INDIANAPOLIS GREENWAYS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEEREVISED MINUTES OF PUBLIC MEETING -- March 17, 2005 City County Building -- Room 118 Voting Members Present: VOLLMER, HENNEKE, and BARTON Voting Members Absent: SILVER, Shikany, MOONEY, PAPENMEIER, MYERS, SOMMERS, Payne, Dorsa, HICKS, MASON, JOHN, and QUINN Others Present: Ray Irvin, Terri Van Zant, Lori Keys (Indy Parks Greenways) Meeting called to order at 5:10 PM Approval of the minutes from February 2005 IGDC subcommittee meetings were deferred to next month's meeting. Special Guests -- Chris Smock, Indy Parks, Art services and Joshua Brewster, B&O Trail Association Chris Smock gave a presentation on an integrated art mural project for the Winthrop Supply building at 49th Street along the Monon Trail. There are existing murals on this almost 300-foot wall and it has become problematic because there are many different styles of art and the area needs to be unified. To begin this unification process, The Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation will install a mural on April 17th and the theme of this mural will be integrated into the other existing murals with a common border. Twenty to thirty teens and youth will paint the mural with another possible 20 adult volunteers as overseers on this 22-foot x 10-foot space. Chris will continue to assist Greenways staff in designing and completing the remaining mural spaces. Joshua Brewster is a board member of the non-profit B&O Trail Association, formerly known as Rail Corridor Development Inc. The B&O rail corridor runs from downtown Indianapolis through Speedway all the way to the state line for 65 miles. In Marion County it runs parallel to Crawfordsville Road and connects to the White River State Park. From the county line at Raceway Road the B&O Trail Association had secured over a mile of corridor and has successfully worked with INDOT to install a tunnel under the Reagan Highway. The corridor has the potential to connect to Clermont and Plainfield and intersects the White Lick Creek corridor. A B&O Trail would provide greatly needed economic development to Speedway and the Haughville area. The Association has a strong horse riding advocacy and wants to maintain the trail as multi-use. The IGDC and Greenways staff have pledged their support of the B&O Trail Association and will work with them for the successful development of the B&O Trail. PROJECT UPDATES: KEYS, VAN ZANT and IRVIN reported on the following: Town Run Trail Park -- Now open thanks drier weather and the dedicated volunteers from HMBA. Eagle Creek Greenway -- This 16-mile corridor transects the B&O, White River Greenway, and Pleasant Run Trail. Storrow/Kinsella combined the trail plans with the plans for Eagle Creek Sports complex, thereby reducing the total project cost. Construction is on hold for the winter for the 1.8-mile trail piece that will connect 56th and 46th Streets. Both the north parking lot and the binder coat of asphalt at the south end are installed, and the soccer fields were seeded last fall. Once the notice to proceed is given, work on trail should happen quickly. Project to reach substantial completion this summer with landscaping and other miscellaneous items completed by fall. DPW's improvements along 56th St. from Lafayette Rd. to Guion will make this project more accessible to the area. DPW/56th St improvements -- As part of a road improvement project for 56th Street from Lafayette Road to Guion Road, DPW has designed an 8-foot asphalt path from Georgetown Road to the existing path along 56th from Lafayette Road west to Eagle Creek Park. This project is part of the envisioned Pike Township Connectivity Plan and is to be completed in 2006. Fall Creek Greenway -- Plans for Phase II from 56th to Skiles Test (Shadeland Ave.) bid packet was released by INDOT in March and then pulled due to problems with the construction documents. Project will be re-bid in June. Construction to begin in summer of 2005. Monon to Central -- Butler Fairman and Seufert has completed the trail design. A TEA grant was re-submitted to INDOT in Dec. for $1.2 million to fund this phase, and if awarded, construction could begin in 2006. Meridian St. to Stadium Dr. -- This reach of Fall Creek was scoped as part of the Central Waterfront Masterplan Update by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE). The ACOE will continue to work on this trail's development. A potential for partnership exists with the team of engineers aiming to eliminate CSOs along the Fall Creek Reach. Broad Ripple Canal -- Parks and Greenways held a public meeting in February with landscape firm Ninebark regarding proposed improvement to the north side of the Canal from the Monon to Guilford. This is a smaller part of a larger project that has been in planning for over eight years. Partnering with the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) and others, the project was submitted and turned down three times for a TE grant which would have paid for the north canal improvements, installation of an amphitheater, intersection enhancements and overall revitalization of the Canal in Broad Ripple. A former BIF grant with remaining dollars was used to design and engineer this part of the larger 1.5 million dollar project. The north canal improvements require easements from five different property owners all of who have been supportive of the project and have continued to meeting with Parks' planning and greenways staff. More meetings with property owners will be held in the coming months to resolve property and parking issues that relate to these improvements to Broad Ripple Village, and the Central Canal Towpath. South White River Trail -- Greenways submitted a TE grant application to INDOT for $1.8 million to fund this project. INDOT awarded $850,000 in October 2004. Ninebark completed construction documents for this 2-mile trail piece from the zoo to Raymond St. The trail will include several interpretive signs at the trailheads. Partnerships with National Starch, General Motors and Eli Lilly continue to facilitate trail development. Pogues Run -- Pogues Run Art and Nature Park officially opened Nov. 5, 2004 when a Memorandum of Understanding between Indy Parks and DPW was signed. Parks Rangers will regularly patrol this 40-acre site, encompassed by a 1.5-mile loop trail. In partnership with DPW, the Caleb Mills Organization, IUPUI, the Indianapolis Foundation, local neighborhoods, schools, and local arts groups, Indy Greenways will develop and manage the basin as an art and nature park. DPR Greenways is working with trail neighbors to develop trail amenities, and with DPR Planning to hire a design firm for a site master plan, install a sign recognizing partners, and resurface the trail. The Caleb Mills Organization just received a $5,000 grant from the Noyes Foundation for Pogues Run, and they raised $1,200 at their second annual Pogues Run fundraiser September 18, 2004. A directional sign will be installed DeQuincey Ave. Pennsy Corridor -- The Pennsy Corridor runs from Arlington, 6-7 miles east to the county line, south of Washington St. The future Indianapolis Pennsy Trail will connect to the existing Pleasant Run Greenway Trail, the Town of Cumberland's future Pennsy Trail, and eventually east to Greenfield. The city continues to focus on land acquisition, which is partially funded, as the MPO has designated money for such needs. Parks and Greenways staff are developing partners in the area including a Charter School. Upcoming Volunteer Projects 6th Annual Fall Creek Cleanup -- March 26, 2005 17th Annual White River Cleanup -- April 2, 2005 49th/Monon Art Mural -- April 17, 2005 1st Annual Pogues Run Corridor Cleanup -- May 21, 2005 Meeting adjourned 6:10 Respectfully submitted by Lori Keys and Terri Van Zant, Indy Parks Greenways *All IGDC meetings are recorded and aired on WCTY Channel 16, copies available through WCTY. |