President’s Letter

Hello Village residents,

Once upon a time everyone who lived in the village received a paper copy of the Village Voice in their mailbox every month. The newsletter was filled with community information, articles about local residents, and spotlights on certain businesses. Mailing expenses and the ability to communicate electronically changed that, so now we provide our Village Voice digitally on our website. This year there’s an exception to that, as we’re hand delivering copies to every household, a small reminder of our past and an opportunity to let all residents know about our annual picnic.

We’ve refrained from gathering in person for more than a year, but are planning to restart the picnic on September 25 starting at 6 p.m. All Village residents are invited to attend. We’ll have burgers and brats, and we welcome everyone to bring their own beverages along with either a side dish, appetizer or dessert. The event is held at the north end of Main Street.

Just as we welcome everyone to attend the picnic, we welcome everyone to join the Village Residents Association. Membership is voluntary but it’s an opportunity to learn more about the neighborhood and be invited to special events during the year. One of those events is the annual Progressive Dinner in December. There will be more information about that in a future Village Voice, which you can find online at www.zvra.com.

Thanks to a talented volunteer and resident our website is now updated. It has opportunities for residents to comment and react to news, old issues of the Village Voice and other ways to contribute. I look forward to seeing everyone on the bricks on September 25.

Heather Lusk
VRA president

Town Council Update

We had a relatively busy month of activity for Town Council in the month of August.   A few highlights for your information:

1. We adopted an electronic meeting resolution that defines how the Town Council can meet virtually.   This was driven some by the State of Indiana and their own policies, as well as a desire for the Council to codify our own.   The short story of this policy is that if Town Council is meeting in-person, it is the requirement that speakers, presenters and other stakeholders also be in-person.   If for some reason the Town Council is meeting virtually, those same speakers, presenters and stakeholders may also attend and participate virtually.

2. We were asked to review a request for a stop sign on Cedar Street from a concerned resident.  DPW Superintendent Lance Lantz attended our meeting and noted that stop signs are not a good tool for speed control, as they are designed for traffic control.  The presence of stop signs in non-needed areas can become more dangerous as those same speeders may ignore them while pedestrians and other cars will assume they may stop.   The Council has chosen not to place stop signs arbitrarily as it will quickly lead to a mass of requests on every intersection and cause traffic to grind to a halt.  We did ask Chief Spears for ZPD to put out speed monitors that track the speeds of cars, while increasing enforcement within the Village.  We’re looking forward to hearing the results of this efforts in a September meeting.
3. We discussed the continued expansion of our sewer system to our neighborhoods along Oak Street towards Anson.   While no official action was taken, it was good to hear the plan of providing them service without a need to raise taxes.
4. The Council approved a resolution transferring the right-of-way from Boone County to the Town in the Holliday Farms area.  This land, including a bridge, will eventually be used to expand our trail system, but in the meantime we are the proud new owners of a red bridge.
5. We amended some of our Town employee salaries to better reflect the marketplace.  This was an effort of the Town’s HR department (a department of one) to make sure we’re paying appropriately.  Our employees have a vast wealth of knowledge and are recruited in a tight labor market.  It was important for the Council to make sure they felt they were being paid fairly and in-line with our neighboring communities.  This also introduced pay bands to provide a range of salaries for employees as they gain experience.
6. Various departments asked for budget appropriations outside the original budget.   Those included:
   1. Salaries to reflect the recently updated ordinance mentioned above for $26,500 (approved).
   2. Paving of the former PNC lot in downtown for $125,000 (continued).
   3. Master planning for the nature preserve for $150,000 (continued).
   4. Master planning for a community center for $125,000 (denied).
   5. New golf cart paths in the public 9-hole golf course for $460,000 (approved).

All our meetings can be attended live or streamed on YouTube (live and archived).  Feel free to join us anytime.

Lastly, Zionsville is at 96% vaccine rate!   That’s great, and with the recent approval of the Pfizer shot by the FDA, hopefully many others in Central Indiana where vaccine rates are much lower will be inclined to get their shots too.

Maplelawn Farmstead Harvest Market returns this Fall:

One of Maplelawn’s big fundraisers is the Maplelawn Harvest Market on October 2 for vendors of vintage, antique and handcrafted items.

Up to 40 vendors will be joined by food and drink from Ash & Elm Cider Company and pets for adoption from Boone County Humane Society.

Vendors returning this year include Vintage Naptown and local artist Justin Patton from Storm Striker. New vendors include clothing and jewelry from Art Haus, leather goods from Uptown Commons and knit decor from Yarn Bean. Event organizer and Village resident Chrissie Stacy began the juried event four years ago. Stacy will have her own booth, Brick Lane Home, selling vintage and antique home goods with business partner Jamie Long. 

One new addition to Maplelawn Harvest Market is a Youth Art Sale. For a very minimal booth fee, the community’s youngest entrepreneurs can sell their own creations. Stacy said she was inspired by the creativity from local girl scouts who painted the traffic box at the town’s Main and Sycamore Street entrance. 

“We felt there should be another venue for kids to show what they can do,” she said. 

Maplelawn plans to host a garage sale of donated furniture as well as homemade goods such as jam, honey and hand-stitched aprons. Proceeds from booth fees and garage sale will go directly to restoration of the buildings. 

The Harvest Market runs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. 

Maplelawn Farmstead is a Depression-era farm located near Mulberry Park that shows the evolution of farming from the late 1800s through the 1930s.

Conservation District Update:

The proposed ordinance, compatibility standards, a draft boundary map and an updated inventory of historic homes are all located at www.preservezionsville.com. Residents are urged to read it to better understand what this would mean for the Village. A public information meeting is being held at Town Hall September 30 at 6pm.