The last 2008 public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) was held on November 18 at the Indianapolis Art Center. The BRVA board election is held each year during the November meeting. This year there were nine board of director seats open with eight candidates running. There had been a ninth candidate, but that person dropped out before the election. All eight were elected to the board - Richard Bees, Peter Dean, Tom Healy, John David Hoover, Gary Price, Keith Trump, Barbara Wilder, and Sue Zilisch.

Kelly Jessup, community liaison for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department north district, was first on the normal meeting agenda. Jessop said that some progress has been made in the district with seven or eight apprehensions recently. She also mentioned that home invasions are occurring, sometimes while residents are still in the house. She recommended acknowledging that someone is home, without opening the door, if you get an unexpected knock on the door.

Next on the agenda was Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard. Ballard started by recognizing BRVA president Ellen Morley Matthews for her many years of service to the Village, as he had heard that this was her last meeting as president.

Ballard said two of his top priorities are public safety and balancing the budget. He also made a clear point that he has not announced any plans to close city parks. Ballard said recent reporting of an interview was not accurate. After detailing his plans, the floor was opened to questions. The discussion quickly turned to a free-for-all on the topic of parking meters. Some said the parking meters in Broad Ripple are killing daytime businesses and should be removed, while others said the meters should be switched to cover nighttime hours, when the parking hits a peak. Ballard replied that the downtown merchants like the meters because drivers are limited to two hours in a parking spot, thus assuring turn-over. More on this in the future.

After a long discussion with the mayor, the regular BRVA public meeting continued. Outgoing board president Ellen Morley Matthews thanked the many people she has worked with during her most recent four years on the board and recalled the growth the BRVA has achieved.

Each of the committees gave an update on their activities. The final segment of each public meeting is community sharing. John Kastner announced a new theater group, Stageworthy Productions, that will perform in 2009 at the church located at Central and Westfield Boulevard. The first production will be in April.

Debbie Kelb announced that the North Side Optimists will be renovating Opti Park.

The meeting adjourned at 9:15pm. There is no meeting in December. The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at 7pm at the Indianapolis Art Center.