Town of Brownstown, Indiana

DRAFT Development Plan

Presented to Brownstown Town Council

Monday, October 5, 2009

Background

Brownstown, Indiana, is the County seat of Jackson County and is located in Brownstown Township near the East Fork of the White River bordered by the Jackson-Washington State Forest in close proximity to the Hoosier National Forest. The Town’s name originates from General Jacob Brown, a highly decorated and distinguished soldier of the War of 1812. The town of Brownstown was founded April 8, 1816, notably prior to the statehood of Indiana itself. Brownstown became the county seat of Jackson County in November 1816, replacing Fort Vallonia which had only been the county seat since June of that year. The land for the Jackson County Court House, which rests in the heart of Brownstown on the square, was donated by Col. John Ketcham (1782-1865) with the understanding that Brownstown serve as the county seat. Brownstown was incorporated in 1837 and expanded in size in 1870, when the community was combined with the Town of Ewing to create one civic unit. Brownstown is governed by a three member Town Council.

Brownstown is a small Indiana community with a population of 2,978 (2000) and faces many of the same challenges other small communities face. Recent legislation has reduced the amount of property tax collected by the community putting a considerable strain on local government budgets. The severe downturn in the national economy has only added to the burden on government, businesses and the general public.

Planning Process

In the early 2009, the Brownstown Town Council contracted with Ball State’s Building Better Communities to help guide the community through a planning process that would focus on the citizens shared vision of the future Brownstown and outline steps that should be taken to implement the resulting plan.

Steering Committee

The BBC approach is designed to bring representatives of all community constituencies into the planning process and begins with the formation of a Steering Committee that represents a broad spectrum of community groups. The following individuals agreed to serve on the Brownstown Planning Process Steering Committee:

Environmental Scan

An essential part of any plan is a review of the existing environment from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. A demographic and economic analysis provides the data picture - what the numbers tell us. Ball State prepared an Economic and Demographic Profile for Brownstown and Jackson County (see Appendix for complete profile).

The qualitative view is provided by the people who live in the community and are knowledgeable about the towns’ history and culture. On March 19, 2009 approximately 81 people participated in a Community Planning Retreat and identified and voted on the attributes of their ideal community.

Participants discussed their most valued community assets, and the challenges they face in reaching a stated vision. Collectively participants identified the following attributes as essential components of their shared vision of the future Brownstown.

· center of county government

· rich quality of life with amenities/recreation for all ages

· planned infrastructure, green focus, bike/walking trails

· educational opportunities

· good public services

· vibrant downtown and local economy

The Steering Committee developed a vision statement based on these attributes.

Vision Statement:

The Town of Brownstown will provide a high quality of life for all residents and will offer a robust environment that promotes education, recreation, and economic growth.

The Charge

The overall goal of the planning process is to develop a multi-year community development plan with the recognition that the current economic climate may limit, to some extent, the number of objectives and/or activities that can be accomplished in the first year or two. As with all small towns, Brownstown has a limited number of municipal offices, civic organizations and community associations. The challenge of planning, maintaining, and continuing the development of the community depends heavily on the collaborative efforts of elected and appointed officials, the private and non-profit sector and the general public. The successful implementation of a community plan is totally dependent on the strength of the partnership between these sectors.

The essence of any plan is the implementation plan or action steps – what will be done, who will do it, when will it be done, and what resources are needed to do it? The following goals and objectives have been developed by the members of the five Brownstown Planning Task Groups.

A. Arts and Culture Task Group

GOAL: Make arts and culture an on-going integral part of life for all residents of Brownstown.

Objective 1: (underway)

Organize Ballroom Dancing Classes (Short Term-6-9 months)

a. Six week class offered beginning July 16^th, 2009

b. Second class to be offered as soon as possible

Objective 2: (completed)

Establish the Brownstown Fund for the Arts within the Community Foundation of Jackson County, called the Brownstown Fund for the Arts. The fund will provide a tax deductible means for people to contribute to the promotion of the Arts in Brownstown. The funds donated will be used to:

· sponsor concerts in Brownstown,

· sponsor Art classes for adults as well as children,

· make some free tickets available for the Jackson County theatre in Brownstown,

· provide scholarships to Brownstown students for Summer Art Camp at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, and

· develop and promote the visual and musical arts in Brownstown.

Objective 3: (underway)

Host a series of concerts in Brownstown with performances by music major students from Indiana University. Scheduled Arts Concert Series events:

· Saturday, October 24, 2009, Jazz Concert, Royal off the Square Theatre, Tickets are $5.00 per person

· Saturday, November 21st, El Fuego Lento (salsa group), Royal off the Square Theatre. Audience members are invited to bring their own refreshments. Tickets are $5.00 per person

· December (date to be determined), Berean Choir from Kentucky, Presbyterian Church

Objective 4:

Explore setting-up painting classes for adults in Brownstown in collaboration with the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts (SICA)

Objective 5:

Explore the possibility of offering, pottery, painting and maybe culinary arts classes

Objective 6:

Work toward the conversion of the Arts and Culture Task Group becoming a non-profit organization.

· Seek out people who want to join in this effort and have expertise in forming and running a non-profit arts organization

Task Group Members:

Amy Motazedi, Co-Chair Robb Reynolds

Pastor Brad Napier, Co-Chair Sarah McGill

Maureen Pesta Carol Brown

Joe Reynolds Dick Parman

B. Community Development Task Group

GOAL: Develop in the Brownstown area an informed, attractive, participatory community that takes pride in sustainable innovation and preservation of the best of its past.

Objective 1:

Develop the Brownstown Community Enhancement Partnership Program (BCCP)

· Initiate a community partnership program that invites regular cooperative participation by area residents of all ages and income levels, businesses, industries, other organizations and government.

· Serve as a forum to identify and build on community assets.

Objective 2:

Initiate a program to preserve and provide access to local government documents.

C. Economic Development Task Group

GOAL: Expand and diversify the Brownstown economy

Objective 1:

Market Brownstown as a good place to expand, create or locate a business

· Promote Brownstown by networking with small business owners in surrounding communities to attract them to our community by leaving promotional materials

· Promote the Chamber Website utilizing it as a portal for Brownstown business, and community events by creating window stickers to place in local business storefront windows directing web visitors to the site. i.e. (Visit Brownstown Hardware @ BrownstownChamber.org.)

· Create and host entrepreneurship classes on various topics, taught by local experts, a small business development center or educators from nearby colleges and universities

· Provide information on financial and other resources for small business development

· Develop the website by adding geographical and statistical information about Brownstown, a slideshow or video clip, etc.

Objective 2:

Partner with the Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation (JCIDC) to maximize economic development opportunities for Brownstown.

· Maintain and enhance communication between the chamber, JCIDC and the community

· Participate in the JCIDC 2010 strategic planning process

· Identify potential sites and/or buildings for new business locations and prepare a map with regular updates to JCIDC and town council

D. Education Task Group

GOAL: Create a community of informed and involved life-long learners.

Objective 1:

Expand the already existing tutor program into the Middle School ('09-'10) school year and High School ('10-'11) school year by adding peer tutors and utilizing our Community Helper group (retired professionals with an interest in tutoring). Training for new peers and adults will be completed by October when the actual tutoring begins.

· Have a total of 15 tutors with an additional 3 expressing a desire to join the program after volleyball season, making a total of 18 peer and adult tutors

· Each tutor will undergo 12 hours of training

· There has been a request for tutoring from 4 students – one from middle school all those in need of tutors have been placed. There will likely be an influx of requests following parent/teacher conferences at the Elementary School.

Objective 2:

Offer adult education classes at several different venues in town and coordinate those classes with all ready existing community plans:

· Painting, pottery, jewelry classes in collaboration with the Arts/Culture Task Group.

· Classes on money management with Dave Ramsey will be shared with several of the Churches in the area offering that training.

· Meet the local author has been a feature at the second Friday a month Book Discussion session held at the Public Library and will be expanded to include more author visits in '10. "Pointed Safety" featuring Terry Lyon-McCarthy will also be offered.

· The Public Library has featured sessions on cooking, quilting, sign language, and foreign language training and our group will become involved to help them expand those programs.

· Several other adult classes are in the works with times and venues to be announced at a later date. (The above mentioned classes are a direct result of a "brain drain" problem noted in the survey taken at the March Retreat in our communities' education arena).

Task Group Members:

E. Infrastructure Task Group

GOAL: The infrastructure of the greater Brownstown area will be improved to provide more reliable utility services, storm drainage, streets and sidewalks for citizens of Brownstown and visitors of the community in order to promote better living, working, learning and recreation.

(The following items were identified as being projects that those responsible for the infrastructure would like to see completed, are in the planning stages, or are already programmed for construction. Those items are divided according to the organization responsible for the construction, operations and maintenance of the infrastructure.)

Objective I:

Improve Town of Brownstown Streets, Sidewalks, Storm Sewers and Sanitary Sewers

· New sidewalks on Bridge Street from Benton to Third Street/ Vine Street in Ewing. Possible funding ARRA Economic Stimulus Money or CDBG funds (safe school routes).

· New sidewalks on Walnut Street from Stout Street to Depot Street in Ewing. Possible funding: ARRA Economic Stimulus Money or CDBG funds (safe school routes).

· Storm sewer construction/replacement along Bridge Street.

· Storm sewer construction along Bloomington Road from the West side of SR 135 toward Marion-Kay Spices.

· Upgrades on the main sanitary sewer lift station on Old Vallonia Road, which handles about 2/3 of the sewage for the Town

· Rehabilitation of the “steel can” sanitary sewer lift station located on the North side of US 50 near Kelly Drive.

· Replace old vitrified clay sanitary sewer lines in town to reduce infiltration/ inflow to the treatment plant.

Objective 2:

Improve Jackson County Water Utility- Water services:

· Paint the elevated tank located South of Bloomington Road, West of the Jay-C Store.

· Replace older hydrants in town to improve operability in case of fire.

· Replace old lead “goosenecks”, which are service lines to customers.

· Replace some valves on water mains that do not perform very well.

· Replace older service meters, including those located in basements of homes or businesses.

· Convert to radio-read metering in town, which would allow remote meter reading from the office.

· Add a 750,000 gallon clear well to the treatment plant- this project has been bid and if funding is approved soon, should be under construction this year and be completed about one year from now.

A few of the projects are being actively pursued and at least one of them should be under construction soon. Many of these projects lack funding and therefore cannot proceed at this time.

Task Group Members:

F. Recreation Task Group

GOAL: Create a plan that promotes multi-contact use of the Greater Brownstown Area recreational resources

Objective 1:

Acquisition and development of new property for soccer/baseball or softball field by Spring 2010

· For the present, the Task Group will pursue the acquisition of private funds, for maintenance activities such as mowing.

· Discussions are underway with Brownstown Parks and Recreation to integrate this initiative into the Board’s Ten Year Plan, due in 2010

Objective 2:

Work to co-generate a Five Year Plan with the Brownstown Parks and Recreation Board

Objective 2:

Develop a walking/riding trail plan for the Greater Brownstown area

Objective 3:

Work with Jay-C / Kroger and INDOT to create a safe crossing zone across US 50 at the grocery store so pedestrians can safely reach the store

Objective 4:

Create maps of measured walking/riding routes to be available online

Objective 5:

Work with Chamber website to ensure all of the Greater Brownstown recreational resources are represented and promoted

Objective 6:

Lay the groundwork for building and maintaining an indoor swimming pool in Brownstown

Task Group Members: