October 2012

Saturday, September 22nd was the first official day of autumn and the date of the annual block party picnic on Main Street. Nearly 100 neighbors gathered together in crisp fall weather trading stories, more than a few renovation tales, laughs and digging into delicious food.

The pitch-in (or potluck if you’re not a native Hoosier) was proof positive that there are extraordinary grillers, cooks and bakers in our neighborhood! Enjoying an evening of live music, kids’ games and a crackling bonfire on the bricks was a beautiful way to celebrate living in the Village.

Senior Health Fair

The Zionsville Senior Health Fair will be held Thursday, October 11^th from 9:00am-12:00pm at the Zionsville Town Hall.  The event is FREE for all attendees!  Zionsville seniors, their caregivers and family members are encouraged to attend.  Vendors, health screenings, flu shots, medicine cabinet cleanup, door prizes and more will be offered.  For more information contact 317-873-8939 or go to www.booneseniors.org.  

SullivanMunce Cultural Center is pleased to announce the return of one of its most popular events – the 10th Edition of Ghost Walk – October 12 and 13, 2012. Ghost Walk is a 45-minute guided walking tour of the historic village of Zionsville, IN where guests stop at different vignettes to experience reenacted scary stories from Zionsville’s past.

This year’s event features a modified walking route and new and creepy vignettes. Ghost Walk  tours run from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. both evenings, with tours leaving every 15 minutes from the front lawn of SullivanMunce Cultural Center.

Tickets prices are as follows and can be purchased via phone or in person the night of the Ghost Walk

Members: Adults, $8.00 per person; youth, $5.00 per person; children under 5 years of age are free.

Non members: Adults: $10 per person; youth, $7.00 per person; children under 5 years of age are free.

Goodies will be available for purchase to all guests during the evening. All proceeds from Ghost Walk will benefit SullivanMunce Cultural Center.

SullivanMunce Cultural Center is located at 225 West Hawthorne Street in Zionsville, IN; just two blocks west of the brick Main Street. For more information, please call 317.873.4900.

Maplelawn Farmstead presents the first annual “Haunted Farmstead” October 26th and 27th.

Located at at 9575 Whitestown Rd, Zionsville, the “Haunted Farmstead” features ten vignettes of eerie, scary and even funny ghost stories from the Great Depression era. Guides will take guests through the farmhouse and various locations on the grounds, where costumed actors will offer fun and frights! 

After the tour, food and pumpkin decorating will be available in one of the barns.  Guests are asked to park at the Mulberry Fields parking lot and enter the farmstead from the south side.  

Tickets will be available at the Mulberry Fields shelter. Tours run every ten minutes from 6PM to 9PM.  

Tickets are $8.00 for adults and children over ten, $5.00 for children 2-10 and under 2 free. 

For more information please visit the Maplelawn Farmstead website,

www.Maplelawnfarmstead.org  

1st Carol of Homes – Holiday Home Tour

Zionsville Pathways Committee Chairman to visit October VRA meeting

The Zionsville Pathways Committee is an appointed committee and includes members from all walks (nice pun!) of Zionsville and includes ex officio members from the Parks Board, Town Council, Park Rec Department and the Streets Department. For the past decade, it has taken inventory, sought input, and recommended a “Pathways Plan” which has been incorporated into the regional transportation plan. The Chair of the Committee is Tim Casady, who lives in the Village and also is the owner of the “local” bike shop, Nebo Ridge Bicycles at 106th and Michigan Rd.

The overriding objective of the Pathways Plan and the Pathway’s Committee is to create a network of pedestrian and bicycling paths (including sidewalks, separated pathways, lanes, etc.) that will help add to our quality of life and connect residents with key assets of the Town. 

There are a number of priority projects that will directly impact Village residents. Included in this list is the development of a trail and path by the Parks Department that will stretch along Little Eagle Creek from the old Citgo site to the 100 Foot Bridge in Starkey Park. In addition, two priority projects would include connecting the RailTrail to Oak Street with an exit/entrance pathway ramp similar to what is in place near the Boys/Girl Club. Priority is being given to creating a visible connection via either signs, street markings, or a lane between the RailTrail Laurel Street entrance and Main Street along either Hawthorne or Sycamore St. and Hawthorne. This would likely include a crossing along 334 at the Dairy Queen. The Pathways committee is definitely looking for your input on these projects! Come to the October VRA meeting to discuss this further.

My Favorite Room

Most of the items in the kitchen are used or repurposed. She scoured Zionsville’s shops and scored a pretty blue table from Brown’s Antiques. She found her pantry on Craig’s List and filled it with items from Goodwill.

Kate acknowledges that her kitchen is personal-she hangs her children’s drawings as artwork and even admitted to leaving some of the cracks in the windows because they “make her smile.”

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The Little Free Library

by Jen Kershner

 

Like many of us, Courtney and Scott Gorman moved to The Village for the sense of community. As a way to give back to that community and to promote kindness, giving and sharing, they have started the Little Free Library in their front yard. The Library holds mostly children’s books, many of which were donated by Half Price Books when they found out what Courtney was doing.

The library, which resides in a happy, little white wooden house on a post which Scott built and Courtney decorated, can be found in the front yard of their home at 125 N. Main Street. While the house holds books for children, its appeal has no age limit. The books are always free and can be borrowed, returned or passed along. Contributions are encouraged, as The Gormans thinks of this library as belonging to the community.

Courtney got the idea after seeing a Little Free Library online and knew that our Village was the kind of place where this would be embraced. She would love to see the idea grow and see libraries with different specialties within our community although, she says if theirs is the only Little Free Library in town, that is fine with her too.

You can visit www.littlefreelibrary.org to find out more.

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Government Updates

Meeting: Zionsville Redevelopment Commission
Date: Monday, August 27, 2012

Agenda Highlights:

Update on the Micro-Loan Program. The RDC set aside $200,000 to fund loans, not exceeding $25,000, to help businesses in the TIF District. The first loan recipient is the Eagle Creek Coffee Company on Main Street. Eagle Creek borrowed $12,000 to help replace carpet, put in a kitchen hood that complies with safety requirements and repair a dessert case that wouldn’t keep desserts cold.

2013 Budget for the RDC.  2013 will be a big year for the RDC. Total expenditures of $3,319,722 are budgeted for 2013. The sanitary sewer and water main will be extended along 106^th Street (DOW property) and across Zionsville Road. $150,000 was set aside for improvements to the 106^th Street and Zionsville Road intersection, depending on the results of an engineering study on the best way to go (stop light, signs, round-a-bout, etc.).  $65,000 was included for a further extension in Lion=s Park of the SR 334 pathway and bridge. 

Consideration of a TIF Agreement for Development of Infrastructure for the Ripberger Business Park.  The RDC approved an agreement to use TIF funds to pay for the extension of sewer, water and Bennett Parkway through the 90.17 acre Ripberger property behind Landscapes Unlimited to accommodate the anticipated construction of a 300,000 square foot FedEx distribution facility. The facility will be used for small package delivery and distribution. The property developer, Scannell, will invest at least $29,000,000 with FedEx anticipated to put in at least $9,000,000 more. An approximate $3,949,000 bond, funded by TIF revenue, will be issued through 2025 to cover the anticipated $2,700,000 cost of the public infrastructure improvements. The planned improvements would produce an estimated $567,640 in annual taxes beginning in 2015, with an approximate return of $2 for every $1 invested.

Economic Development Incentive for Relocation\Expansion of Landscapes Unlimited. Landscapes Unlimited is moving in order to allow the extension of Bennett Parkway into the Ripberger Property. Landscapes President, Jeff Butz, is a Village resident and has operated his business in Zionsville for over 25 years. Arrangements are being made to Landscapes to help cover the cost of its relocation. Landscapes and Scannell are making arrangements for Landscapes to remain in Zionsville at a different location on the Ripberger property.  

Dow Property Update.  Dax Norton, Boone County Economic Development Corporation, reported that there was an interested developer negotiating with DOW to purchase and develop the DOW property. We will hopefully have more information at next months meeting.