Merger committee reports on plans for “new” community

Two things stood out at Monday’s reorganization committee report to a joint session the White River Township board and the Greenwood Common Council (view the presentation outline here). First is the committee is proceeding as if the entire area of unincorporated White River Township is included in their plans, despite the voluntary annexation of the southern portion of the township by Bargersville which appears certain to happen. The only thing that could stop it is an unexpected victory in court in a legal action that currently does not appear as if it is going too filed by the reorganization committee or anyone else.

Secondly the committee if making significant progress putting forth ideas that could turn into elements of the “Plan of Reorganization” they will present to the Greenwood council and White River board in October or November. The legislative bodies will then vote for or against the plan or request changes, which could delay a vote until late 2009. However the citizens of unincorporated White River Township and Greenwood will have the final say if the plan is approved by the board and council in a May vote.  For the Plan of Reorganization to go into effect, in other words unincorporated White River Township and Greenwood to become one “new” city 50%+  of the residents of each current are must vote for the plan. Chair Pat Sherman said, “It is all going to boil down to finance”. He stated the committee is going to have to bring a recommendation on finances, and tax rates that are acceptable to a majority of White River and Greenwood residents if the plan is going to pass.

What is the status of the current plan? Taking shape but remaining flexible. Two committee plans were outlined, Parks and Recreation and Governance. Sherman comment that it is very important to provide transparency and the majority of sub-committee meetings are open to the public the exception is “fact finding meetings” which often involve member meeting with various agencies and entities around the area and state and informing the public is difficult, which seems understandable.

Parks and Recreation: Although the initial plan of leveraging a small tax on home sales in the current unincorporated White River Township is still in the plans despite the fact that that Indiana law will not permit it, the sub-committee investigating alternative methods to fund new parks in White River Township. Impact fees, currently used in Greenwood, an assessment charged to developers of new homes for each lot, would likely be expanded to White River Township, the rate is yet to be set but could be less than the current rate due to the increased area included in the plan.

In addition to funding new parks Dr. Eric Kapke, subcommittee chair, provide a concept or the new parks board. It would include four residents of the current Greenwood and four from White River Township. Since the “new” community would include three school districts, which include a number of recreational facilities and green space the plan also calls for one member from each school board, Clark-Pleasant, Greenwood and Center Grove. The innovative idea could be established with a sunset clause to reduce the size of the board at a future point. The mayor would appoint the director of the Parks and Recreation board.

“Trails” is also a hot topic in the merger plans.  The committee is looking at them as pathways to be built along new roads and developments to allow room for bicycles and pedestrians. The pathways would be built without any additional tax revenue. The funding would come from private donations, grants, and “developer obligations”. The size and composition of the board and the parks board was a hot topic. Video of the discussion will be posted here soon.

Governance Report: The new city would come into existence July 1, 2010 and the new council seats would be filled by the existing three White River board members and the township trustee. With the pending annexation by Bargersville, it is possible that the trustee would be a resident of Bargersville. At the recommendation of the Greenwood council and the White River Township board the committee will consider following current state law that council members must be residents of the town they represent. Which means that if any member of the council moves while serving there would need to be a process to replace someone who moved out of the city. The committee will also investigate an alternative plan to fill the fourth seat should the Trustee become a Bargersville resident through annexation.

The governance plan also calls for the “new” Greenwood to become a second-class city and retain its council/mayor form of government. The reorganization law allows broad authority for the reorganization committee to create a local government outside of current state statues. Other than the size of the council, eleven members instead of the usual nine for a second-class city, the subcommittee currently finds little reason for significant changes in the form of the government.

The presentation lasted a little more than an hour and included salary proposals for city officials, changes to departments such as public works and a recommendation from the governance team that the council districts be created by a citizens committee rather than by a political body. Chair Don Hanlin strongly supported the idea saying that citizens create districts based on neighborhoods not on being elected.

We will have more details and video highlights, along with the entire video of the presentation available soon.

No related posts.