Tag:Culver
Culver Redevelopment Commission
The Culver Redevelopment Commission (CRC) met for their first 2012 meeting on Wednesday, March 21st. There are two returning members, Grant Munroe and Jerry Ney. There are three new members, Brandon Cooper, Rick Tompos and Ralph Winters. (Cooper was absent.) They reorganized with Munroe as Chair, Winters as Vice-Chair and Tompos as Secretary.
Members brought two issues before the commission as projects to consider for the year:
- Munroe suggested that the group continue their consideration of facade improvement grants as were discussed extensively last year. I suggested that they approach Trent Bennett regarding participating in a Task Force or Sub Committee in order to complete this project since he was so heavily involved in it the previous year. They thought that was appropriate and planned to contact him. They are going to consider this at their next meeting when they have a better handle on financing.
- Winters suggested that the group consider funding or helping to fund a sidewalk project which would extend the sidewalk along the west side of Lake Shore Drive from where it stops up to the intersection with S.R. 10 and then west along S.R. 1o to the Family Dollar store. He suggested this due to the number of Culver Academies students that walk this route to the Park ‘N Shop and to the Family Dollar. Obstacles concerning this were discussed including that part of the area was not in the TIF District and part of the area would be on INDOT Right-of-Way. They are going to consider this at their next meeting as well.
I presented a proposal that they consider participating in funding of a new Culver Comprehensive Plan. (See 20/20 Vision for Culver) They agreed that this would be a good project as it did impact the TIF District, but they felt it would be appropriate to partially fund it rather than be the sole source of funding. I explained that this suggestion originated with Kathy Clark, a former chair of the CRC. I also explained that I have vetted the idea with Jennifer Laurent, Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) Executive Director, and she had indicated that it was a common use of Redevelopment funds and outlined some steps for them to take. They are going to consider this at their next meeting as well.
They plan to have updated financials for their next meeting so that the new members can familarize themselves with the funding and available funds. They’re behind this year since this was their first meeting, but it sounds like they intend to hit the ground running. Their next meeting will be April 18th at 5:30pm. They are changing their meeting dates to the 3rd Wednesday of each month at the new 5:30pm time.
CUTPL Knox Box Presentation
I will be discussing adding a Knox Box (or two) to the Culver Union Township Public Library (CUTPL) building tonight at the library board meeting. This discussion was prompted by one of the board members seeing my previous post regarding Knox Boxes and Culver Garden Court.
I’m pleased that others in the community are picking up on this. I still believe this is a positive step forward for our community and can lead to greater safety in emergency situations. Knox Boxes can be installed on commercial, industrial, municipal and residential buildings as well as private residences. When combined with a safety walk-thru to familiarize the emergency personnel, this installation can improve safety for both the occupants and the first responders. It can save emergency repair costs as well! If you’d like a quote on installing a Knox Box in your home or business, please don’t hesitate to call! You can also use the Contact Us page on our website here.
Culver Garden Court Fire Scare
This past Sunday there was a scare for Culver Garden Court. Apparently a grass fire in the adjacent field to the south got out of control and crossed onto the Garden Court property. You can see in the pictures below where it wrapped around the building on the southeast and southwest corners. It burned some of the existing landscaping, the vegetation in the detention pond and melted the silt fence we had along the property line. If obviously could have been much worse!
Other than the respiratory concerns from the smoke, the residents were not in danger. Culver Garden Court is the first Garden Court project to fall under the new fire protection regulations which mandate a sprinkler system. I’m still glad that we didn’t have to test that though!
The landscaping is the last item we have to complete and despite the balmy March weather we’ve been having, we’re a little hesitant to plant grass yet. It will be coming soon though. If you’d like to see the future landscape plan, you can see it here.
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.
Our Customers Say…
Ronald W Liechty - President, Garden Court, Inc.