Posted on March 11, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
North Judson Town Council members recently took a major step forward in their Comprehensive Plan Project when they approved agreements with KIRPC and HWC Engineers.
Grant Administrator Shawn Cain came before the council last Monday, representing KIRPC and HWC Engineers.
By approving the agreement, officials authorized KIRPC to utilize the funds from the OCRA grant the town received to pay HWC Engineers, the company that will be working with the town on updating their comprehensive plan.
As a reminder, the OCRA grant totaled $39,600 with a local match of $4,400.
Cain notified them that HWC is looking to get a kick off meeting scheduled by the end of the month in order to explain what their process is going to be and how they plan to incorporate a public involvement piece.
Showing posts with label OCRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OCRA. Show all posts
Monday, March 11, 2019
Friday, August 17, 2018
Stellar Strategizing Continues in Starke County
Posted on August 16, 2018
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation hosted another informational session about the Regional Stellar Communities Designation Program.
Leaders from Hamlet, North Judson and Knox as well officials at the County level and individuals from other entities looking to get involved in the process gathered at the SCEDF office Wednesday night to receive more details about obtaining “Stellar” status.
OCRA’s Liaison for Northwest Indiana Gerry White returned and this time he was joined by Stellar Community Project Manager Michael Sinnet.
Sinnet went over some of the items that were covered during the first meeting held in June, including the requirement that every entity must have a comprehensive plan that is less than 7 years old. Knox already has a viable comprehensive plan and County officials noted that they have taken steps to get the process started.
He also reiterated that regardless of whether or not the region receives a Stellar designation, this process is beneficial since everyone walks away with solid partnerships in place, plans for the future, and access to resources through the various agencies involved.
Additionally, Sinnet brought some new ideas to the table while discussing how to prepare a letter of intent. For instance, he asked the group to consider who else should be involved in this process at the planning level. Attendees noted that school officials, hospital administrators and business owners would be good people to approach about getting involved.
On a similar note, Sinnet mentioned the importance of a cyclical collaboration versus a hierarchal one.
He explained that though there will be individuals who are more involved in the Stellar planning process, it’s important to include all community members, especially those who may often feel overlooked because their input is also valuable. Gathering as many perspectives as possible will provide a more accurate reflection of what is needed in the region.
Sinnet stressed the importance of assessing assets and mentioned that OCRA offers an asset mapping exercise that shows what beneficial resources already exist in a community and establishes how they can be capitalized on or improved. SCEDF Executive Director Larry Wickert said he would coordinate with Sinnet about hosting that type of exercise to allow local officials to better understand what they’re already working with.
The next step for this local cooperative is to establish a Stellar Committee consisting of individuals who will be able to invest a lot of time and energy into the effort. It is important that at least one representative from each of the involved partners is included.
One of the first responsibilities that these committee members will have is to attend an upcoming series of workshops being offered through OCRA. More information about that opportunity will be provided in the future.
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation hosted another informational session about the Regional Stellar Communities Designation Program.
Leaders from Hamlet, North Judson and Knox as well officials at the County level and individuals from other entities looking to get involved in the process gathered at the SCEDF office Wednesday night to receive more details about obtaining “Stellar” status.
OCRA’s Liaison for Northwest Indiana Gerry White returned and this time he was joined by Stellar Community Project Manager Michael Sinnet.
Sinnet went over some of the items that were covered during the first meeting held in June, including the requirement that every entity must have a comprehensive plan that is less than 7 years old. Knox already has a viable comprehensive plan and County officials noted that they have taken steps to get the process started.
He also reiterated that regardless of whether or not the region receives a Stellar designation, this process is beneficial since everyone walks away with solid partnerships in place, plans for the future, and access to resources through the various agencies involved.
Additionally, Sinnet brought some new ideas to the table while discussing how to prepare a letter of intent. For instance, he asked the group to consider who else should be involved in this process at the planning level. Attendees noted that school officials, hospital administrators and business owners would be good people to approach about getting involved.
On a similar note, Sinnet mentioned the importance of a cyclical collaboration versus a hierarchal one.
He explained that though there will be individuals who are more involved in the Stellar planning process, it’s important to include all community members, especially those who may often feel overlooked because their input is also valuable. Gathering as many perspectives as possible will provide a more accurate reflection of what is needed in the region.
Sinnet stressed the importance of assessing assets and mentioned that OCRA offers an asset mapping exercise that shows what beneficial resources already exist in a community and establishes how they can be capitalized on or improved. SCEDF Executive Director Larry Wickert said he would coordinate with Sinnet about hosting that type of exercise to allow local officials to better understand what they’re already working with.
The next step for this local cooperative is to establish a Stellar Committee consisting of individuals who will be able to invest a lot of time and energy into the effort. It is important that at least one representative from each of the involved partners is included.
One of the first responsibilities that these committee members will have is to attend an upcoming series of workshops being offered through OCRA. More information about that opportunity will be provided in the future.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
North Judson Town Council Officially Joins Local Stellar Efforts
Posted on June 20, 2018
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
North Judson officials confirmed that they will be joining the Regional Stellar Communities effort during Monday night’s town council meeting.
During last week’s informational meeting about the Regional Stellar program at the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, OCRA Representative Gerry White shared that two of the basic requirements include the submission of income survey and a comprehensive plan.
He said in order to have an official comprehensive plan drawn up, it costs approximately $50,000. However, he mentioned that assistance is available to communities that have a certain portion of the population that is considered low-income.
At Monday night’s town council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Rowe mentioned the potential assistance that the town could receive to help finance the creation of a comprehensive plan. He explained that OCRA would cover $45,000 and the Town would just need to come up with the remaining money.
He noted that this seemed like a pretty rare opportunity to access the resources needed to get a good plan in place that would outline future projects and goals.
He told members, “Worst case scenario, is to have something to look to and to work from, especially with the opportunity for us to get this done for $5,000 at a cost of $50,000.” Clerk-Treasurer Rowe continued, “In the future, going a different route I don’t think it would be possible to get that much of a break.”
The other members who attended the Stellar meeting, Vice President John Rowe and Council Members Jane Ellen Felchuck and James Young added that they were also on board and felt this would be a good step for North Judson to take. The council then voted unanimously to proceed with the process.
The decision was finalized after Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe alerted Starke County Executive Director Larry Wickert on Tuesday.
Wickert says that North Judson officials are now free to begin the process. He added that North Judson officials already have one of the requirements covered since they had to conduct an income survey prior to undertaking their water and wastewater projects.
Now they just need to start reaching out to the necessary resources in order to get started on comprising a comprehensive plan for the town.
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
North Judson officials confirmed that they will be joining the Regional Stellar Communities effort during Monday night’s town council meeting.
During last week’s informational meeting about the Regional Stellar program at the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, OCRA Representative Gerry White shared that two of the basic requirements include the submission of income survey and a comprehensive plan.
He said in order to have an official comprehensive plan drawn up, it costs approximately $50,000. However, he mentioned that assistance is available to communities that have a certain portion of the population that is considered low-income.
At Monday night’s town council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Rowe mentioned the potential assistance that the town could receive to help finance the creation of a comprehensive plan. He explained that OCRA would cover $45,000 and the Town would just need to come up with the remaining money.
He noted that this seemed like a pretty rare opportunity to access the resources needed to get a good plan in place that would outline future projects and goals.
He told members, “Worst case scenario, is to have something to look to and to work from, especially with the opportunity for us to get this done for $5,000 at a cost of $50,000.” Clerk-Treasurer Rowe continued, “In the future, going a different route I don’t think it would be possible to get that much of a break.”
The other members who attended the Stellar meeting, Vice President John Rowe and Council Members Jane Ellen Felchuck and James Young added that they were also on board and felt this would be a good step for North Judson to take. The council then voted unanimously to proceed with the process.
The decision was finalized after Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe alerted Starke County Executive Director Larry Wickert on Tuesday.
Wickert says that North Judson officials are now free to begin the process. He added that North Judson officials already have one of the requirements covered since they had to conduct an income survey prior to undertaking their water and wastewater projects.
Now they just need to start reaching out to the necessary resources in order to get started on comprising a comprehensive plan for the town.
Friday, June 15, 2018
Starke County Wants to be Designated a Regional Stellar Community and Officials Are Taking Steps to Get There
Posted on June 15, 2018
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
What will it take for Starke County to be designated a Regional Stellar Community?
That is the question that was answered Thursday night when various county, city and town officials met at the Starke County Economic Development Foundation Office to find out what steps they can start taking in order to submit a competitive application in the future.
Starke County officials, leaders from Knox and North Judson and a few other community members interested in contributing to the efforts attended the meeting.
SCEDF Executive Director Larry Wickert began by reminding individuals about the recent shift to a more regional focus for the Stellar program. While it’s already too late to apply for this year’s program, Wickert said it is vital that community members start collaborating early on if this is something they are interested in doing down the line.
OCRA’s Northwest Indiana Community Liaison Gerry White was there to inform the officials about what it takes to be considered for the program. He stressed the fact that the involved partners would need to have a comprehensive plan. The plan would list existing amenities and describe an idea of where the individual municipality would like to be about 20 years as well as the potential projects that could help achieve those goals.
Once all the comprehensive plans are finalized, White said the next step would be creating a letter of intent that would eventually be submitted to Stellar officials for consideration.
He mentioned that it is important for community members to start considering what resources exist locally that would be helpful during the planning stages. He stated that the SCEDF has access to a lot of useful data. He added that officials may want to check into the services that could be offered through the Purdue Extension Office and Ball State University. White stated that once community resources are exhausted, it would behoove the officials to hire a professional consultant to provide additional assistance.
Additionally, Dave Weinberg was in attendance and spoke about a recently formed non-profit organization called the Merit Foundation. He explained that the focus of Merit is to help improve Starke County’s health rankings. Currently, the county stands at 79th place and he hopes to propel them to the number one spot within the next 8 years by working on the individual categories that are measured.
White explained that would be an excellent thing to include as a focus in the potential letter of intent, as it would provide an attainable goal the whole community can work toward. He mentioned that adding a health component would significantly increase the chances of Starke County’s collective community partnership being selected as a Stellar finalist.
Wickert asked White what the next steps officials should take after coming away with all the information that was shared.
White said there needs to be at least three partners involved in order to be considered for the regional program. Since County Commissioners Kathy Norem and Donnie Binkley said the County is definitely on board and Knox Mayor Dennis Estok indicated that the city is also interested, they will need to establish at least one more partner to be eligible.
White added that now, each individual entity will need to start discussing their own comprehensive plans. He also said it’s important to continue collaborating with other parties involved to keep the Stellar conversation going while preliminary steps are being taken.
White told everyone how helpful this process can be to a community since it allows officials to map out plans for the future. He added that even if a Stellar Designation is not received, OCRA and other involved organizations do their best to show possible avenues and provide additional resources so the established goals can still be reached.
More information from Thursday’s meeting will be shared in this week’s Kankakee Valley Viewpoints program this Sunday at noon on K99.3 WKVI.
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
What will it take for Starke County to be designated a Regional Stellar Community?
That is the question that was answered Thursday night when various county, city and town officials met at the Starke County Economic Development Foundation Office to find out what steps they can start taking in order to submit a competitive application in the future.
Starke County officials, leaders from Knox and North Judson and a few other community members interested in contributing to the efforts attended the meeting.
SCEDF Executive Director Larry Wickert began by reminding individuals about the recent shift to a more regional focus for the Stellar program. While it’s already too late to apply for this year’s program, Wickert said it is vital that community members start collaborating early on if this is something they are interested in doing down the line.
OCRA’s Northwest Indiana Community Liaison Gerry White was there to inform the officials about what it takes to be considered for the program. He stressed the fact that the involved partners would need to have a comprehensive plan. The plan would list existing amenities and describe an idea of where the individual municipality would like to be about 20 years as well as the potential projects that could help achieve those goals.
Once all the comprehensive plans are finalized, White said the next step would be creating a letter of intent that would eventually be submitted to Stellar officials for consideration.
He mentioned that it is important for community members to start considering what resources exist locally that would be helpful during the planning stages. He stated that the SCEDF has access to a lot of useful data. He added that officials may want to check into the services that could be offered through the Purdue Extension Office and Ball State University. White stated that once community resources are exhausted, it would behoove the officials to hire a professional consultant to provide additional assistance.
Additionally, Dave Weinberg was in attendance and spoke about a recently formed non-profit organization called the Merit Foundation. He explained that the focus of Merit is to help improve Starke County’s health rankings. Currently, the county stands at 79th place and he hopes to propel them to the number one spot within the next 8 years by working on the individual categories that are measured.
White explained that would be an excellent thing to include as a focus in the potential letter of intent, as it would provide an attainable goal the whole community can work toward. He mentioned that adding a health component would significantly increase the chances of Starke County’s collective community partnership being selected as a Stellar finalist.
Wickert asked White what the next steps officials should take after coming away with all the information that was shared.
White said there needs to be at least three partners involved in order to be considered for the regional program. Since County Commissioners Kathy Norem and Donnie Binkley said the County is definitely on board and Knox Mayor Dennis Estok indicated that the city is also interested, they will need to establish at least one more partner to be eligible.
White added that now, each individual entity will need to start discussing their own comprehensive plans. He also said it’s important to continue collaborating with other parties involved to keep the Stellar conversation going while preliminary steps are being taken.
White told everyone how helpful this process can be to a community since it allows officials to map out plans for the future. He added that even if a Stellar Designation is not received, OCRA and other involved organizations do their best to show possible avenues and provide additional resources so the established goals can still be reached.
More information from Thursday’s meeting will be shared in this week’s Kankakee Valley Viewpoints program this Sunday at noon on K99.3 WKVI.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Starke County Economic Development Foundation to Hold Community Retreat
Posted on March 8, 2018
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation will be holding a community retreat at their office in Knox on Tuesday, March 20th from 7:30 a.m. until noon CT.
Interim Executive Director Larry Wickert spoke to the North Judson Town Council members about the session during their meeting Monday night. He cleared up some confusion about the focus, stating that the event will be open to all municipalities in the area and will not solely be about development in North Judson.
“I decided to try and make it all the communities in the county who would get together to talk.” Wickert explained, “We’ve got some great speakers to talk and then we’d have break out sessions where each group could get together to talk about what was just presented and how we might do things in our community like that.”
Wickert said community leaders in Koontz Lake, Knox, Hamlet and Bass Lake have also been invited to attend this informational retreat.
According to Wickert, the event will feature a few different speakers who will talk about economic development and why quality-of-place matters. The Executive Director of KIRPC Edwin Buswell and OCRA Community Liaison Gerry White will present information about programs and grants that are available for community development.
An economic development official from Ball State University will also be in attendance, providing information about the importance of community presentation when it comes to drawing in new businesses.
Wickert added that a representative from Rushville, Indiana will also be one of the speakers. He will provide a first-hand account of how particular grants and programs assisted with community development in his city.
Wickert told North Judson town council members that he’d be willing to arrange a follow-up meeting after the retreat. He said a follow-up meeting would allow members the opportunity to discuss the material presented during the community retreat as it specifically relates to the town of North Judson.
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation will be holding a community retreat at their office in Knox on Tuesday, March 20th from 7:30 a.m. until noon CT.
Interim Executive Director Larry Wickert spoke to the North Judson Town Council members about the session during their meeting Monday night. He cleared up some confusion about the focus, stating that the event will be open to all municipalities in the area and will not solely be about development in North Judson.
“I decided to try and make it all the communities in the county who would get together to talk.” Wickert explained, “We’ve got some great speakers to talk and then we’d have break out sessions where each group could get together to talk about what was just presented and how we might do things in our community like that.”
Wickert said community leaders in Koontz Lake, Knox, Hamlet and Bass Lake have also been invited to attend this informational retreat.
According to Wickert, the event will feature a few different speakers who will talk about economic development and why quality-of-place matters. The Executive Director of KIRPC Edwin Buswell and OCRA Community Liaison Gerry White will present information about programs and grants that are available for community development.
An economic development official from Ball State University will also be in attendance, providing information about the importance of community presentation when it comes to drawing in new businesses.
Wickert added that a representative from Rushville, Indiana will also be one of the speakers. He will provide a first-hand account of how particular grants and programs assisted with community development in his city.
Wickert told North Judson town council members that he’d be willing to arrange a follow-up meeting after the retreat. He said a follow-up meeting would allow members the opportunity to discuss the material presented during the community retreat as it specifically relates to the town of North Judson.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)