Tag:government
Culver Crossroads
Last year Culver started a new initiative to replicate the positive steps taken by Marshall County Crossroads with a local version, Culver Crossroads. I have agreed to be involved in several capacities, serving on the Steering Committee & Business Development Committee. There’s the possibility that there will also be a Housing Committee that I would serve on as well. Housing has initially been put under Quality of Life. I’m not sure if that’s going to work or not. I agree the goals are similar, but housing may take some specific focus. In any case, another year, another committee! Lets see if we can make things better.
Audiologist’s Husband Rant
Doctor of Audiology
Just felt like venting a bit on Becky’s behalf. Becky has always loved helping people with their hearing. Her initial degree was in Deaf Education with a minor in Audiology from Ball State University. After several years of teaching, she found that it wasn’t right for her. She loved helping the children, but the administration and bureaucracy was too much. At that point we were living in Georgia. (Did you know that most teachers prepare a lesson plan for their class, while teachers of special needs students, such as deaf students, are required to fill out IEP‘s for each individual student?) We discussed it and she ended up quitting teaching and going to the University of Georgia and getting a Masters Degree in Audiology. Shortly after that we moved back to Indiana and she began practicing Audiology with a group of Doctors. While working with them, she went back to school again, obtaining her Doctorate in Audiology. She studied and understands the theory behind hearing aid technology and the anatomical parts of the ear, how they interact with the brain and how they all are affected by hearing loss.
With all Becky’s education came additional responsibility. As a Doctor of Audiology, she is under different regulations than hearing aid dispensers. She is governed by HIPAA regulations, Medicaid & Medicare regulations and other requirements; things dispensers don’t have to follow.( To be a hearing aid dispenser, there is a test you must pass with the State, but the minimum education is a GED, not a degree, let alone a Doctorate degree.)
The Doctors Becky worked for retired and she decided to go on her own. That was in 2015 when she started Berger Audiology. Less money, but more autonomy and more time to help patients. She invested in the latest technology. She is now the only full time Audiologist in Marshall County. She operates a satellite office in Winamac. But she struggles with the competition. She wrote a 2019 blog post about it here.
Since that time, things have progressively gotten worse. The government has been slowly chipping away at what differentiates an Audiology from a dispenser. On top of that, they are pushing a trend towards Over-The-Counter (OTC) hearing aide sales or even worse, over the internet. You’ve probably seen the ads by Lively which advertise a telephone consultation with an audiologist or worse, My Power Ear, which cites “no need to see an Audiologist” as a positive selling point. She’s seen patients that have bought hearing aids from big box stores, having been sold that they were getting “the latest technology”. In some cases that has turned out to be a generation or two old. Honestly she’s a bit depressed and upset every time one of those ads.
We’re all thrilled with the convenience of the internet and the ability to buy nearly anything you want from Amazon. But is this what we want for healthcare providers? Telemedicine may work for some things like getting a prescription refilled, but does it really replace hands on care? Or in the case of Becky, an Audiologist, how is a phone conversation prescribing a hearing aid equal to her, a trained professional, doing a complete physical examination and doing a hearing test in a calibrated sound booth, using the latest technology? Can they look in your ear an determine that your hearing loss is actually due to wax? Or that the type of hearing loss indicates that you need to see an ENT because there’s the potential for serious issues where hearing loss is just a symptom? Food for thought… or just my rant…
Lost Opportunity
This is a bit of a mini rant today. I’m not sure who it is directed at, but I’m disappointed with the Culver Redevelopment Commission (CRC) and the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC). And probably others for not making things happen and holding MCEDC accountable. For a bit of context for those that don’t know, I was one of the original board members that started MCEDC. For that reason, I feel like its creation is a bit of a legacy thing for me. That’s why I feel bad seeing it in decline over the last several years.
I was pleased when the CRC added funds to support MCEDC a few years back, though I was never a fan of the laundry list approach, where the CRC dictated a list of things that must be done in order to receive those funds. In my opinion it would be better to keep MCEDC nimble and able to address the most pressing needs across the county rather than be encumbered by enumerated requirements. (How this began is understandable, as it was the result of the former MCEDC director’s broken promises.)
This year the MCEDC director met with the CRC to discuss the contract early in the first quarter of the year. An initial conversation was had regarding what should be included with MCEDC to come back with a contract. This never happened.
This is poor performance on the part of MCEDC. An inexcusable and disrespectful performance. But unfortunately, it appears that CRC is looking at this as a cost savings, rather than a lost opportunity. While I didn’t like the way the contract was written, it did provide MCEDC with funds and Culver with MCEDC’s attention.
I’m concerned with MCEDC’s poor performance. I have seen this played out in other communities; not just Culver. I hope the MCEDC board is able to turn this around. MCEDC has been an asset to Marshall County and the communities within it. It is important that it becomes that asset again.
Ginny Munroe – Soaring Eagle
Last Thursday evening Becky and I were pleased to be invited to attend the ceremonial dinner where Ginny Munroe was awarded the LaSalle Council of the Boy Scouts of America Soaring Eagle Award. This award is given to individuals who have been successful in their field of endeavor and have demonstrated integrity, a record of volunteer leadership, and service to youth and their community. Soaring Eagle Award honorees are people who have been unselfish in their service to others on an individual and community basis. They seek no return for their service, other than satisfaction of aiding their fellow citizens, their community and their nation. Ginny definitely deserves the recognition for what she’s done for Culver and recently extended to Marshall County.
Ginny and I didn’t really know each other before she joined the Culver Town Council, but since that time we have counseled each other and collaborated on things. We have a mutual respect that has only become more important to me as it has grown. I have continued to tell her that she is leaving a legacy in Culver for which she can be proud. And as is her way, she demures from that.
From her first term on the Town Council, Ginny was motivated to make things happen. She wanted to move the town forward; often fighting the opposition that wanted things to stay the same. I related to her more than once what Jim Dicke had told the Culver Chamber of Commerce years ago; to paraphrase, “Towns are either growing are dying. They cannot stay the same.” Ginny embodied that push for growth. She quickly formulated a plan that included early infrastructure improvements that prepared Culver for other moves forward. When I was pushing the Plan Commission to do a new Comprehensive Plan, she quickly grasped the value and made it the next priority. Then unlike most community leaders, she took that plan, held additional meetings and created a Strategic Action Plan to implement the things the Comp Plan recommended. Most communities let their Comp Plan sit on a shelf, unused and seldom referenced. Ginny has made Culver’s Comp Plan obsolete by completing a majority of the action items and making progress on many of the aspirational items as well.
One of her initiatives that I’m most familiar with was the formation of committee that came to be known as the Entry-Level Housing Committee. For decades, affordable housing has been a problem in Culver and it has only gotten worse. The Comp Plan noted this as a recognized need. Businesses can’t find help and full-time residents are being priced out of the market. I joined that committee as a contractor, with interests in construction, but due to Ginny’s energy and the lack of others stepping up, she motivated me to become a developer! As a step forward in this, MCEDC arranged for me to meet with Bill Konyha, then head of the Indiana Office of Community Development and Rural Affairs (OCRA). He suggested that Culver pursue the recently created small community competition for Stellar designation. When we brought this back to Ginny, she seized it as a great way to move Culver forward, not just in the initial goal of affordable housing, but for community wide improvements. I believe that Culver’s loss in their attempt to win Stellar in 2016 was as much due to politics as anything else, but despite some initial hesitancy, Ginny recommitted Culver to achieving Stellar Designation in 2017. And while working on resubmittals, she moved the Town forward on two of the 2016 projects, the Damore Amphitheatre and the Sand Hill Farm Apartments. I believe that demonstration of “working the plan” made a difference in Culver’s competitiveness and and success in achieving Stellar Designation in 2017.
Marshall County Stellar was a different challenge. OCRA asked Ginny to step up for this because of Culver’s success. She did this while in the middle of a half dozen Culver Stellar projects. Despite the advances made by County Development for the Future, there was still a competitiveness between the communities in Marshall County that didn’t always allow collaboration. Too often, individuals tried to take control or take credit or conversely work against others, rather than letting group collaboration work as it should. Ginny was able to see the problems that caused the first loss and massage the group into a successful second attempt. It was extremely disheartening at the Marshall County Stellarbration when Ginny’s contributions (as well as others) were misappropriated to undeserving individuals. Obviously Marshall County still has issues to overcome.
When Ginny was considering the move to Culver Town Manager, she asked for my thoughts. I was mixed on this. I was concerned that the Town Council would suffer without her leadership and I wasn’t sure that she would be as effective leading from behind. I was also concerned for Ginny, who I consider a natural leader, not being able to lead. So far, my concerns have been mostly unfounded and Ginny has continued to help move Culver forward. Again, she is adding to her Culver Legacy. The Soaring Eagle award is much deserved…
Kevin
Residential Fire Sprinklers
I ran across an interesting article at QRFS.com’s Blog titled The Conflict Over Residential Fire Sprinkler Requirements which I found interesting. It does a reasonable job of laying out pro’s and con’s on the the cost of the systems themselves and their safety benefits. What it does not discuss is the additional regressive fees that communities are currently putting on these systems. This is often a hidden tax as well, i.e. one that’s not recognized until the bill comes after construction.
This is an argument I had with the Town of Culver last year. Sand Hill Farm Apartments has a Fire Sprinkler System. This is required by the State of Indiana. We also installed a fire hydrant on the property. This was not required, but just seemed like a reasonable way to terminate the line. (There is a fire hydrant adjacent to the site in the street, so there was no insurance benefit or coverage benefit to it. It was just there to flush the line.) Before construction was even complete, we received two invoices from the Town, one for $700 for having a Fire Hydrant and one for $1,200 (plus tax!) for having a Fire Sprinkler System. When I inquired about this, I was told that it was in the ordinance. It doesn’t cover material, maintenance, inspections, replacement or any other service. Paraphrasing: It is there to cover additional load and upsizing of the system to support the additional fire protection. These are arbitrary fees, i.e. it is the same fee whether one of these is installed in a single family home, a 24 unit apartment building or a 400,000 sf manufacturing facility.
This is not solely picking on Culver. Culver is just where it first came to my attention. While they are not as high, Plymouth has the same fees. Neither community allows for higher densities (as suggested in the linked article) or gives any other incentives; just punitive fees if these things are installed. They are also not capped, so if a developer/apartment building owner/homeowner would rationalize these fees as they stand and plan for them, there is no guarantee that they will not double or triple in the future. Being an arbitrary fee suggests that it can change arbitrarily as well. These fees are apparently suggested by the accountants doing the rate studies as a way of reducing fees charged to residents.
It cost $500 to remove the fire hydrant at Sand Hill Farm Apartments. Wasted money on top of the original installation, but a reasonable investment against $700 or more a year forever more. Again, there was no issue regarding coverage as there is a fire hydrant in the street in front of the building. It was installed on site as a way to flush the line where it terminated.
In my opinion, the assertions made about the additional costs for the system are specious. 1) The standard line size was used in the street in front of the apartments to provide the loop service and to supply the fire hydrant that would have been there regardless of the development. The line was not upsized due to the sprinkler system. 2) The whole point of the sprinkler system is to put out a fire before it spreads. Theoretically, a fire in one of the apartments would be extinguished before it spread to other units, using much less water than a building that could otherwise be engulfed in flames.
Furthermore, it would make sense to encourage sprinkler systems with incentives in lieu of penalizing them with regressive fees. 1) They improve life safety for residents. 2) They improve life safety for fire fighters. 3) They reduce fire fighting equipment costs. 4) They improve a communities fire rating, which helps all residents.
Because the State requires sprinkler systems in multifamily housing, the local community has building owners over a barrel. We took this into account for the Riverside Commons project planned for Plymouth. That development will be 100% townhouses. By using this model, with firewalls in-between units, the State requirement is void. This increases initial construction costs, but helps control yearly ownership costs.
At some point, as discussed in the QRFS article, fire sprinklers may be required in all residential construction. I cannot say this is a bad thing or that it doesn’t improve life safety. It is one more thing that contributes to the high cost of housing and is an expense that must be considered on any affordable housing project.
