Developer sets aside plans to demolish 1850 Cotton-Ropkey House while preservationists seek a new location for itBy John Tuohyjohn.tuohy@indystar.com
Preservationists appear to have staved off demolition of a landmark pre-Civil War house in Pike Township.
The Cotton-Ropkey House, at 6360 W. 79th St., had been slated to be bulldozed by its owners, the Kite Realty Group. The two-story wood house, built in the Italianate style in 1850, is one of only a handful of structures in Marion County that predate the Civil War.
Kite’s subsidiary, West 79th Street Associates, last week got permission from the city to level the house and four other structures on the property. The permits caught the attention of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, which quickly stepped in to save the house.
Marsh Davis, president of the foundation, said the organization pleaded with the company for time to relocate the house — and the developer complied.
“For now, we’ve had some time granted to us, and some of the pressure is off for a while,” Davis said. The foundation’s plan is to buy a plot of land, move the house there, renovate it and sell it on the open market.
“It would be a great home for someone, and it could probably fetch us a few dollars.”
Zeff Weiss, a lawyer representing the developer, said that although the house has been marked up for destruction with spray paint, those plans are on hold indefinitely.
“It was brought to our attention that this was a historic house, and we have discontinued any effort to demolish it,” Weiss said.
The house has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982 because of its age, architecture and the background of its first owner. Isaac Cotton was a Pike Township clerk and assessor, who served as the township’s Civil War draft enrollment commissioner and was an accomplished bee-keeper, swine breeder and wool grower.
“We have lost most of the buildings from that generation, so it is rare,” Davis said. “It is a fine piece of architecture that is still in very good shape.”
The house changed hands several times, and the Ropkey family bought it in 1937. The Ropkeys sold the property about three years ago to Kite, which plans to develop the land. The foundation had tried to find a place to move the Cotton-Ropkey House after Kite bought it, but couldn’t find a nearby piece of land to buy.
The white, 13-room house is in a rural area on 79th Street a block west of I-465. It is two stories and made of timber. The windows, most with original panes, have black shutters hung on cast hinges outside. The portico design front porch is framed by three columns that support a wrap-around second floor patio. It has been vacant for several years.
“This is just a beautiful farmhouse that recalls the countryside that once existed up there,” said Camille Fife, president of the Westerly Group, a historical preservation consulting firm in Madison.
The Italianate style derives from Italian renaissance architecture and was prevalent in the United States from about 1850 to 1880. The houses usually are two stories with low-pitched roofs; eaves with carved brackets underneath; and tall, narrow windows that are arched on top.
“They are very distinctive, and most of them in Indiana were built after the Civil War rather than prewar like this one,” said Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services for the Landmarks Foundation.
The foundation has begun negotiating with Normandy Farms Development Co. about buying land near the neighboring Normandy Farms Estate subdivision.
Bob Kleinops, chief executive of Normandy Farms, confirmed the company is interested in finding a new location for the Cotton-Ropkey House.
“It would be a shame if that house were lost,” he said, but warned, “we haven’t done anything yet. It’s just talk.”
Kite Realty has no immediate plans to develop the land so there is no urgency to taking down the house, Weiss said. The city’s Department of Metropolitan Development said the company has not filed a development plan for the nearly 200-acre property.
Dr. Peter Kunz, a neighborhood activist who owns Traders Point Creamery, said the company has been clumsy in its treatment of the house by neglecting to seek community input on what to do with it.
“That’s the sad thing about this,” he said. “They don’t even attempt to talk to anyone in the neighborhood about this. Nobody knows what’s going on. Where is their civic responsibility?”
Though the house is a national landmark, it doesn’t have local landmark protection, said David Baker, administrator for the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission
If it did, the commission could prohibit its destruction.
“Usually, that is something that is initiated by the owner, and it never was in this case,” Dollase said. “Probably because they never thought it would be necessary.”
If the foundation succeeds in relocating and refurbishing the house, it would place its own restrictions on the new owners and probably seek a local landmark designation to protect it, Dollase said.
“There’d be historic covenants about what could and couldn’t be done to the house’s interior and exterior,” he said. “If we got local landmark status, someone couldn’t just tear it down without a public hearing and some prior approval.”

Cindy and Jerry Baker
8561 Moore rd.
Traders Point
Subject: Letter to the Att’y Gen’l
Hi folks
Attached is the final draft of the letter we hope will confirm our feeling that IP&L cannot legally cut or remove trees inside the Right-of-Way.
If you want to be a signator, fax me your signature—at least 1/2 inch tall—and address and you will be included. Fax to: 293-2567
The more signatures, the more seriously the letter will be taken.
THIS LETTER AND THE RESPONSE IS VERY IMPORTANT! A POSITIVE RESPONSE WILL BE OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE!
PLEASE RESPOND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN…293-2805
Regards
Jerry Baker
November 21, 2008

November 21, 2008

The Honorable Steve Carter
Attorney General of Indiana
Indiana Government Center South
302 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Dear Attorney General Carter:

Throughout Indiana there has been an outcry over the perceived abusive tree-trimming practices used by local utilities. The utilities maintain that they are required to use aggressive practices to prevent outages caused by falling and overhanging tree limbs and would face severe fines by the Federal Government if they fail to maintain control over vegetation overgrowth.

While it is certainly true that trees need to be kept clear of power lines, the utilities fail to mention that this potential Federal penalty applies only to the National Grid System and certain in-state high voltage lines which are a part of the Grid System. It does not apply to the majority of in-state distribution system lines. The vast majority of complaints made to the local utilities deal with the in-state distribution system.

At the heart of these complaints is a perceived attitude coming from the utilities that, “We can do whatever we feel is necessary to trim or remove trees to cut costs and insure the distribution system reliability.” The utilities have used an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) Tariff Code E-16,15.2 (attached) as their legal authority to do whatever they feel best.

It is extremely interesting to note that E-16,15.2 is a tariff which was included in a package drafted by Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) and submitted to the IURC for their approval.
Tariffs receive much less scrutiny than other IURC rules and are also not subject to the extensive approval process required for a review by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. Tariffs also receive less scrutiny than laws enacted by the State Legislature which go through public review and debate and subsequent vote by the 150 members of the Indiana General Assembly.

This tariff continues today to be the legal foundation used by IPL and other utilities to install low voltage and high voltage lines wherever they choose, even without adequate pre-existing easement rights; and to take personal property (trees and shrubs) without prior approval of property owners and without due process and compensation.

No other Indiana company or unit of government has such unlimited power. This ability to bypass routine reviews of the Attorney General’s Office may explain how abuses could have escaped a governmental agency’s oversight for so long. In our estimation, the entire approval process is seriously flawed.

For many years, Indiana property owners and the utilities have worked in harmony by each respecting the other’s needs and the impact of utility work on neighborhoods. To reduce outages and cut costs, policies by utilities have changed dramatically in recent years. Due to these utility policy changes, the peaceful coexistence which lasted for decades has given way to hundreds of complaints and many lawsuits. Most of the lawsuits, if not all, were settled out of court, thereby avoiding precedent-setting case law.

This interpretation of E-16,15.2 has raised the question in our minds as to whether 15.2 is unconstitutional or is simply being abused. As property owners, we believe that going onto private property to trim or remove trees without due process or compensation is unconstitutional. We do not believe any other business entity or unit of government has such broad authority. The taking of personal property without due process and compensation is not acceptable. Perhaps when originally drafted, the authors of 15.2 meant that a utility can go onto personal property to access trees in the right-of-way or easements, or to be able to connect their equipment to customers’ buildings or to read meters. However, the utilities seem to have interpreted 15.2 as the LEGAL basis to trim or remove any trees which they feel necessary for distribution system reliability. Currently this includes trees on private property. In effect, the utilities are taking a property owner’s personal property without due process and compensation, and without any prior approval by the property owner. The actual motivation can be found in statements made by utilities in which costs can be reduced by cutting larger portions of vegetation. This allows trimming cycles to be stretched out.

As an example, an urgent and serious situation has developed on the Indianapolis northwest side involving the south side of West 86th Street from Lafayette Road to I-465, and Lafayette Road from 86th Street south (Trader’s Point), affecting numerous property owners and miles of land. IPL chose to use an existing route for lower voltage lines on which to piggyback high voltage lines. The poles were placed as close to the private property boundaries-Right of Way Lines-(ROW) as possible which seems to be their standard practice. This placement obligates the utility to trim or remove trees from private property extending inside the ROW. Due to the higher voltage, clearances of 30 to 35 feet or more are now needed. This only increased the amount of damage already made necessary by the pole placement practice. In effect, hundreds of old-growth trees are in danger of removal or severe trimming, in addition to those already damaged in a prior cutting of 2005.

By virtue of the permanent need to keep these areas clear of threats to power lines please recognize that, in addition to this type of removal, all property owners adjacent to power lines, whether there are trees already planted or not, have had their rights to free use of their property restricted. There are no “low growing” evergreen trees (conifers). Therefore, no year-round privacy barrier can be planted within the areas we believe have been unlawfully taken and no “tall growing” species of deciduous trees can be planted. Damage to private property already done and what may occur in the future, based on this example, certainly can be estimated in the millions of dollars.

Recently a major natural gas pipeline was being built across several Midwest states, including Indiana. Before construction was even begun, easement rights had to be obtained and compensation paid to property owners.
In IPL’s case, no such prior easement rights were obtained or compensation made for any additional easement beyond the ROW. This reflects, in our view, IPL’s attitude in regard to their interpretation of 15.2: “We can do whatever we want.” Remember, they wrote the tariff language. As a result of these actions by IPL, the question surfaces, “Is E-16,15.2 unconstitutional or simply being abused in its interpretation?”

As the IURC is a governmental agency, we feel it is proper and right to seek your opinion as Attorney General on the constitutionality of E-16, 15.2 and its interpretation by IPL. We would appreciate as prompt a review as possible.

Thank you for your time and careful attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,

Gerald and Cindy Baker

cc: The Honorable Greg Zoeller
Attorney General Elect of Indiana

Mary Ann Stevens and Jerry Baker are two of the neighbors living near 86th Street and Moore Road who say they’ve been notified by IPL that the utility company intends to cut down or prune back trees that are growing within approximately 50 feet of its power lines sometime before the end of the year. Both say while the poles are in the agreed-upon right-of-way, the threatened trees are on their private property and shouldn’t be cut without their permission.
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Stevens estimated a large swath of trees along 86th Street from Lafayette Road to I-465 could be affected.

Neighbors say they faced a similar situation with IPL in 2005 that not only left them with fewer trees, but also feeling threatened and bullied by the utility’s emplyees.

When contacted late Thursday afternoon, IPL spokesperson Crystal Livers-Powers said she wasn’t aware of any specific tree-trimming plans for the Traders Point area.
Call Star reporter Robert Annis at (317) 444-5572.

Question #1: What in your opinion is the most important challenge facing the metropolitan Pike Township School District?
Every candidate acknowledged the budget difficulties and the just-passed state legislation to cap property taxes as the most important challenge. The following candidate responses are in addition to recognition of the budget issue:
Larry Grau stated he believes the General Assembly intended school boards to coordinate with other groups, place greater value on education, but be the guardian of tax dollars.
Nancy Poore acknowledged the budget is everyone’s concern, but, that aside, she emphasized that her understanding of the school board’s role is to advocate for schools. She stated the school board members aren’t the ones who establish the budget but they have to try to provide for the needs of education under the established budget. She reminded the audience that Indiana historically placed importance on education by requiring that every surveyed section had to have land set aside for providing for a school.
Larry Metzler reminded the audience that 2007 school budget has yet to be approved by the state; yet, the school district is now working on the 2009 budget under a new set of rules. Larry said he is committed to learning about the impact of the new legislation. He stated his appreciation for the wonderful tax injection Park 100 provides to the Pike School District.
Ricky Hence acknowledged the limited resources for providing quality education and recommended that nontraditional sources of money need to be pursued, such as the Fortune 500 companies located in Park 100.
Brownell Payne supports a “Keep It Simple” approach. He has a large concern about morale within the schools and the need to build it up. He believes school uniforms were a good requirement. He also suggests pursuing nontraditional money sources rather than looking to property taxes.
Question #2: What, if anything, can be done to control or reduce financial burden on tax payers?
Brownell Payne proposed pursuing grants and alternative sources of funding, such as the Lilly Foundation.
Ricky Hence supports looking for nontraditional sources of funding and to spend available dollars wisely, for example, by buying supplies in bulk.
Larry Metzler, in response to the new candidates’ to the school board suggestions, wanted to assure the audience that nontraditional sources of money and grants have been vigorously pursued by the existing board members and school staff. He stated there are not going to be a lot of new money sources and the best solution is to control expenses. He stated that 90% of the budget is personnel expense.
Nancy Poore spoke about the need to build and buy quality so that what is purchased and built lasts and is operated properly. She discussed her effort to have a geothermal heating-cooling system installed at the Eastbrook Elementary School when it is rebuilt. The initial cost to install a geothermal system is greater than installing furnaces and air conditioning systems, but a geothermal system has a dramatically longer life expectancy and fuel operating costs are nonexistent because the system uses the naturally consistent temperature of the earth rather than needing any fossil fuel (natural gas or electricity). As well, a geothermal system does not produce any polluting air emissions. The state agency for Local Government Finance must approve the installation of a geothermal system, and Nancy isn’t optimistic of approval since the agency’s usual conduct is to look only at the initial expense. Nancy also spoke about the large effort to pursue federal grants for Striving Readers, a program for middle schools. She impressed upon the audience that one out of 100 Americans is in prison; and the annual cost per prisoner is $23,000 while the annual educational cost per student is $5,600. Nancy presented the statistics to show it is fiscally conservative to educate the population well and produce productive citizens.
Larry Grau believes the State is going to take over much of the school budget. His goal in looking for new solutions includes considering:
(1) performance based budget; and
(2) asking for a return on investment.
He thinks the questions to ask are why we are doing whatever it is that is not performing well and what is an expenditure producing in terms of furthering education.
Questions & Answers
1. The first question from the audience was about the poor ISTEP scores in Pike Schools. The questioner connected the phrase “return on investment” to the statistic that the Pike School District ISTEP passing rate is only 50% which doesn’t show a good return on the investment of tax dollars into education. The questioner acknowledged that Pike Schools have difficult issues to address; nevertheless, the ISTEP performance is getting worse.
Candidate responses:
Larry Metzler spoke about “English as a Second Language” programs instituted by the school district and said the district has much to be proud of in its Baccalaureate Program, which prompted an audience member to ask if other students are being left out while the Baccalaureate Program caters to its students. In response to Nancy Poore’s discussion on disaggregated test scores, Larry Metzler added that the Pike School District won an award two years ago for both the top and lowest test scores increasing above previously measured test scores.
Nancy Poore explained that, after one year in the school district, a student’s test scores are required to be included in the district’s total assessment of test scores. She said Pike Schools have a mobility index higher than the state average. Nancy also spoke about disaggregated test scores, which led the audience to ask if those break out numbers are available. Nancy praised the school district’s curriculum director who has been doing research on the ways by which a child’s brain learns to process knowledge especially with regard to the best ways to teach reading. Nancy’s message is that having reading skills leads to being able to self learn all the rest of one’s life.
Ricky Hence spoke about the need to offer programs for students with special needs in response to the audience member’s comment about other students being left out if not part of the Baccalaureate Program.
Brownell Payne said his issue is that teachers have no contract and that affects staff morale thereby affecting overall school performance. He said he is an advocate of sports (coaches gymnastics), but he thinks too much money is spent on sports to the detriment of education.
Larry Grau commented that money available for sports cannot be used for class room programs which led him to state he “wants more forums”, presumably to discuss ways to fund needed class room programs.
1a. An audience member asked a school-specific question regarding the College Park Elementary. The questioner had investigated that school’s ISTEP scores from September 2007 and found them to be the lowest of all Pike Schools. The questioner lives in the neighborhood of the College Park Elementary and is concerned that the school’s bad image is reflected in the area’s lessening property values. The questioner has noticed fewer students from the area walking to the elementary school.
Nancy Poore responded by saying she also lives within the College Park Elementary School boundaries. She thinks the drop in numbers of students going to that school is due to the well-promoted year round schools where those former College Park students may have transferred.
1b. The same questioner who raised the poor ISTEP scores also commented on his concerns about the inability to communicate to the school board. He did not elaborate on the specific issue; but, when he brought an issue before the school board, he believes he got little relief from the board’s action. He believes the school board made its decision in advance of the public hearing, which seemed to be just a formality rather than an opportunity for open communication.
Larry Grau alluded to the questioner’s comment by saying he agrees that, by the time of a school board meeting, the board members have already received as much information as they can digest on the issue, and it may seem to others that the school board members aren’t open on the issue.
2. Accompanying the question about poor ISTEP scores was the request to justify why $19 million spent on the football stadium was a necessary expense especially in light of the poor test scores.
Larry Metzler responded that the cost was not $19 million; it was only $12 million. The questioner said he was still bothered by the $12 million expenditure. Larry explained that the $12 million was not just for the football stadium but also included work on school laboratories. He said the total project cost included $9 million for a multi purpose facility that is handicap accessible, year-round turf for the football field that has made the facility usable by the arts and band departments, and locker room facilities at the stadium for female students thereby bringing the facility into compliance with federal Title IX requirements (equality in sports offerings for male and female participants).
3. A question was directed specifically to Nancy Poore regarding the amount of time required to recover the larger initial installation cost of a geothermal system and what trade offs might there be for spending that greater initial expense.
Nancy Poore explained that the initial installation cost can be recovered, depending on the extensiveness of the geothermal system, in about 5 to 10 years. The trade off comes in the form of greatly reduced operating costs compared to a traditional heating-cooling system, and the money saved from reduced operating expenses can be used for paying teachers’ salaries. (Under the Indiana school funding system, capital funds cannot be used for other purposes, but operating funds can.) Nancy also explained that Indiana is far behind its surrounding states where geothermal systems have been used in school construction for many years.
4. A question about allowing school bus drivers to unionize was directed specifically to the two candidates running for their first school board terms, Ricky Hence and Brownell Payne, because the two candidates were quoted in the Indianapolis Star as proponents of unionization.
Brownell Payne said teachers are always first with him but he thinks it is not fair that bus drivers can’t have a union.
Ricky Hence said he is not a single-issue candidate but he thinks contributing to bus drivers’ union dues would be fair treatment.
Larry Metzler defended the school board’s position regarding bus drivers by saying that, when the cafeteria was privatized, the school board fought for the existing cafeteria workers. His grievance is that the school bus drivers did not first come to the school board to discuss their interest in unionizing.
Larry Grau added to the discussion that pay increases to help bus drivers with union dues could result in cut backs in programs and services to students. He stated that programs or services purchased for one school, for example an elementary, must be provided equally at all elementary schools.
ATTENDANCE
The following were in attendance at the March 20, 2008, TPAN meeting:
Blair, Susan, PTRA President
Chaney, Earl
Engle, Madge
Evans, Jose, District 1 City-County Councilor
Hendrie, Marguerite
Hinkle, Phil, State Representative
Jones, Steve
Lamberjack, Cindy and Joe
Lange, Sandy
Marshall, Jan
Ostendorf, Ed
Patton, Lula, Township Trustee
Reller, Ross
Ritchie, Katherine, Pike School Board Member
Robertson, Jeanette
Schmid, Dick
Stevens, MaryAnn

Mayor’s Night Out with Pike Township residents occurred on April 22nd at the Guion Creek Middle School. A decent sized crowd turned out to listen to the mayor and his top department personnel answer questions that were written by the residents on provided forms and read to the mayor by Susan Blair, PTRA President. The event was strictly limited to the one hour allotted so not a whole lot of questions were addressed. The subjects most represented in the questions were pot holes and when various roads will be resurfaced, particularly 38th Street. Other questions concerned the brain drain, consolidating city government, and why can’t a person victimized by credit card theft get a copy of the store’s surveillance picture, to which Scott Newman said it is probably just law enforcement habit not to give out evidence but he thought there is no law against it. The mayor spent a large amount of time answering about his desire to increase Indianapolis’s international image and connections. He says the city is falling behind and losing trade possibilities, all which can be corrected by expanding the sister city program (Indpls currently has four sister cities).
Joe Wynns, Director of Indy Parks Department, fielded the question about the “failure of the Lilly Lake Dam” at Eagle Creek Park. Wynns sounded exasperated as he accentuated the fact that the dam, which is at 56th Street and creates the reservoir, did not fail. He explained the draining of Lilly Lake was an accident due to the “spill well”, which has been known for a while to be in need of repair due to a decayed pipe under the road, giving way. Wynns said the repair of the “spill well” is estimated to cost $200,000 and that money is hard to justify since there are so many other park projects in need, but his department is getting estimates on the replacement of the decayed pipe (apparently to satisfy the outcry over the draining of Lilly Lake incident). Wynns finished his speech by saying there was no emergency, Lilly Lake refilled in a couple days after the incident, and it is holding water indicating there is no leak. In the meantime, the Parks Department will continue to keep the water level of Lilly Lake three feet below the “spill well”. In a curious final statement on this subject, Mayor Ballard quipped that he hadn’t heard of a “spill well”. (Me either; I thought we had “spill ways”.)
The director of DPW answered a couple of questions related to areas with drainage problems (areas around 56th Street and Kessler Blvd were mentioned). This subject provided opportunity for the director and the mayor to claim great savings are being found through “value engineering” and the current administration is finding and reducing great amounts of excess and waste by the former administration. In so doing, the city is saying many more projects will be accomplished than formerly planned.
Two of the last questions to the mayor concerned the status of the Pike Youth Soccer indoor facility planning at Reed Road and the potential to rename Michigan Road to the Hamilton County line as Martin Luther King Junior Drive. Regarding soccer, the mayor said he just learned that very day about the potential facility. As to the street renaming, he stated he understands the costs involved to existing businesses; otherwise, he hasn’t thought about the issue, and then he said he has no position on the renaming.
Perhaps for TP, the best part of the Mayor’s Night Out was what happened prior to the event when HOA presidents or representatives within Pike Township were invited to accompany the deputy mayor on a tour of parts of the township. Steve Jones, TPAN President, represented us. The tour group visited the TP Organic Creamery, heard something regarding our concerns for the Ropkey-Beeler properties, and drove by the Shanghai Road location next to Intech Park where a recent Metropolitan Development Commission decision is very dismaying in that it approved another road to enter Shanghai in violation of a 1998 commitment put on the original development of Intech Park. (For the time being, the recent MDC decision may be moot because the developer (Browning) has decided the market is too soft and is trying to sell its purchase option to Lauth, the original developer of Intech Park). At any rate, we hope awareness of TP issues, especially preservation of rural, low density development, were put on the city administration’s radar.

One of the questions during the Q&A was what is the mayor doing about all the roadside litter. He agreed it’s bad. Mayor Ballard mentioned that Saturday, April 26th is a nationwide day of litter clean up, and he encouraged all Indianapolis residents to participate. The TPAN request for volunteers to help in an organized TP-wide litter clean up hasn’t produced many helpers. There has been one potential offer of a scout troop making this a project with us. Come on, folks, if these kids can help, then it seems the rest of us can also.

Earth Day, Arbor Day, Spring Cleaning, and the like are all converging this week. Here’s a bit of essential information connected to a recent national news article about the fact that drinking water supplies everywhere are being found to have remnant amounts of pharmaceuticals. Wastewater treatment plants don’t have the capabilities to treat and remove such components and neither do septic systems. The suggested manner of disposing of unwanted prescription drugs used to be to flush them down the toilet, but that is now known to be ill-advised. The new advice on disposal is to take left over or unwanted prescriptions to collection facilities, which are becoming more commonplace. Ask your pharmacist for collection capabilities when you receive a prescription. There is an upcoming opportunity on April 26th at Earth Day celebrations in downtown Indianapolis to clean out your medicine chest of old prescriptions and dispose of them properly. See the attachments.

The students will be sharing their findings/presentation with us at The Creamery at 6:30pm on Tuesday, April 29th. The presentation is titled “Preservation Methods, Comprehensive Planning & Establishing Community Identity”. Please join them for this hour presentation. They have worked long and hard and it would be great to encourage continued support and new ideas from the next generation! Some of their “Context and Goals” posters are currently on display at The Creamery.

See you then!

Above: Neighbor Jerry Baker is flanked by KIB employees.

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and a team of nearly 70 volunteers planted trees along West 86th Street at Moore Road on Saturday November 3. The event was hosted by neighbors Jerry and Cindy Baker. In addition to TPAN residents, the planting of over 75 trees was assisted by several boy scout troops and high school members of Habitat For Humanity. An even larger Keep Indianapolis Beautiful project has been organized by Wendy Ford and is scheduled for Saturday November 17 for the northwest quadrant of West 71st Street and Lafayette Road. That project promises to landscape the unsightly salt barn at our neighborhood’s south entrance. The projects are part of KIB’s goal of planting 100,000 trees in Marion County in ten years. Plantings along West 86th Street were chosen by neighbors and KIB to help compensate for the right of way cutting by Indianapolis Power and Light last year and to alleviate the need for further right of way cutting by selecting low growth vegetation plantings under power lines.

Labels: KIB

Friends, we’ve just learned that the liability and maintenance issues with the State have been resolved and our project is a GO! Our thanks to Rep. Phil Hinkle and Sen. Mike Delph for pulling some strings on our behalf.

Our new planting date is Saturday, November 17, 9:00 a.m. to noon.

We hoped for cooler weather, and we’re certain to have it then! Get out your long underwear and fleece jackets, and prepare to join us for an adventure in planting. We count on many hands to make light work of installing 100 native trees and shrubs that will enhance the gateway to our neighborhoods.

Please watch your email for a bulletin from Sarah Grain of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc. Sarah is asking you to sign up with her so she can track how many additional volunteers to recruit from outside Traders Point.

To meet our commitments to INDOT, you will be asked to sign a waiver of liability to participate in planting on State property.

Though the planting date and some process details have changed, our aim of surrounding the INDOT facility with a pleasing landscape remains the same. When Sarah Grain emails you, please say yes to joining us on planting day.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Wendy FordTraders Point Gateway Committee

The concept is to screen unsightly views around the INDOT maintenance unit with plantings of native trees and shrubs, treating the salt barn as “garden architecture” while drawing the eye away from the chain link fence, equipment, and piles of gravel surrounding it.

Normandy Farms Homeowners Association president Carole Cole and I met with representatives of INDOT and the City in February at the maintenance unit; they were happy to give their verbal approval, as long as we didn’t ask them for funding.

Having developed a preliminary design for the project, I’m now ready to get others involved. I met recently with a representative of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, and he thinks they would be interested in helping us if we can demonstrate our neighborhoods’ commitment to the project. KIB’s proposal deadline for 2007 grants is August 18, which is why I’m contacting you via e-mail rather than individually by phone.

I invite you to visit the Normandy Farms website www.normandyfarms.info to download a brief PowerPoint presentation that outlines the concept and shows examples of the native plants I think would work.

I hope you will feel inspired to sign on with me to the KIB proposal and to talk up the project to your friends. We will need to commit some volunteers to do the planting and to participate in an occasional work day to pull weed trees. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to people you think would like to know about the project.

And finally, please let me know by return e-mail whether you would like to participate in moving the project forward. It should not take much time, but the benefits to our neighborhoods should last well beyond our lifetime.

Together we can make it happen.

–Wendy Ford, 317-334-1932