The Monroe County Redevelopment Commission unanimously approved a rebranding study for the Westside Economic Development Area at its May 18 meeting.
The study is the first step toward defining the area’s identity. If pursued, the project’s cost is estimated to be more than $3 million.
Commission President Barry Lessow, Secretary Efrat Feferman, voting members Doug Duncan and Jim Shelton, and non-voting member Dana Kerr were present.
Architectural consulting firm Schmidt Associates began work on the study in August 2015 and met with stakeholders in November and December 2015 and March 2016.
After meeting with the community, the consulting firm suggested “Innovation West” or “Innovation Park West” for the area. The commission voted to call it “Innovation West.”
In addition to renaming the area, the proposal would place signs at primary and secondary gateways into the community, as well as some intersections, and wayfinding signs identifying businesses and residential neighborhoods within the district. It would also encourage businesses to use signage that ties into the branding of the area.
The commission agreed that most sign locations presented made sense, but some questioned whether a sign should be installed at State Road 46 and Curry Pike.
Shelton said the concern he heard at stakeholder meetings was that placing signs outside of the district could send the wrong message about its boundaries.
“The advantage of having some kind of signage visible on the highway is a really important part of this whole effort,” Monroe County Councilor Geoff McKim said.
Sarah Hempstead, principal at Schmidt Associates, agreed and said she would fight hard to keep it in the plan.
Duncan questioned the cost of the project and whether the commission could afford it for the district.
The first phase of the project, creation and installation of the primary signage, was quoted as $640,000. The second phase of the project, which would include the last primary sign, secondary and intersection signs, was estimated to cost $1.3 million.
“I don’t think we should worry about phase three at this juncture,” Hempstead said.
Lessow asked Hempstead to help the commission prioritize each specific sign according to cost and benefit of installation.
The commission will meet again in June to prioritize all of the projects it has planned in the county based on costs and other factors, according to County Attorney Jeff Cockerill.
Ellettsville Fire Chief Mike Cornman also gave a report at the meeting regarding fire protection in Richland Township.
According to Cornman, the community was rated 7.55 out of 10 points during its most recent audit. That rating is shared by all county fire departments because they use the same central dispatch center.
The commission asked if recent software and computer upgrades helped the rating.
“I have an opinion that it was probably going to go down if we did not increase it there,” Cornman said.
At the fire stations themselves, new rating criteria were introduced this year, such as fire prevention inspection programs, which Richland Township was only doing on an as-needed basis.
“Does the pointing system somehow take into account that it’s Richland Township and not Cook County, Illinois?” Cockerill asked.
Cornman said the criteria were the same for all fire departments nationwide, so areas with a larger tax base tended to score better than those in smaller areas.
The audit also considered backup water supply for the community and how much water can be delivered by gallons per minute over the course of two hours.
“We are getting a secondary water line,” Cornman said. “That’s going to help us out quite a bit.”
Richland Township was rated as a Class 5 station overall and within half a point of the next rating level.
Cornman said it is doing several things to help close the gap, including annual tests of its fire hoses, fire pumps and ladders, replacing its 25-year-old 1,300-gallon water tanker with one that has a 2,200-gallon capacity and building a drill tower.
Cornman’s goal for the fire department is to retain its current rating, but development in the area affects its rating when the total number of firefighters serving the area does not increase.
“We have five firefighters on duty in the daytime between two stations, the same ones we had in 2000,” he said.
Over that time, the run volume has increased from 900 to 2,000.
The next meeting of the Monroe County Redevelopment Commission will be held June 8 at 4:30 p.m. in the Nat U. Hill Meeting Room at the Monroe County Courthouse.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2016. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.