RDC Meeting Notes – July 18, 2023 – 6-8 p.5:11 pm
Updated: July 19, 2023 This post at Brown County Matters
I was re-appointed to the Redevelopment Commission (RDC) by the commissioners this year.
My interest includes supporting the development of a County “Fact” Book. If “development or redevelopment” is the solution, what is the problem? How will we know that any change is supported by the community and what feedback is needed to assess that change resulted in improvement? On economics, population, and demographics topics, Stats Indiana https://www.stats.indiana.edu/ is one of the better sources for some basic information.
The RDC consists of six members – 3 commissioner appointments (Sean Milloy, Sue Lindberg, Tim Clark), 2 council appointments (Kevin Patrick, Mike Spalding), and a School Board Appointment (Stephanie Kritzer,) The RDC president is Kevin Patrick.
-
- The interest from the county council is in assessing the potential economic impacts of sewers in Bean Blossom – Lead on this is Kevin Patrick.
- Unlike Helmsburg and Lake Lemon, there is no citizen-led community group (501.c3) in Bean Blossom.
Assessing economic impacts includes developing a capability for analyzing the property and assessment data. This would provide information to identify trends and projections in assessments and property tax by areas and types (residents, commercial, tourist), etc.
The Brown County GIS System is uploaded with data from the county but does not support analytics. Transferring this data to a system that supports analysis would be an improvement and is being investigated. The county GIS system also helps identify actual and projected infrastructure that supports development such as: electric, water, sewer, gas, and broadband.
I first served on the RDC in 2016 and 2017. I worked with Helmsburg on their Economic Development Plan and continue to support the sewer plant upgrades and expansion from Helmsburg to Lake Lemon. This will be another edition of their success story: Helmsburg Revitalization – Community Led
Helmsburg provides a great example of a community identifying what they want and do not want in terms of development and infrastructure. This is a much better approach for updating the Brown County Comprehensive Plan (PDF) that is vague, and not area specific. The county plan does not respect the unique needs and desires of the different areas in the County.
In addition, to support for Helmsburg during my first appointment, I also supported the following initiatives:
-
- In 2017, the commissioners asked the RDC to apply for a Hometown Collaborative Initiative (HCI) grant. Our application was selected and led to the development of the Brown County Leader Network (BCLN.com). The site provides a self-help guide in support of continuous improvement.
- Design and development of the RDC website.
- Partnership- Indiana University, Masters Program Public Administration – Two projects:
- 2017 Student Report – Covered by the Brown County Democrat with links to the full report. Report: Local taxes, job options need further scrutiny By Sara Clifford/Brown County Democrat
- 2018 Student Report. Brown County Democrat, IU students discuss how data can guide county’s financial decisions By Sara Clifford
- Brown County Economic Development Strategic Plan. I worked to acquire a 40K grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) but was not involved in its development. It was approved for payment but not execution. The final version was not vetted at public meetings.
- I was not re-appointed to the RDC in 2018 – likely ran afoul of a couple of elected officials that are no longer in office. 2018 Appointments – Redevelopment Commission (RDC)
Independent Voters of Brown County IN 