There were approximately 60 in attendance at the Spring quarterly public Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) meeting held at the Indianapolis Art Center. BRVA president Elizabeth Marshall opened the meeting and introduced Broad Ripple Alliance for Progress (BRAP) board member Mark Demerly for an update of the Broad Ripple Avenue improvement project.

Demerly explained that in addition to the heat-applied crosswalks at Broad Ripple Avenue and College, Carrollton, Guilford, and Winthrop, an enhancement of the Monon Trail crossing is also planned. "One thing that is really exciting is that the StreetPrint people that are applying the [crosswalks] wanted to do an installation somewhere in Indianapolis of their XD product. I think we have final ok from the city. At the Monon Trail there will be enhancement at that location as well. It is going to be white bars, which were going to be there already, along with it will be a red tile-like pattern. It will be more permanent, it will be a little more pronounced than just white bars."

The crosswalks are a "modified wagon wheel" design. It has been customized for Broad Ripple by pulling apart the design to produce a ripple effect.

The eastbound traffic has been reduced to one lane approaching the Monon Trail from Winthrop. This is intended to make the crossing safer.

BRAP's Fortune Favors the Brave program was a key factor in securing the enhancements. BRAP leveraged $16K of donated funds into over $100K of amenities for the Village, working with the City of Indianapolis, IndyGo, and StreetPrint.

Next on the agenda was the police report by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Sergeant Leinberger and Captain Burton. They announced plans to add two bike officers to the area. Burglaries are down from 24 by this time last year to only 14 this year. Several good arrests were made this year, often catching the criminals in the act of preying on victims returning to their cars late at night. It was explained that while officers working part-time for a bar cannot patrol during that time, they can assist if a situation arises. IMPD asked for residents to turn on porch lights and trim trees on sidewalks for improved visibility. IPL will add a light to a telephone pole if a resident calls them with the location. The cost to the resident is about $6 per month.

Next, the Butler University Center for Urban Ecology students presented the findings of their study on canal flora, fauna, and water quality.

Following were the BRVA committee reports.

Home Tour - Sue Zilisch said that a couple of homes still need to be added to the Saturday, September 25, 2010 tour. Anyone interested in having their home on the tour can contact the BRVA at 251-BRVA (2782). About 150 volunteers will also be needed to do 2.5 to 3 hour shifts during the 6th annual tour. The volunteers receive a ticket to the tour and a tour logo t-shirt.

BR Lights Up! - Diane said they are looking for sponsors and parade entries for the December event.

Elizabeth Marshall introduced the newest BRVA board member Mark Wolf. Mark is in charge of membership for the BRVA.

BRVA board member Tom Healy announced that there has been a reduction of scope of the Veolia canal bank project. The proposed improvement area for the project is now to only include the north bank of the canal from College to around Central.

The next quarterly public BRVA will be Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at 7 pm at the Indianapolis Art Center, located at 820 E. 67th Street.