HUNTINGBURG — For Huntingburg, 2017 could be considered the year of building.
That includes the physical building, with projects like Market Street Park and the overpass that started last year.
It also includes infrastructure building, such as the installation of high-speed internet and the upgrading of the city’s water meter system, both projects that are underway.
But just as significant, Mayor Denny Spinner noted, was the building of the community, through collaborations that continue into 2018.
“The projects are important. But there are other issues that we are still trying to address in a more positive way,” Spinner said. “And we are progressing on that.”
He mentioned the Latino Collaboration Table, which started as a group in Huntingburg, but expanded to include groups from other communities.
“We have a great partnership from around the county, and a lot of constituencies are represented,” Spinner said. “We have education (representatives) at the table, health (representatives), businesses. We have the right people having the right discussions.”
The goal of the collaboration is simple, yet very much needed, Spinner said. “How we continue to improve on our relationships with the Latino community is vital,” he said. “With this partnership, we have a great opportunity to make some significant strides in that area.”
Spinner also has the Mayor’s Youth Council, a group of 20 youth in the city that he meets with once a month. “It’s a way to open the dialogue between the mayor and the youth in the community,” he said. “And they are giving us great ideas.”
The physical projects in the city included collaborations as well, with community members forming subcommittees to give input on Stellar Communities projects like Market Street Park. Along with the community input on the park’s features and designs, members of the community donated money for an endowment for the park’s future upkeep.
“This is going to be a transformational place for the City of Huntingburg,” Spinner said of the park. “It’s going to provide a new gathering space for the community, a location for a lot of family gatherings and social interactions in the heart of the city.”
The Fourth Street Heritage Trail, a redesign of Fourth Street between Geiger and Jackson streets, was also designed with input from a community subcommittee. That project is set to start this year; construction bids will be opened Thursday.
And the new overpass — which will connect 14th Street and Styline Drive — that is under construction was sparked by community concerns as well. “It addresses a public safety need as much as it does a transportation need,” Spinner said. “It opens up that line of transportation to enable emergency traffic to not be stopped by a long train going through town.”
The city also recently expanded its police force to include a dedicated drug enforcement officer and a dedicated school resource officer.
“This is a commitment we are willing to make for this safety of our youth, and for all our citizens,” Spinner said. “The opioid crisis that is across the state of Indiana, this is one approach to help solve that problem, to increase law enforcement and to increase the awareness in the schools and amongst our youth population. We’re hoping this additional staff will help address this in a much better way. And we are dedicating the resources to help us do that.”
Infrastructure projects, like the water metering system upgrade and Perry Spencer Communication’s installation of fiber lines for high-speed internet throughout the city, will be improvements in communication services for residents.
“It’s addressing a need we have now, but it’s thinking beyond that need to how we can use this to expand how the city provides services,” Spinner said. “The system we’re building can be used for other services in the future. This will put us in a position of meeting the technology needs of our community and of those who will come to Huntingburg to live.”
Spinner also noted that more housing is being built, with the Hunters Crossing subdivision and other individual home starts on the north side of the city. And the city will find out next month if the state will grant tax credits for the workforce housing planned for the former Wagon Works sites at Washington and Fifth streets.
Many of these projects came through the city’s designation as a Stellar Community by the state. But that time frame for receiving Stellar funding will end at the end of this year.
“Stellar has been the focus for four years,” Spinner said. “We have to start looking beyond Stellar, and what we are going to do in the areas that were not directly impacted by the Stellar designation.”
Huntingburg has already started that. Last year, the city established an economic development area along Main Street, which is U.S. 231 in the city, from First Street to near 22nd Street. “I would hope that we can focus on the needs in that area,” the mayor said.
Last year, the city held community meetings to get ideas of what the citizens would like to see come to the city. Those ideas were numerous and diverse. City officials have a lot to work with, Spinner said.
He happily anticipated that community input will continue.
“We’re building on the heritage that is Huntingburg,” he said.