Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) president Ellen Morley Matthews called the April public meeting to order at 7 P.M. The Broad Ripple Brew Pub provided refreshments for the attendees.

The I.P.D. report was the first presentation. Lt. Terry Eden handed out the police-run data because Brian Dixon was unavailable. Eden has been an IPD officer since 1982; His early days on the force were spent in sector Adam 5 (east Broad Ripple). "A lot of the aspects in the summer of 1982 are pretty similar if you just glance at these statistics," noted Eden. "A lot of the crimes listed there are thefts from vehicles, and that was a pretty predominant crime even in those days." Lt. Eden stated that earlier in the day there was a robbery at the National City Bank across from Glendale and also at a bank at 56th and Emerson. He also mentioned that in early March there were three Broad Ripple bank robberies - Chase, National City on College, and KeyBank. (This was the second robbery at Key and I think the First National robbery was also in that time frame)

Eden said that there was an upcoming vote by the rules and policy committee to decide whether off-duty officers would be allowed to continue to work as security personnel at taverns. This ruling would affect many Broad Ripple businesses. "If these businesses aren't allowed to hire officers at their establishments, it would probably mean that on-duty officers would have to respond to more trouble at those places. What that means is they would be less available to do normal patrols in other neighborhoods...I've got mixed emotions about it. I have worked a lot of part-time, but I do not work any taverns, and never have. As an article of faith, I do not agree with drinking and would like to see the taverns in this community entertain people in other way...In the words of Three Dog Night - That ain't the way to have fun."

Next, Ann Rinker described the graffiti clean-up program. Paint and supplies are donated to the program. Requests to paint over graffiti can be made at 327-6115. The department must get the permission of the property owner before the painting can happen; The work is performed by persons on probation as community service.

During the announcements portion of the meeting, Ellen spoke about Special Events in the Village. "For several years there has been an event known as the Taste of Broad Ripple. This year there will not be a Taste of Broad Ripple. The reason that event will not be happening is that sometime in late 2002, or early 2003, the media partner for the event, Emmis Communications, trademarked the name Taste of Broad Ripple; the event took place in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In the fall of last year, we went to Emmis to try to level the playing field in terms of partnership. We proposed an equalization of the financial benefits of the event, and Emmis respectfully declined to participate in the Taste of Broad Ripple going forward. We said "fine" - there were other media concerns out there that were interested in partnering with us. Then we received notification from Emmis that it had, unbeknownst to anyone [in the BRVA], trademarked the name of the event and that if we proceeded to put on an event that remotely resembled the Taste of Broad Ripple we would be sued. Therefore, providing the Taste of Broad Ripple for our community is no longer possible." Ellen briefly described a new event that will take the place of The Taste and of the Blues Fest this year, the Broad Ripple Village Street Festival. She also said that the street festival, not being The Taste, will not be limited to food from the menus of Broad Ripple restaurants. "We think it could take on the life of the Greek Fest and the Irish Fest, for example. We will tell you more about this exciting event at the May Meeting."

Ellen announced that the BRVA membership form is now downloadable on the BRVA website www.discoverbroadripplevillage.com.

BRVA vice president Carolyn Savill announced that the Broad Ripple Farmers Market will begin on Saturday May 27, 2006, at 8 A.M. The new location is in the parking lot at the rear of Broad Ripple High School.

BRVA director Peter Dean reported on the latest zoning issues that have come before the board. The board voted to not support the parking variance for Hogshead BBQ, which is located at 6420 Cornell Avenue. It also voted to not support the petition to convert the residence at 6145 Rosslyn Avenue into an office use.

The May public meeting will have already happened by the time this issue of the Gazette is published. The June public meeting will be at the Indianapolis Art Center on Tuesday June 20, 2006, at 7 P.M.