More than 50 were at the November 26th, 2019, public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) Land Use and Development meeting. This one was held in the basement of Purdue Polytechnic High School, 1405 Broad Ripple Avenue [I11 on map]. There were three items on the agenda, in bold below.

A) Brandon Evans from IndyGo to discuss issues regarding the Red Line.

Brandon explained that he is attending the meeting to gather feedback about the Red Line to take back to IndyGo. He said that major changes to routes and such occur three times a year and public input is considered for these changes. He verified that the Red Line fare system will start on December 1st. Fares are paid before getting on a bus at the platform. There will be random passenger fare checks on the buses.

Brandon explained that the rubber medians will be replaced with a composite material, but the new median will be similar to the existing one. Some changes will be made based on Red Line bus driver feedback to make turning safer at some intersections.

IndyGo system ridership was up 3% in 2019 and 5% in 2019.

The Red Line platform real-time monitors are expected to be running in January or February. The existing contract for that service was canceled as it could not fill the need.

There was a question about Red Line buses controlling the traffic signals, similar to emergency vehicles. Brandon said that this is not happening, but that the buses are supposed to be able to slightly lengthen a bus GO signal during a cycle. He also mentioned that the rumor of snow crews removing medians for plowing is false.

B) 6201, 6207, 6211 & 6217 N. College Avenue, Misha Rabinowitch with updates on the potential office development.

This is the 4th time for this project to be before the committee, but the first time since the project has been filed with the City of Indianapolis and is eligible for a committee vote.

This is a project to raze the 4 structures along College Avenue north of 62nd and south of the Lincolnshire Apartments to build a two-building office/retail/apartment building. The details of the project are a bit fuzzy as the tenant has not been revealed yet and some of the details are not available. Here is your editor's understanding (it may have errors): A large business currently headquartered in Indianapolis with locations across the country proposed this new headquarters for its 200-250 local employees at the 62nd and College project. Zoning ordinances require 153 parking spots. The underground garage component would supply 49 spots. A long-term lease of over 100 more spots would be secured at the parking garage across College. The north building would be retail (restaurant, shops, etc.) on the first floor with the headquarters in the 4 floors above. The south building (with College on the west and 62nd Street on the south) would be retail on the first floor with 36 apartments in the 3 floors above. These apartments seem to be mostly to used internally by the owners who currently rent living spaces all over town for visiting out-of-town employees and associates, although the details have not been explained in an understandable manner.

Garage access would be through the existing alley. The project owners would work with the City to make improvements to the alley. They would also work with Lincolnshire Apartments to develop a plan for screening between the office building and the residences.

The BRVA committee suggested changing the College side steps to eliminate the sidewalk jog, so as to keep the sidewalk straight along College. The Department of Metropolitan Development staff is generally in agreement with this project. City-County Councillor Colleen Fanning stated how important it is to the Village to gain a new corporate tenant of this size and what it could mean for daytime business.

The committee took a vote on supporting this project and it passed.

The Department of Metropolitan Development hearing is scheduled for January 9, 2020.

C) Colleen Fanning, City Councillor with an update on the Broad Ripple Park Family Center.

Colleen gave an update on the status of the Broad Ripple Park family center project. The agreement between the City, the Parks Department, and the lessee is almost complete. Indy Parks will hold a public meeting in a couple of weeks for public input on programming ideas for the facility. Colleen reiterated that this is an important project for the park. It is an $8 million private investment. The City maintains land ownership, the green space footprint is roughly the same before and after the project. The project does not affect the existing pool. The boat ramp stays open and in place.

She also said that the Broad Ripple Park pool is an "end-of-life pool", meaning that the repairs would cost more than the value of the pool. The pool will remain open until such needed repairs warrant closing it in the future.

There is no committee meeting in December. The next scheduled public meeting will be on January 26, 2020, at 6pm, at Purdue Polytechnic High School, 1405 Broad Ripple Avenue [I11 on map].