The February public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) had a strong turnout with over 50 in attendance. BRVA president Ellen Morley Matthews called the meeting to order shortly after 7 P.M. in the auditorium of the Indianapolis Art Center. First on the agenda was the announcement that IPD officer Jason Cottey has taken a new position with the department and that officer Brian Dixon has taken over the office of Community Relations for north district. Ellen mentioned that Brian's e-mails list him as Officer, yet in January he was introduced to her as Detective. She asked Brian which was correct, so she could introduce him correctly. His response was that he wanted everyone to just call him Brian.

Brian distributed the police-run report. He said that a warrant was served in conjunction with the Butler police department to a suspect for several house burglaries in the area. The suspect gave police several leads on the other members of the criminal gang. IPD believes that this gang could be responsible for over 40 burglaries.

Brian warned against leaving items in your parked car. He said there have been several instances where people are followed to a park or to the trail. When the people leave their car, day or night, the criminal knows they will be gone for a while and has time to break out a window to steal purses, cell phones, etc. He also said that there has been an increase of carjackings. The criminal stands at the light until a car pulls up. He doesn't sneak up on the car, or jump out; he slowly walks over to the car and tries the door handle. If it is unlocked, he gets in and removes the driver. Often, the car is wanted only to get from one side of town to the other. In one case, the criminal put a gun to the head of a driver, told him to get out and informed the driver where he could pick up his car later.

"We talk about giving people the opportunity to commit crimes," explained Brian. "If they don't have that, the crime cannot be committed - door locked - can't get in - you're gone. Same thing with purses. If you don't leave it on the front seat, or the back seat, or under a blanket - because these guys can think a little - then they can't get it."

Tridi Poston, a volunteer on the IPD task force, mentioned the annual fund drive. "We desperately need money. It takes about $3,500 to $4,000 a year for our annual community day which is at the end of July. The police department doesn't have the funds for events like this. Money can be sent to IPD North District Community Fund."

Ellen then gave an update on the status of the two condominium zoning petitions and invited the audience to the Broad Ripple town hall meeting.

Next on the agenda was the introduction of Van Kirby as the Cultural District Real Estate Program Ambassador for Broad Ripple. "We're going to put together a program where we will identify [real estate] that is available, business and residential, and then we will actively pursue the people that we want here. We will put together a group that has a vision for Broad Ripple [to evaluate open properties]. We are working with the BRVA and the cultural tourism district organizers downtown to develop that vision."

Linda Shikany reported that the Beautification Committee attended a seminar presented by Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIBI). The committee received a grant from KIBI to work on the College Avenue medians from 64th Street up to the river. Two landscape architects are working on the project. Volunteers will be needed when the planting begins.

Linda then spoke for the Broad Ripple Merchants Group (BRMG), that now has over 60 members. The latest BRMG event was the Gleaner's food drive where over 400 pounds of food was delivered to the food bank. The BRMG meets on the second Thursday of each month at various locations in the village.

Ellen said the BRVA recently updated the website www.discoverbroadripplevillage.com.

Peter Dean reported on the results of the BRVA zoning committee. There were three petitions submitted for review. The first was for constructing a front yard fence on the property at 6398 Washington Boulevard. The BRVA voted to support this petition due to the special issues associated with this property. The next petition was for the Seafood Shack requesting a 3-way liquor license. The issue is that many potential customers opt for another establishment because they cannot get an after-diner drink at the Seafood Shack. The BRVA worked out some limitations on hours of operation and then voted to support the request. The last petition was for 6507 Ferguson Street for a parking variance. The BRVA voted to support the variance.

During the community-sharing portion of the meeting, a question was raised about adding lighting to the Tim Ryan sculpture at 67th and College Avenue. Linda Shikany replied that there are plans to look into the possibility of lighting, if the utilities are available in the median.

Ellen adjourned the meeting about 8:15 P.M. Attendees were treated to samples of food and drink from a new restaurant, Da Blue Lagoon, which is located at 5168 College Avenue.

The next public meeting of the BRVA is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21, at 7 P.M. at the Indianapolis Art Center.