The 2021 Spring public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) was held virtually on April 20. There were approximately 170 attendees watching. All images here were presented at the meeting.

BRVA Executive Director, Summer Keown, opened the meeting. She introduced BRVA president Garrett Lawton. He showed the list of the current members of the BRVA Board of Directors. He presented "6 Months in Review", which included hiring a new Executive Director (Summer) and fundraising for the Riverwalk project.

Next was Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate Natalie Van Dongen. She said that the White River levee project would undergo a passive test this year and soon after, the certification could be complete, allowing for flood insurance relaxations.

She suggested that residents apply for the People's Planning Committee, a virtual program from the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD).

City-County Councillor Keith Potts was next on the agenda. He announced that a new cap on third party food delivery fees was passed by the council. The average fee previously was 30%. The cap is 20%. This cap will run only during COVID restaurant restriction times.

He asked for residents to alert him about power outages so they can be tracked. He suggest using the Relay app. Here is a link to the Google Play Store.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Commander Wolley followed. He stated that North District is changing focus from drugs to guns. There were 15 murders and 12 have been solved. He gave detailed crime statistics for the North District and for Broad Ripple.

Next on the agenda was Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) Chief Malone. He outlined the replacement of the Broad Ripple Station 32. Although a site has not been chosen, the station is expected to open in 2022. It would likely be a three-bay station, one or two stories. The existing station building, at Guilford and the canal, is city property and it will be up to DMD to interact with the community for possible future uses of the property.

Next, Broad Ripple Park manager Kathy Fitzgerald and Michael Mattingly of Avenue Development discussed the new family center development at the park. Floor plans and renderings were shown.

Joshua Johns then showed the Riverwalk project and discussed fundraising that is needed quickly to finalize the construction plans.

The Riverwalk will connect Broad Ripple Park with the Monon Trail, providing a safe pathway for pedestrians along the north side of Broad Ripple Avenue.

Summer ended the meeting with a listing of the upcoming BRVA events for the rest of 2021

The next BRVA meeting will be in the fall and will include the election for board members.