I’m often accused of being a Bah-Humbug about Christmas because I get tired of it starting so early. Well this morning I kind of felt like my pumpkin friend here when I drove through town and saw the Christmas lights up on the streets and several of the stores that had already “Decked the Halls”. It’s Halloween today for Heaven’s Sake! Ooooooo… Scary red and white twinkling Christmas Bells on all the street lights! Isn’t that going to be nice for this evening’s Trick or Treating.
I was reminded that the Chamber is sponsoring “Christmas in Culver” next weekend, November 4th & 5th. Of course they are… I guess Thanksgiving went right out the window. Okay, I know how important Christmas sales are to retail merchants, but really??? What’s next? Maybe we should do “Christmas in Culver” over Labor Day weekend. You know we want to catch those Lake People before they leave for the winter…
I guess this saves time. We’ve been so busy this Fall that we didn’t get any Halloween decorations up. Now that I know we can just skip to Christmas I don’t feel so bad. Pretty soon we’ll all be like the people that we used to make fun of. You know, the ones that left their Christmas decorations up all year around? Ha! They were just ahead of the curve!
Drywall installation is proceeding. This is allowing us to continue the rough-in that is below the ceiling in the heated space, i.e. fire sprinkler lines and water lines that are in soffits. On the exterior, all of the sidewalks and curbs have been poured and the final grading has been completed on the drives and parking lot. The stone base is in place ready for paving. The topsoil is in place ready for landscaping as soon as the finishes on the exterior walls have been completed. We’re currently working towards completion in late December if things continue to go well.
I have been interested to watch the various happenings regarding the wind farm proposed by NextEra in southern Marshall County. My position on the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) Board has given me the opportunity to be aware of this from early on.
I must say that I have been impressed by the way Marshall County officials have approached this. I have not necessarily been pleased with the county position that we should remain an agricultural based county, but using the wind farm model as one way of promoting that is effective. They did their due diligence on the issue before creating the zoning ordinance changes that allowed these farms. Marshall County officials met with county officials from counties with wind farms to review their ordinances and discuss what they thought they did right and what they did wrong. Our new county ordinance section that covers wind farms is an amalgamation and improvement on the ordinances of other counties that preceded it. I think they have done a good job.
Again from my interactions with MCEDC, I know that there are at least three wind farm companies considering sites in Marshall County. For months now I have known the name of one of them. (I just heard the name of one of the others for the first time last week.) I have seen announcements and attended presentations by one of them. I only know one of them that has tried to educate the public. In all cases that is NextEra. I am in no position to vouch for them and what they are doing other than to say that they are the only company that is being open about it. To the best of my knowledge, they are the only one that is an American company too.
I went to the presentation by the Concerned Citizen’s of Southern Marshall County (See their website here) that was held at the Culver Elementary School Gymnasium. While most of the information was interesting, I was disappointed where exaggerations were made. Unfortunately those exaggerations made all of the information suspect. An example of this was the discussion of the heights. The statements made at the gymnasium meeting were as follows: The proposed windmills are to be 450′ tall. That is equal to a 45 story building. That is taller than the skyline of Indianapolis which you can see from over ten miles away. It didn’t take much of an Internet search (here) to find that the tallest building in Indianapolis is the Chase Tower. It is 48 stories tall. It is 810′ tall. I don’t question that 450′ is a damned tall structure that will be seen from miles away, but why exaggerate it.
As many of you probably know, I am a board member on the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Fund (LMEF). I have been on the Fund board for over ten years and have served on the council for six. Because of my position on the MCEDC board, some felt that I had a conflict of interest in this issue, so I have chosen to recuse myself from LMEF votes on this issue. That has not particularly mattered since the votes passed unanimously sans my vote. I have participated in the discussion and have been disturbed by the turn it has taken. To my knowledge this is the first time that the Environmental Fund or Council has taken a position such as this without doing due diligence back up with independent consultants such as J.F. New & Associates. I was particularly disturbed by the recent email that went out from the fund stating that “we must not knowingly cause harm to any living thing.” Really? We have always promoted being good stewards of Lake Maxinkuckee as a resource, but statements like that cause us to drift dangerously towards the environmental whacko fringe.
I have taken a position through MCEDC that wind energy is a positive economic resource for Marshall County to use. As a member of LMEF, it appears that I am on the other side of this issue. Before the LMEF meeting I drove to White County and trespassed, walking right up to the base of one of the windmills. I was unmoved…
I really have no personal stake in this issue. I don’t find the the windmills visually objectionable, but I completely understand the position of those that do. I have to question some of the other things being dragged in and exaggerated to bolster their point though. I will continue to read the information from both sides with interest.
Credits to xkcd web comics for the wind turbine comic at the top of the page.
It’s been a while since my last update on Culver Garden Court. Things are proceeding quickly.
Rough-in is complete on wiring for the electrical, security and fire alarm systems. Plumbing rough-in is complete. HVAC rough-in is nearly complete. This has allowed installation of the wall insulation. Exterior wall insulation is complete and sound batts have been installed where required between units. Drywall installation has begun. The first thing to be drywalled will be the ceilings. This will allow blown-in insulation to be installed in the attic.
On the exterior, the faux stone wainscot installation has begun. Most of the stone is in place. Next will be wall caps and the column bases. Once wall caps are in place, siding and soffit installation will begin.
Installation of concrete walks and curbs is currently underway. This will allow us to proceed with paving preparations. We made some decisions on revised locations for the sign and flag pole, so the installation of those items can proceed as well.