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Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v07n16)
BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
by Alan Hague
posted: Aug. 06, 2010

The quarterly public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) was held on July 20, 2010, at the Indianapolis Art Center. Due to announcing the parking theme of the meeting, about 100 were in attendance. BRVA president Elizabeth Marshall opened the meeting and introduced the first item on the agenda, the police report by Tom Koppel, North District Commander IMPD. Koppel has been commander for about 12 weeks and has a 20-year history with the Sheriff department. He reported that in the entire City of Indianapolis crime is down 1.78%, North District is down 2.6%, and Broad Ripple is down 17%.
"Strong armed robbery, contrary to some information in the news media, year-to-date is actually down 88%," said Koppel.
"We need you in the fight because you know what is going on in your neighborhoods. And if you know something doesn't look right, guess what, it's probably not right. Please call us. If we stop the guy in the green Chevrolet that is backed up to your neighbor's house, but your neighbor is on vacation, and it was actually their cousin who was cleaning the carpets, we'll be ok and they will laugh later after we check them because you thought there was a burglary going on. It's good to have nosy neighbors." He also asked for residents to trim their trees up at least 6 feet along the sidewalks and to leave their porch lights on.
Next on the agenda was the IMPD Bike Patrol - Sgt. Bob Beck-Coon, Officers Bob Bland, Mike Birch, Mark Mennonno, Alan Nelson, and Jeff Weaver.
"I'm a reserve police officer with the IMPD and a proud member of an unofficial group that has become known as the Broad Ripple Bike Squadron," said Officer Nelson. "The bike squadron started about two and a half years ago by a long-time Broad Ripple resident Sgt. Bob Beck-Coon who had heard about some problems occurring in the area. The two of us, fresh out of police mountain bike training, started patrolling the Village on weekends to help the district car assigned to the area. The first thing we noticed, the very first weekend, was the vehicle break-ins plummeted to zero. Since then, other reserve bike officers joined us and we now have a six-man team that works year-round, rain or shine, even in the snow. We even have studded snow tires for our bikes. We do this for free, at no cost to the tax-payers in addition to our full-time professions, and over and above our regularly assigned police duties."

Officer Alan Nelson (left side, after receiving certificate) and Elizabeth Marshall presenting certificate to Sgt. Bob Beck-Coon.
Officer Alan Nelson (left side, after receiving certificate) and Elizabeth Marshall presenting certificate to Sgt. Bob Beck-Coon.
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At this point the audience broke into applause like I have never heard at a public meeting.
Nelson further explained that the squadron has donated over 2000 man-hours, made several felony narcotics arrests, recovered stolen firearms, stopped a rape in progress, helped catch two groups of armed robbers and a ring of thieves breaking into cars.
"The biggest thing you can do [to help] is to call 911, especially on nights when we're out - we're out patrolling, we're out waiting. If you feel like something's suspicious, it probably is. It's no big deal [to call 911], it gives us the right to check somebody out. Please be specific with clothing descriptions or vehicle descriptions, because that's what gives us the right to stop these people and check them out."
Elizabeth Marshall presented each of the members with a certificate thanking them on behalf of the BRVA.
Next on the agenda was the presentation on the potential outsourcing of parking for the City of Indianapolis. Deputy Mayor Michael Huber said that the city has been investigating the overall parking system for about a year. Soon, Mayor Ballard will make recommendations to the City-County Council for a new parking plan. The mayor's office has been meeting with groups often during the past month to get input on what that new parking plan should be. Huber stated that his goal for the evening is to walk out of the meeting with 5 to 10 ideas from the BRVA that will be taken into consideration for the final recommendations.
The city currently manages 3,669 parking spaces with meters, about 170 of those are in Broad Ripple, 14,194 garage spaces and 6,067 surface lot spaces. The goals of the new parking program are to upgrade to new meter technology, lower the costs of managing the parking, and dedicate revenues generated by parking in Broad Ripple to pay for infrastructure improvements in Broad Ripple.
New multi-space parking meters can reduce sidewalk obstructions, allow for additional, convenient methods of payment (including credit cards), and allow for accurate tallies of the revenue from each meter location. These meters can cost $10,000 each, therefore the project plans to find an outside vendor to supply these meters and to manage them.
Another aspect of the project is to develop a clear path if a neighborhood desires parking permits for its residents. Cars without permits that are parked on designation permit-only streets would be in violation and could be ticketed and/or towed.
During the feedback portion of this presentation several residents spoke up. The point was made that in Broad Ripple, turnover at a meter is not a good thing. That two-hour limit works well in a downtown area that has parking garage options. In the Village, if someone has lunch and then is required to move their car to a new meter to park while shopping, that patron will probably drive away and go when there is free parking, like at a mall.
Another issue that was brought up is the volume of cars pushed into the neighborhoods to park along the streets in front of homes. 170 meters are not enough to hold the 19,000 visitors that the Village can see on a busy weekend. "We are not the parking lot for these merchants," exclaimed an frustrated homeowner.
While no resolution of parking issues occurred during the meeting, many ideas will be taken back to the Mayor that may shape his proposal for the project. City-County Council president Ryan Vaughn explained that this project is a means to funding an ultimate parking solution. It could setup a framework of management to generate revenues and could eventually facilitate a garage (or other parking solution) in Broad Ripple, although that is not directly part of this project.
The next BRVA public quarterly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 19, 2010, at 7 pm at the Indianapolis Art Center.

BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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BRVA held July public meeting - parking theme
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alan@broadripplegazette.com
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