There was a lot going on at the second public meeting of the Friends of Broad Ripple (FOBR) that was held November 19 at the Broad Ripple IB Middle School (BRMS), 1115 Broad Ripple Avenue [H9 on map]. So much so that I am not sure how to report on it. I think I will just give the feel of the meeting. There were around 175 in attendance.

The odd start was while Bo Boroski, Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) board member, head of the BRVA Land Use Committee, and founder of FOBR, was opening the meeting, an attendee wrote a note on a scrap of paper, slapped it on the podium, and stormed out.

The following 45 minutes of the presentation was rather general and felt more like a regular BRVA meeting than it did the second of three planning meetings (the 4th is the implementation meeting) for the future of the Village. During the Q&A segment of the meeting, the second person at the microphone expressed this same sentiment (although a bit stronger).

That 45 minutes of presentation was opened by Jeremy Baugh, BRMS Principal (and IPS Principal of the Year!), welcoming all to the school and stressing that BRMS is pleased to be a part of the community. Bo Boroski spoke on the FOBR meeting schedule, the importance of the current Envision Broad Ripple plan, and introduced the BRVA president-elect Bryan Phillips and Love Broad Ripple founder Chelsey Wetzel. Next, Rachel Dickerson, executive director of Midtown Indy, described how Broad Ripple is an important part of Midtown. Then Mark Williams, president and executive director of the Indianapolis Art Center, showed images of the construction currently going on at the IAC as part of a 10 million dollar project that will be complete next year.

Bo announced that the "Good Neighbor" agreement that all new liquor license applicants have had to sign for years will now be required of all businesses in the Village. This is to improve the appearance of the Village (trash, graffiti, etc.).

Randy Schumacher of CSO Architects showed a summary of comments from meeting #1 and a series of maps showing key areas of Broad Ripple and things like parking use and building vacancies. There were idea photos from other cities showing canals and riverfronts and mixed use developments.

Jim Brainard, former mayor of Carmel, described how Broad Ripple needs to embrace its natural resources (river and canal). He said a city needs a certain density to survive. He was clear to state that Broad Ripple should not become "Carmel South".

The last thirty minutes of the meeting was a Q&A session. Around 16 attendees came forward to speak and ask questions. In many of those public comments it was clear that the public has not been informed of the details of many Village projects and plans. There were several misconceptions forming the basis of some comments. Those misconceptions were not alleviated by the responses received.

One attendee brought up the Broad Ripple parking meters. Broad Ripple is perhaps the only part of Indianapolis outside of the mile square (downtown Indy) with meters. This discourages some visitors and many who do come end up with parking tickets. FOBR said that it is looking to find out where all of the parking meter money is going and if the Village should be receiving some of it.

Another question was about how to pay for desired development in Broad Ripple. Jim Brainard said TIF (Tax Increment Financing) is a good way, but every method of funding should be considered, including charitable donations.

The meeting ended at 8:15 pm as we needed to clear the building by 8:30.

To be clear, Broad Ripple needs a plan. Thanks should go out to all involved in starting this one. A detailed plan of hopes for the future don't guarantee anything, but without one, development is left to a series of random proposals.

This seems to be a good team of people working on the plan. It just seems like there are no specifics on any part of the plan, yet we are a few weeks away from meeting #3 and about 3 months from the "implementation phase".

What has so far been presented ("here is the state of the Village" and "here are some things the rest of the world has done") at these first two (of four) meetings seemed like what you would see at a pre-meeting to generate interest in starting a full re-vision plan for the Village. Yet we are now halfway through the process.