COMPUTER PROBLEMS

I will not be posting a new article for a few days. We moved my computer to a different room and now we are having problems with the internet.

We decided to change our phone and internet to Insight. I will post my new email address as soon as it is created.

A TERRIBLE LOSS

I just read this on a blog called the Hoosierpundit.



Baron Hill's son in law, Josh Huddleston, has lost his long and painful battle with leukemia.



A group that I belong to, Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Care Plan, met with Baron a few weeks ago to ask for his support for bill HR676. As we were discussing the problems with healthcare, Baron mentioned Josh. A few of us knew about Josh, but Baron went in to detail about his ordeal. He was scheduled for a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately the procedure was unsuccessful.



Please pray for the Hill and Huddleston families.

COUNCIL MEETING 7/17/08

Sorry everyone. I was unable to attend last night's City Council meeting (no I was not in Evansville). I had a meeting at church.

When I arrived at the meeting room everyone was just getting ready to leave. I was able to corner a couple of councilmen and learned that the bill on redistricting failed and President Gahan will appoint a committee of some of the council members. That's all I learned.

If anyone wants to contribute, please do so.

Thanks

FINALLY, A WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

A group of west end citizens met last night to reorganize our neighborhood association. The correct name is the West End Community Council and we will be meeting monthly in the New Albany Library. I will be posting the next meeting date later.



Our first order of business will be a cleanup of our neighborhood tentatively set for Augt 2.



Our thanks to Carl Malysz and Matt Dennison for your participation.

RANDY & KAREN

I just want to add my best wishes to the Stumler family. This is a wonderful opportunity for Randy and everyone.

Although I will miss you I am glad that you will be able to pursue this dream. The pictures on the website for the Azores were really beautiful.

We will be patiently waiting for your return. You will have a million stories to tell and Randy will certainly be happy to tell them all.

Be safe, Stumler family and God Bless You.

Shirley

TOWN HALL MEETING 7/12/08 PART II

Continuing with the report from the Town Hall meeting:



Sewers and Sewer Billing: Mayor England is not happy with the city's contract with EMC. He is bringing the sewer billing back to City Hall. This should bring $5 to $10 Mil. back in fees. I agree with this decision, I thought the council should have opened the contract for bids instead of just signing with EMC. With sewer billing back in NA there may possibly be an added plus of additional job openings, this was not mentioned at the meeting.



The privatization of Sanitation: Another idea the Mayor disagrees with. He wants to re-negotiate the contract with the garbage company so they will pick up trash and yard waste in addition to garbage. The street dept. can't make needed repairs to our streets because they are running around picking up trash and yard waste. The lines in the streets need to be painted and the stop signs need to be replaced.



Jesse Ford spoke about the Tri County Health organization. He said AIDS and HIV infections are growing in the 50+ population. There will also be an AIDS walk on the last Sunday in September. Please contact Jesse Ford 945-7265 if you want to participate or volunteer.



Joe LaRocca, Executive director of YMCA of Sou. IN spoke also. He was asked how the low income families will be able to afford a membership in the "Y". He discussed the "Open Doors" financial assistance program. He said no one would be turned away regardless of income. There will also be a program for childcare and day camps. They will have day passes but Mr. LaRocca wants everyone to purchase a membership. I am glad that people will be able to buy a day pass if they want to. Sometimes it is hard to commit to a membership because it makes you think that you have to attend almost every day to make it worth it. It is also good for families who have visitors.

He went on to discuss the financing:

• $20,000,000 from Caesar's.
• $160,000 yearly from EDIT funds.
• A steering committee raised $7,300,000.
• A challenge grant from Kresge for $1,000,000 which was matched by 50% with private donations.

I was a supporter of the YMCA but not the $17,000,000 swimming pool. But it is done and we must move on. I hope the "Y" is a success and helps a lot of children have a place to play and learn. Our kids need someplace to go where they will be safe and have a good time.

We may not agree with everything this administration is doing but I appreciate the fact that all of these city officials took the time to attend this two-hour meeting and listen to us. The next meeting is scheduled for the fall. I will give everyone the details as soon as I learn them.

TOWN HALL MEETING 7/12/08 (PART I)

I am happy to report that the Jones Memorial Church hosted another Town Hall meeting yesterday. The meeting was presided over by their Pastor, Rev. Evans, and Mayor England.



I am also happy to report that many city officials were in attendance including 2 city councilmen, a county council representative,our Deputy Mayor, Chief of Police, Fire Chief, heads of Redevelopment and Community Housing.



The first order of business was to address concerns expressed by the residents present at the first town hall meeting:

• Streets torn up by utility companies: The Mayor reported that he always tries to work with utility companies and not surface a street only to have it torn for repairs of utility lines or pipes. He has a plan to resurface State St. from 265 to Arni's but the water company will be installing a 30in. pipe. So the resurfacing will have to wait. He also stated that the streets belong to the people not the city.


• Police cars should be parked in high density neighborhoods when the officers are writing their reports: Chief Applegate replied to this issue. He asked everyone to report sightings of police cars which are on duty but are sitting in parks. He went on to say that our police force is down to 54 offices with 5 in the Academy and 2 serving in Iraq. With 3 shifts that only leaves 4 or 5 officers on the street at one time. He also went on to say that 85% of the city's budget goes for public safety. They also rely heavily on block watch groups and neighborhood associations. He asked everyone to watch for cars that are not normally in the neighborhood. Yes, everyone has guests but look for unusual activity.


• Flooding in neighborhoods: This is the responsibility of our Storm Water board. They are trying to clear the creeks of debris so the water can flow to the river. Their number is 948-5320 ext. 26 if anyone wants to report any problems.


• Trash on Hwy 64 in view of West St.: This falls under the responsibility of INDOT and they have been contacted.


• Repairs to Spring St. Hill: Scheduled for August.


• Code Enforcement: A new person will be hired to help Pam Badger. They intend to make a sweep of the entire city and address all of our problems.

Mr. Bob Lane from the Housing Authority spoke at length giving a profile of the average resident of public housing. He said that 57% of residents are on Social Security or SSI and the average rental rate is $158.00 per mo. He went on to say that 45% of the residents are very young mothers aged 17 and under. The residents also must pass both a criminal background check and credit check. He went on to answer several questions.

Q. Are people coming to New Albany from other cities and moving into our public housing?

A. Although it is illegal to discriminate, preference is given to Floyd County residents. Also many people are losing their homes and forced to move into public housing for the first time.

Q. Aren't a lot of people just spending a short time in our projects? And don't their children spend a short time in our schools?

A. This is true, some residents are transients.

Q. Louisville has a plan to convert their public housing to single family homes or duplexes, can we do that here?

A. There is no federal money to do this, it would require a huge investment from the city.

Q. Do we have off duty police officers to guard the streets? People are afraid to let their children play outside.

A. Although some police officers do act as security for the Housing Authority, they are already stretched so thin that they don't have the time. Surprisingly the worst time in the day for crime is 2:00PM to 10:00PM.

This covers about the first hour of the meeting. If I continue this article will be way too long.

All in all it seemed to be a productive meeting. I think people appreciate that our city officials are taking the time to listen to our concerns. I know that I did. The heavy presence of city officials showed that they are interested, and this is not even an election year!

Part II will be posted in a couple of days. Thanks for taking the time to visit.