At 7:04 P.M. Carolyn Savill called the April public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) to order. Board director Savill filled in this evening while president Ellen Morley Matthews was out of town.

First on the agenda was the report from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) that was presented by Kelly Jessup. "I know [Broad Ripple] has had an issue with vandalism. [IMPD] is working diligently about this matter. Broad Ripple was hit about the same time the Keystone corridor was hit, as was Nora," explained Jessup. "90% of it are from taggers (graffiti)."

Officer Jessup said to call her at 327-6167 or the IMPD North District at 327-3811 to report any vandalism. She explained how important it is to report all incidents as that is the only way for IMPD to know the extent of the problem. By knowing the number of incidents and the areas affected, extra patrols and new programs sponsored by grant money can be developed.

Officer Jessup announced that the second Community Day will be held in June at Broad Ripple Park. She also explained that IMPD is hiring civilians to do jobs such as filling out non-suspect reports, freeing officers to be available to get back on patrols.

There was a question from the audience about recent roof jumping incidents. Apparently high school kids have been jumping from roof to roof of businesses near the south east corner of Broad Ripple Avenue and Guilford. Officer Jessup had not heard of this. She added that if someone sees dangerous activity like that occurring, a 911 call should be made.

Next on the agenda were two announcements.

• The May public BRVA meeting will be on May 20, 2008. The Indianapolis Art Center auditorium will be unavailable due to the annual Broad Ripple Art Fair, so the May meeting will be held in the mini-auditorium at Broad Ripple High School.
• The BRVA is looking for volunteers to staff their booth at the May 17 and 18, 2008, Broad Ripple Art Fair. Volunteers would work a 2-3 hour shift and receive a free ticket to the fair. Call 251-BRVA or email brva@mybroadripple.com for more information.

Next on the agenda was a presentation for the proposed Monon Place II project. As the Gazette covered this project in detail in issue Volume 5 Number 1, I won't repeat it here. I will mention that this meeting was not the forum for a debate on the project, it was simply a presentation of the project's details. The time for voicing concerns about proposed projects is at the monthly BRVA zoning meetings that are held at Broad Ripple United Methodist Church and at the City of Indianapolis zoning hearings held downtown. Regardless of that, many residents came to this and the previous meeting (when the Brother's Bar & Grill project was presented) to remonstrate.

The various BRVA committees reported next on their recent activities:

• Beautification - Rich Bees - 96 trees were recently moved from College Avenue to other spots in the Village. The next Village Clean Up will be June 7th, 2008, starting at the fire station at 9 AM.
• Canal Project - Tom Healy - This committee is looking into restarting the canal improvement plan that was started many years ago. Interested parties may contact Tom at applepress@sbcglobal.net.
• Business Division - Elizabeth Marshall - The next business division meeting will be held at Union Jack Pub on May 8, 2008, at 8:30 AM. Dealing with bad checks will be a topic of that meeting.
• Communications - Diane Seybert - Diane reminded businesses that advertisements are available on the BRVA pages in the Gazette.
• Cultural Tourism - Sharon Butsch Freeland - Indianapolis Downtown Inc (IDI) has committed to installing wireless internet access in all six cultural districts by this summer.
• Farmers' Market - Carolyn Savill - The market will open on May 3, 2008, at Broad Ripple High School. It runs every Saturday through October. Nine vendors have been added this year.
• Land Use - Peter Dean - Two petitions came before the board. Petite Chou for outdoor dining. The board supports this petition. The other was for 6419 Carrollton Avenue. The request is to raze the existing structure and build a new one. The board requested modifications to the plan and they were accepted. This discussion quickly turned to an angry shouting match on the subject of over-development in the Village. Tom Healy suggested that those interested in controlling development join the effort to develop a Broad Ripple plan.
• Special Events - Diane Seybert - The Spring Gallery Tour will be Friday, May 9, 2008, from 5 to 9 pm. Ceramic Japanese-style vases will be available. The next Lights Up event will be December 6, 2008.

The next BRVA meeting will be at BRHS (instead of IAC) on May 20, 2008, at 7 pm.