President's Letter:
Hello VRA members,
We
made it! We’ve reached 2021!
I
for one feel the hope and possibility leading into this year. It’s not over;
everyone still needs to remain vigilant and wear masks when out and about.
Wearing masks is by far the most effective way to stay safe, and we want
everyone to have the chance to gather together in person hopefully at some
point this year.
In
the meantime, please support our local businesses. Buy a few gift cards, some
extra purchases, order takeout. Our residential area is strengthened by our
businesses, and vice-versa. These next few months will be critical in
determining whether many of them will survive. I know from our survey that most
of you already are shopping and dining on Main Street. Continue that effort and
encourage friends outside of the Village to do the same. That’s what it will
take.
One
resolution I have for the new year is to spice up the newsletter with some
additional content. If you’re a writer or have any writing aspirations
(including teens or college students looking for some practical exposure)
please reach out. It would be great to add an article or two each month. I have
ideas and am always open to suggestions.
Take
care and stay safe,
Heather Lusk
president@zvra.com
Town Council:
Greetings
As we enter 2021 I remain optimistic
about our future. Despite the many obstacles in 2020, I’m hopeful
the advent of the COVID vaccine will bring a sense of normalcy to our
community in the course of the year.
One interesting subject I was asked is
how do agenda items make their way onto a Council meeting? There are
four main paths for an agenda item to appear on an upcoming meeting:
An item is requested by the Town
staff or administration. This might be budget or funding-related, a
new ordinance being requested, or changes within a department such
as when we created a Department of Public Works from our Streets and
Wastewater Departments.
An item comes from one of our
boards and commissions for affirmation or overturn. This primarily
comes from our Planning Commission, although agenda items may also
come from the BZA, Board of Police Commissioners or others.
A citizen or organization asks for
time on the agenda. Typically, it is a local group like the
Zionsville Chamber of Commerce, ZYSA or the Girl Scouts. It is an
opportunity for these groups to present an update to the Council on
the various activities they have organized within our Town.
A Councilor requests an item be
added to the agenda. This might be their own legislation, as
Councilor Plunkett initiated with our golf cart ordinance. It
could also be a request for an update from a Town department or the
Mayor.
One issue we’ve seen in the past is
additions, changes, corrections and information sent to us after our
packet has been distributed (the packet contains all the information
we read before a meeting). While these changes are generally
cleaning up errors or attempting to meet a deadline, they have also
become a cause for confusion ensuring that we have enough time to
read and make informed decisions. As such, we’ve updated our
expectations for Council agenda items going into next year:
All items for an upcoming Council
meeting must be given to Amy Lacy in their final form by close of
business on the Monday before the next Council meeting.
Those items will be aggregated by
Amy and presented to Council President / Council Counsel on Tuesday
for approval.
Assuming approval, the packet will
be sent to all Councilors on the Wednesday before the next Council
meeting, allowing for adequate time to read and ask any pertinent
questions.
Should a submitted agenda item need
later modification it will be removed from the agenda and will be in
consideration for the next meeting while following the same process
above. New items past the deadline will also have to wait until the
following meeting. The benefit of having two meetings each month is
that any delay should not be substantial.
I would encourage each of you to attend
a meeting to see it in action. They are also archived on YouTube if
you cannot attend virtually or in-person (when those resume).