Ordinance so that when additional Knox Boxes are installed, they are installed in a uniform fashion. I agreed to carry that suggestion to the Plan Commission, which I did on Tuesday the 21st. They expressed interest as well, though no action was taken to move this forward at this time.
I have also contacted the Culver School System regarding this new program as I think they should consider implementing it. The Culver Union Township Library has also expressed interest. I’m hoping the program will take off! This will bring Culver in line with other area communities.
Culver Garden Court Emergency Services Walk-thru
Tonight we’re going to have a walk-thru at Culver Garden Court for Culver’s Emergency Services personnel. We’ve invited any of the Culver Fire Department, Culver EMTs and Culver Police that would like a tour of the building. As this is housing for the elderly, we feel it is important to familiarize them with the facility. This is something we have done in the past with other Garden Court facilities we have built.
Culver Garden Court has the first Knox Box in Culver. (Wikipedia description here.) A Knox Box is a small safe that is installed at the front door of a building. It will contain a master key to the facility. In case of a 911 call, whether a fire, medical emergency or other, the emergency service personnel arriving at the site will be able to access the key using a key to the Knox Box.
Now that the program has been initiated in Culver, I would anticipate that other Culver facilities will want to install them as well. While the boxes are somewhat expensive, they are generally less expensive than the cost of the door replacement due to the the fire department taking an axe to the door. It is also a life safety issue. Opening the door with a key is the most efficient way to get to a life in jeopardy on the other side. In my opinion the Culver Schools, the Culver Library and the Culver Town Hall should all have Knox Boxes. In the spirit of the one installed at Culver Garden Court, the Culver Cove, Beachside Condos and Beach View Condos should consider them as well. Knox Boxes can also be installed on private homes.
I believe the next step for Culver should be to develop a policy regarding Knox Boxes. There’s a lot of responsibility involved in their use. All the Knox Boxes in a community have a master key. A chain of custody for these keys should be established. A policy should be adopted on how to handle them. (Some communities have controlled access safes in each emergency vehicle to establish accountability and a chain of custody for anyone that accesses the key.) Depending on the type of policy developed, Culver may want to apply for a grant from the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) to implement a program. (Thanks for the suggestion B3!)
I would also like to see a standard set for the location of the boxes. The Knox Box company has a recommendation, but it should be established. It does no good for the box and key to be there if emergency services have to search for it. A second step forward here would be a program that initiates emergency plans for the buildings with Knox Boxes. An emergency services walk-thru for each of these buildings, similar to what we have planned tonight, would help them if they ever had to enter that building in an actual emergency.
I plan to follow up tonight’s meeting with a discussion at the Town Council to get them thinking about implementing this policy. I believe doing this by ordinance would be appropriate, but that would be up to the council to make that determination.
Quote from Tony Sellers
“When we were kids we were sent to our rooms as punishment. Now our kids want to live in their rooms with their iPods. We have to change that.” – Tony Sellers
Heard at the January 24th Culver Town Council Meeting where Tony was requesting that Culver become the first Come Alive Outside community in the United States. Tony Sellers is owner of Sellers Services, Inc. He has taken on Come Alive Outside to promote getting children outside and active.
Culver Garden Court Siding Progress
We previously discussed efforts to make Culver Garden Court “Greener” than previous Garden Court projects. Apparently our project architect, Brent Martin, took that a bit literally when selecting the color scheme as you can see as the siding installation progresses. The siding is Certainteed’s Cedar Impressions and the color is Cypress.
There is a flurry of activity at the site now that the drywall and painting has been completed. The vinyl tile has been installed. The cabinets are in place. This is allowing installation of door frames, plumbing fixtures, electrical devices and electrical fixtures. On the exterior the siding is nearly complete as well as the soffit. The gutters and downspouts are scheduled for completion this week as well.
