June 2023 VRA Newsletter

This month:

Letter from the president

Letter from town council

Road Rehabilitation Update

Bulk Trash Update

Town Zoning Update

Requests for Information – future town development

Letter from VRA president

It’s graduation weekend in Zionsville! Congratulations to all of the high school seniors in the Village. It’s been a treat watching so many of our residents grow from toddlers at the Picnic on the Bricks to young adults ready to tackle the world. Best of luck to all of you!

Thanks to our social committee for organizing second annual Porch Party. It was a lovely afternoon and a good opportunity to visit with neighbors.

Thank you also to those who were able to help with gutter cleaning and garden cleanup at the SullivanMunce. This is a great way to express our appreciation for being allowed to use the facility for our meetings without any cost to members. THE LAST DAY OF GROUND CLEANUP ON JUNE 10 HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

A few notes from the town are below – this provides information on road closures in the Village, heavy trash pickup, and information about the potential new zoning code.

The last items in this month’s news are RFIs from the town for the property in front of town hall and the gateway lot at Sycamore and Main Streets. If anyone would like to submit a proposal and is interested in VRA support, please reach out to president@zvra.com and I can assist in gathering interested members for input and potential endorsement.

From Zionsville’s Town Councilor Josh Garrett:

The Town of Zionsville has a program called the Community Enrichment Grant.   These grants are funded by the Town’s budget and are used to provide financial assistance to local community organizations.

Last year the Council noticed that not all grants were going to Zionsville-based initiatives, so we passed a resolution that required all finalists to give a brief presentation to the Council before final approval was granted.  It introduced some checks and balances into the program and gave these organizations the opportunity to present their missions in a public setting.

This year the following organizations were selected as finalists and presented their organization and their grant request needs.  They were as follows:

• Azionaqua Swim Club ($9,000) – Powering up opportunities at Azionaqua (Adding electrical capacity to support programming around their facility)
  
• Indy Book Project ($3,760) – Building capacity with volunteer management software.
  
• Maplelawn Farmstead ($6,500) – Sidewalk repair and tree removal
  
• Shalom House ($7,000) Zionsville kids sack lunch program.
  
• SullivanMunce Cultural Center ($14,525) – Support of their GhostWalk program.
  
• Zionsville Cultural District ($5,000) – 10^th anniversary summer concert series.
  
• Zionsville Little League ($3,500) Internet access for concessions and security.

All these great organizations are based in Zionsville and provide services to the Zionsville community backed by Zionsville graduates.  The Council believes that local taxpayer dollars should be spent in the local area and was pleased that this year’s recommendations all met those criteria.

Each of the above grants were passed at our May 1^st meeting with unanimous support.  I would encourage you to research further any of those organizations above if you would like to learn more about their services, volunteering or donating.

From the town – Road Rehabilitation

Writing to inform you that the contractor for the road rehab project is planning to start in the village soon. DPW is in contact with the contractor on the schedule, but the schedule will not be in stone as conditions will change and closures will be sporadic. No road work resulting in closures will be permitted until June 5 and after, but there will likely be sidewalk ADA ramp upgrades and curb point repairs this week.

Roadways and alleys receiving rehab work:

E/W Alley at Old National Bank (Elm St. to Main St.)

E. Hawthorn St. (Elm St. to 1^st St.)

E. Pine St. (Elm St. to 1^st St.)

E. Oak St. (Elm St. to 1^st St.)

E. Cedar St. (Elm St. to 1^st St.)

E. Poplar St. (Elm St. to Main St.)

E. Walnut St. (Elm St. to 1^st St.)

*All E/W and N/S asphalt alleys between the above

Bulk Trash Collection update:

Priority has shared information about bulk trash collection for residents. This is for residents in the urban service district who are under the Town’s trash/recycling contract with Priority.

• To schedule pickup of bulk trash items, visit: www.prioritywaste.com/bulk-item-pickup-form. You can also contact Priority at 855-WASTE-65 (855-927-8365).
• Cost is $10/item
• Contact Priority 48 hours prior to the collection day (otherwise bulk items will be picked up on your service day the following week)
• Priority defines a bulk item as a large piece that cannot fit into the cart. Bulk items are commonly mattresses and box springs (can be set out as one item), chairs and ottomans (can be set out as one item), couches, toilets, empty hot water tanks, etc.
• For appliances containing freon, freon must be removed by a technician and tagged that the freon is removed. For safety reasons, doors need to be removed.
• Entertainment centers need to be broken down as best as possible and any glass pieces must be taped to avoid shattering or broken down and put into a sealed cardboard box
• Mirrors and glass pieces (like storm doors) must be taped and/or broken down to avoid the pieces shattering in the compaction process
• Items NOT accepted: tires, stone, brick pavers, bricks and concrete-like pieces

We have posted this information on our website here. 

Note: Currently, we do not have a date or further information on Heavy Trash Collection. Any information will be shared via our website, enewletter and on social media channels.

Timing for Zionsville’s Town Code Updates:

Many of you participated in the number of public information sessions, charettes, and presentations regarding Zionsville’s town code. You may remember that Wayne DeLong initiated the update to better help the planning department. The update would make the department more efficient and many believe would have helped make development in the Village consistent and easy to understand.

The consulting firm completing the project – McKenna – last presented an update to the town in November (https://www.zionsvilletowncode.com/). According to Mike Dale, the new director of community & economic development, their proposal is being revised after “numerous and substantial comments from staff. The revisions entail significant contextual changes, reformatting, and inclusion of more graphics and illustrations.”

For those who are interested in learning more about the updates and the public presentations:

• Mon 6/18/23: Release of the draft code to the town leadership and public. This is an approximate date.

• Wed 6/28/23: Plan Commission public meeting (not a public hearing) to review & discuss the proposed code; decision whether/when to schedule the public hearing.

• Mon 7/17/23: Plan Commission public hearing; decision whether to further revise the code or forward a recommendation to Town Council.

• Wed 7/26/23: Plan Commission second public hearing; decision whether to further revise the code or forward a recommendation to the Town Council.

• Mon 8/7/23: Town Council public meeting to consider adoption of the new form-based code. At this meeting, the TC could send the code back to the PC for further revisions, if necessary.

RFIs for the town