A few notes as we long for spring-like weather.

February Meeting Recap

State Representative Steve Braun:

I want to thank Representative Braun for taking time to speak with us at our February meeting.  I included some notes from that discussion later in this e-newsletter for those interested who did not make the meeting.  State Senator Mike Delph was unable to join us.

Lincoln Park Concert Series (LPCS) donations are requested:

The VRA has agreed to sponsor the LPCS this year.  The folks from the LPCS came and spoke about the upcoming season.  The VRA has again committed to $100 dollars out of our funds with the hope that we can generate another $400 of individual donations from VRA members, matching our $500 total donation from last year.  Anyone willing can give donations please contact Todd Rech (treasurer) or me.

Safety of Crosswalk at Oak and 5^th:

There was also discussion about the lack of vehicle recognition of the crosswalk at Oak Street and Fifth.  It was suggested that it become a bigger part of a “safe routes to school” initiative being pursued by the town to enhance its safety.

Garden Club Meeting:

          March 8 from 6-8pm at the home of Marianne and Guinn Doyle

Softball tournament to benefit town:

To assist the town in obtaining new chairs and tables (which we benefit from at our picnic), we discussed holding a softball tournament made up of the residents (teamed with either the fire or police department) against the merchants (teamed with the other department) in the spring/summer time frame.

Lowering the village speed limit:

Presentation of request to Town Safety Board happening soon.  For more information contact Erika Singler or me.

Future meeting topics that have been suggested:

a)    Development/Planning workshop with Randall Arndt

b)    “Century Structures” presentation

c)    Village Chicken Coop Tour

d)    Golf outing

[Please offer more ideas if you have them]

Follow up to December meeting with Councilor Jeff Papa

PUD Committee:

We are still discussing with town leaders the possibility of a Planned Unit Development Committee to oversee and/or have formal input into development.  It is gaining steam quicker than expected with other neighborhoods and individuals outside of the village showing great interest.  Anyone interested in more info please contact me.

Potential Development South of the Village:

The potential developer of the 20 acres along Eagle Creek has not reached out to talk since my offer to have them speak to us in January.

Fedex traffic:

Councilor Tim Haak confirmed what Councilor Papa alluded to at the meeting.  There is a plan to eventually take Fedex traffic directly to 96^th street.  The extension of Bennett Parkway to just east of the Hoosier Village entrance along 96^th street should be complete in approximately 3 years.

Have a great March!

Scott Lusk

President

Village Residents’ Association

Steve Braun notes

As a Zionsville resident, what brought him / attracted him to Zionsville?

-Originally from Jasper IN

-Built successful company in Chicago

-Small town feel of Zionsville surrounded by rural

Vision for Zionsville

          -Two Components

                   1) Protect the Village

                   2) Protect the Hunt Club Road area

-Village is “soul of the Zionsville”

-But development is going to happen

-Doesn’t want it to be like Fishers.

-He sponsored Regional Economic Development Bill

-NW of Indy is the focus of the bill.

-Described the corridor connection plan for I-65 to I-69 and for Ronald Reagan Parkway to SR-32

-“A lot of growth is going to happen”

 Vision for Indiana

          -Not a diverse workforce

          -Not enough manufacturing

Public Transportation Bill

          -No light rail part of it anymore

          -Now just a focus on improving bus service

 Business Personal Property tax

                   -IEBC said this tax is one of the first things C Corps ask about when considering IN

-Only talking about tax on Business Personal Property not Property, etc.

-Governor misspoke when he said we would eliminate the tax because it is a county by county decision       

          Who makes county decision?

          -County commissioners

How does a municipality make up for this lost tax?

-Boone county not as dependent upon this tax as others

But this is one short term benefit of Fedex to Zionsville schools?

                   -Not significant initially but yes long term benefit

-Fedex is already abated for this tax through TIFF, this bill makes tax loss permanent

- County level decision would decide on a go forward basis

HJR3 (Gay marriage amendment to State Constitution)

-Built company in Chicago with LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender) as active participants in its success

-That’s why I did not support it

-Should have spent the time on healthcare instead

Department of Workforce Development (DWD)

          -Small business owners frustrated with DWD?

-FICA/unemployment benefits take too much time for small business owners

Lack of transparency in IEBC

          -New bill already demands more information of IEBC

Obama Care

          -Federal government couldn’t tell us whether it would be $200 million or $2 billion 

-Therefore, Healthy Indiana Plan did not adopt Obama Care

Meet the Merchant

by Kathy Scales Brown

Old House Love

There is one thing about old houses that you will either find charming or insanity inducing: almost any and every project you start on in an old house will have so many twists and turns the plot will rival an O. Henry story. When you start a project in an old house-let’s say something simple, like replacing stair treads-you must be fully prepared for the project to include aspects you never considered-let’s say like insulating the entire side of the home once said stair treads have been removed.

I tend toward finding this charming. Removing those stair treads also revealed a hidden space that held newspapers from the early 1900’s. The papers contained articles about President Roosevelt. Teddy.

To me, not knowing quite what to expect is a reason to love an old house. I can’t help but think that with every project or restoration I’ll find something that will help solve the mystery of the house. Sometimes that mystery is a rotted floor board, but sometimes it is the reward of the discovery of a window that had been covered up or the realization that one of your register boxes was made with wood from an old cracker box. In my home on Main Street, we tore out an old wall board and found a love note written on the wall behind it (“Happy us! Marcia + Rob). I can’t imagine such a find in a new home.

(Actually-my sister moved into a brand new condo where she was the first owner. Following her first use of the bathroom shower, she looked up on the wall and could faintly make out the word “Jesus” showing through the paint. After her initial shock, she reasoned that it had been the name of one of the painters who had signed his work.)

When considering a project in an old house, you must be prepared for anything. You just don’t know what you will find under a floor or behind a wall. This can be quite daunting-especially if you have a budget for the project (which, honestly you should throw out the window, since we all know it’s going to cost a lot more than that). In my dining room, our builder (my brother-in-law) told us that there appeared to be some water damage in the ceiling. He told us he was going to open it up a bit and check it out-“just to be safe” he said. Twenty-four hours later the ceiling and all of the (100 year old) insulation was all over our dining room; once the ceiling was open he discovered that the bathroom above was only sitting on 2x4 rafters. We were getting ready to put a marble shower in that bathroom….

The Upstairs Bathroom

So far, the upstairs bathroom is the only room that we really had to “gut.” I refused to use this bathroom when we purchased the home. Now before you go saying “oh come on, how bad could it be” or “really, couldn’t you suck it up?”, I must tell you that before I moved to the Village, my husband and I spent several months traveling the country and living in a pop-up trailer. The trailer did not have a bathroom. I happily used a lot (I mean, a lot!) of pit toilets and other questionable facilities on this trip and I would not use the pre remodel upstairs bathroom in the home. 

There was a cruddy bath insert and a really old toilet. The walls were covered about ¾ of the way up with this strange mottled vinyl and all the fixtures were 1980s brass.

Fortunately, the plaster walls were in pretty good shape and the window and its hardware were adorable. We started tearing up the vinyl floor and hoped for nice hardwoods, but the glue on the vinyl had become one with the wood underneath and it all had to go.

We installed a shower with hex tile on the pan and subway tile on the walls. Another window was added. We purchased salvaged marble at White River salvage and had it cut for a bench and shower threshold. We found an old marble sink as well and added a new faucet. My father custom built the cabinet below the sink. A new toilet (of course) was installed in a different spot and the entire floor was covered in hex tile-with very extravagant and luxurious radiant heating underneath.

Finally, we added bead board to the ceiling and ¾ of the way up the plaster walls. Put in some lights (from Kogans on Main) and painted everything a crisp, clean white.

The bathroom is absolutely charming.

If you have a story of old house love you’d like to share, please send it to editor@zvra.com.

Of course, I am perfectly willing to continue the love with my home.