February 6, 2018
Mr. Austin opened the meeting and indicated that everyone was in attendance except for Mr. Gardner. He started the meeting by reading the mission of the RDC: “The Brownsburg Redevelopment Commission promotes a positive town image through well designed high quality development, assists with planning and development of businesses in designated areas within the town, secures comfortable quality of life for residents as well as aids in the elimination of inappropriate land use. The Redevelopment Commission is working to assure the growth of the town by bridging the gap from where the town has been and where the town is going.”
With no citizen’s comments, Mr. Austin asked for approval of the minutes which were passed. There was no indication of old business. However, Mr. Austin announced that Mr. Gardner has been selected as the RDC representative on the Economic Development strategic plan commission. He also announced a new page on the downtown redevelopment. The link is on the Brownsburg town website in the Quick links box. The link takes you to a central page where you can then move to each of the four development see their drawings and the contract with the town.
New business started with an update on the four downtown projects. All developers are tracking to their individual economic development agreements. Envoy will complete in May. No issues with the F and C and the Scannell projects. Paragon did pause for the winter and still are on track to have site work completed in July. They are waiting for the Green Street project with the utility moves and street elevation work. Utility relocation is on target and should be completed around May 1st, Enderle Avenue will be completed in July as well as Arbuckle Commons.
Veridus Group Contract proposal for assisting the RDC to move projects forward. This proposal came out of a meeting with Veridus, Mr. Austin and Mr. Simpson. One aspect is training which is different than what is provided by the town. The second piece would be to help Brownsburg understand what the town wants to be when it grows up understanding how the RDC fits into that picture.
Next was an update on Economic Development matters led by Greg Anderson. The first topic was the “Business Loop” or the local business corridor which stretches from I-74 down Green Street to US136 to Ronald Regan back to I-74. Mr. Austin asked for the process of getting new projects on the grant lists from the state. The next topic was how to start using the Carnegie Library again. It is owned by the town and the Hendricks County Solid Waste district but they are thinking about moving to Danville. Lastly, what is the future growth wish list for the town? Mr. Anderson went through the tools the town has available to them and that the town now has an analyst that can get reports of the data.
Citizen comments brought to Denise Robertson from the Public Library, She attended due to the Carnegie Library being on the agenda and she wanted to reiterate the library wanting to make sure nothing happens to the Carnegie Library.
March 6, 2018
Mr. Austin opened the meeting and indicated that one member was absent. Citizen’s comments brought John Rabold to the podium. He went through several issues that the town needs to focus on for redevelopment. First on his list was the revitalization of the Carnegie library to bring more foot traffic to east Main. The second issue was East Main Business Loop that he hopes to see revitalized. The third issue is the need for more parking in the town.
Next on the agenda was the inspection of the Carnegie Library by the town staff. It was noted that the fiber for the town goes through the Carnegie Library basement.
The main issue is ADA compliance in the building. There is no way to easily make the building compliant. Since 2001, the town has invested almost $250,000. The building has about 3000 square foot of useable state. The town has met with the current renters which is Hendricks County Solid Waste and all they want is as much notice as possible before they have to move.
Next item was the consideration of a work order to Veridus Group to look at a list of property and interests in the town. Veridus Group wants to have a strategy session with the RDC to make sure of the direction the town wants to move when it comes to options on properties and property ownership. Since the town already has an agreement with Veridus Group, this work order can be approved by the RDC without going to the town council. The work order is based on time and materials for no more than $7500. A motion to go forward with the work order was approved.
The next item on the agenda was a discussion of the cost related to Main street improvements from Green to Jefferson. If the town goes down the route of utilizing a MPO grant, it will take up to five years to get the funding. The RDC asked for estimates on the improvements to see if there was something the town could do to speed up the process.
Veridus Group gave an update on the downtown development projects. For F and C, the parking garage on the west side of Green Street will have residential units built around it. Envoy is out of the town’s money and they are using their own money. They are looking at a May/June opening. Scanell has not asked for town money as of yet. Paragon sent a revised schedule with then starting earth work within the next month and still are trying to finish by the end of 2018.
