Wednesday evening, Mayor Chad Frank held his State of the City. Frank said he was honored to be chosen to serve a second term and looks forward to what the next four years will bring.
“When I came into office in 2020, there were three problem areas we focused on, and will continue to focus on going forward. People/pay, equipment\facilities, and placemaking. Since the 1980’s the city has seen a population decline resulting in each department being whittled down to bare bone staff. Now we are seeing growth which requires more manpower to help facilitate continued growth while providing increased services to our community. There were several years in a row, in most cases over 12 years, with no base pay increases for city employees which was a large contributing factor to low employee morale. Our focus was on pay raises first and then finding ways to increase manpower where we are lacking. 78 percent of the general fund goes toward employees, leaving 22 percent for everything else needed for day-to-day operations. This coupled with 40 plus years of population decline and the current climate of increased pay everywhere puts us in a very bad position for attraction and retention. The equipment and facilities were let go for many years without any replacement cycle established with little to no maintenance completed on the facilities. The answer we had, and still have, is that we must grow as a community in order to provide the protection and service citizens need and desire. This is why we focused on placemaking strategies and marketing to promote growth.
"Last year, Opportunity Drive, a major investment for commercial real estate development on the north end around Walmart was finished. Since this area is in the Opportunity Zone, we applied for and were awarded a marketing grant from OCRA to help attract investment. This project also provided a much-needed walking path from 37th street to the Walmart shopping area. The walking path is a safer connection to this area, so people don’t have to walk along the busy highway anymore.
"Autumn Trace Senior Communities selected to build their beautiful, assisted living facility in this area. This provides much-needed housing opportunities for members of our community. The housing study we completed in 2021 was used to help attract this development by showing them the need for assisted living in Connersville. We also completed a hotel feasibility study that shows we have a need for another hotel, but the high cost of building right now shows a return on investment lower than investors want to see.
"A second investment in Opportunity Drive was Fast Pace Health offering urgent care, behavioral health, and telehealth options. Clinics like this are important for community growth and we are excited they chose Connersville as a location to serve.
"'During the community planning phase of the comprehensive plan, we met with the high school students twice. This was done to see what the next generation wants to see the community look like so when they graduate, we provide a community where they want to stay or return after college to make this their home. One of the questions asked at the first planning meeting was ‘what do you want here that you don’t think will ever happen?’ The overwhelming response was Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. When I went back several months later for the second planning session, I told them Dunkin Donuts was starting construction on 30th Street. Their excitement over something they never thought we would get helped them believe our community can have the desired amenities to make this their home. Their excitement is one that drives me every day to make what seems impossible, possible.
"'Ried Health held a groundbreaking for their new 100-million-dollar medical facility at the location of the old Kmart property. Not having a hospital is a deterrent to the growth of our community. This major investment is a piece of the puzzle to help attract and retain businesses and residents alike. It is also an opportunity for our community members who want to work in the health care industry to live and work right here. Equipment is starting to be delivered on site and the dirt work will begin shortly after.
"Nova Chemicals Corporation and Novalex Holdings collaborated to develop their first mechanical recycling facility. The facility will process post-consumer plastic films to produce the company’s SYNDIGO™ recycled polyethylene (rPE) at commercial scale as early as 2025, delivering over 100 million pounds of rPE to the market by 2026. The facility will employ approximately 125 people and was strategically selected because of its access to abundant feedstock supply of post-consumer films from nearby metropolitan areas, and easy-to-access rail service for distributing to NOVA Chemicals’ customers.
"The equipment/facilities challenge has been significantly improved but is still a large need. Not one department had a replacement plan in place, so we inventoried the equipment to see the estimated costs and started developing strategies for replacement. Police and EMS have a replacement fund established but were still on a 20-year replacement cycle while mostly purchasing used vehicles. The specialized tools of the trade needed for officers to do their job were worn out and, in some cases, not replaced at all so officers had to share what was available. Fire trucks are approaching 30 years old and some safety apparatus is pushing the end of its life use. Fire stations are well maintained but are old with problems of their own. The street department was using equipment so old parts could not be obtained. They also were in need of tools and equipment they did not even have for road repairs. We were able to utilize the ARPA money as matching grant funds where we could, which helped us attain more equipment with what money we received. We still have a long way to go but have significantly reduced the replacement cycle timeline. City Hall received a grant from the Urban Enterprise Association to paint the building, giving it a fresh, new look, creating a more attractive building. This was also done to encourage other businesses to take advantage of this program and clean up the outside of their buildings.
"I attend the Ball State University Mayors Institute every time it is available. This is an opportunity to network with other mayors from around the State and to receive high level community building training from the Ball State University Indiana Communities Institute. The economic training is based on data collected by Dr. Michael Hicks that shows what the driving forces are for population growth and business growth, and it’s not jobs. That data shows population growth is occurring in communities with higher quality of life indicators, in contrast, population growth is flat in communities with higher quality of business environment indicators. People relocate for amenities, not for jobs, and residents with strong place attachment are less likely to leave their communities. There are three things that connect people with place: social offerings, openness, and aesthetics.
"Placemaking is the last piece of the puzzle that we are making major investments in. Placemaking is not new, it was used in the mid 90’s and was a design concept focusing on people and places, not cars or shopping centers. Placemaking is also a major piece of attraction for businesses. Businesses looking to locate in communities look at placemaking, so their employees have a desirable community to live in. This is one factor when we applied for the HELP grant from OCRA. We committed $1 million dollars of our ARPA money for a $1 million dollar match from OCRA. The projects identified through the process was Offutt’s Park Fitness Park and Park a skate park/pump track, playground, and bathroom remodel in Roberts Park across from the Roberts Building. 2nd Street Park and Market Street Plaza are also placemaking projects that focus on people.
"All three, people/pay, equipment/facilities, and placemaking are equally important and work hand in hand to create a community where people want to live. If we are only making investments in one or two of these areas and not the third, community growth becomes more challenging if not negative. Each area requires an initial investment, but also a plan for sustainability going forward. The challenge is that we need a significant amount of investment in all three areas without adequate funds to do so. We constantly look at different options like grants and building partnerships with organizations to help invest in all three areas.
"Our strategy of revitalizing the downtown to bring people first then businesses will come is working. Celebration in the Ville, Historic Downtown Winterfest, and Farm to table are the anchor events bringing people downtown. When completed, Market Street Plaza will bring multiple events downtown increasing the people traffic. Last year, Celebration in the Ville had over 7,000 visitors attend. This event continues to gain more attraction from the surrounding areas and has grown every year.
"For the Community Day of Service over 700 plants were planted creating a softer texture to the concrete and asphalt. This spring more plants and mulch will be added to all the mulch strips. String lights were added creating a visually pleasing atmosphere for outdoor lifestyle events.
"Farm to Table was created to highlight local produce cooked right in front of you so members of the community can experience a nice meal while spending time with others from the community. It is not a fund raiser, but rather a time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. We started it small to see how it would go and to make sure we got it right. It doubled in size the second time and we have had numerous comments about looking forward to this year’s event.
"Historic Downtown Connersville Winterfest is rapidly growing as well. During the whole month of December, downtown Connersville saw over 51,000 visits to the downtown! Comments we hear from attendees is they feel like they are in a Hallmark movie. The long-term goal with Winterfest is to extend the opportunities to other businesses outside of downtown. This is one of the reasons we started the Christmas light display in Roberts Park. Each year, we want to see this grow to attract more people to visit Connersville, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores. The longer they stay here, the more they spend here, giving our businesses more opportunity to succeed.
"The philosophy behind any city sponsored event is if it is successful, sponsors will come to us to sponsor or participate instead of constantly asking for sponsors. This is happening and buildings are starting to be revitalized. There is much more to be done downtown, but the number of conversations we have with businesses that want to locate downtown is growing! Last fall we invested in a way to accurately track the number of visitors and where they come from, so we can market our events more strategically.
"The first Tri-State Food Truck Challenge was held last September, bringing over 13,000 visitors to our airport. This event highlighted our beautiful airport while showcasing our local bands to the surrounding area. Bringing people to our community is one piece, exposing our local talent to a broad spectrum of people from all over the region helps our local businesses grow.
Departments:
"One major problem the Fire, Police, and EMS faced was radio communication with each other. Each department had different radio systems and they could not directly communicate with each other. The police and fire had old radios that were starting to fail so we needed a solution. The cost to update them was $650,000 so we utilized ARPA money to get us up to date on our communications. It has taken over 12 months for everything to come in, but we are now operational and can communicate directly between departments now.
"Police Department: Police departments everywhere are all facing the same hiring and retention challenges. Hiring pools are shrinking, but the need is not. This has led to higher wages and some departments restructuring schedules. This is always a topic of discussion when I attend Mayor meetings trying to find solutions. No wage increases for many years compounds the difficulty in us being competitive in attracting and retaining officers. We are the first administration in a long time to give raises every year to at least begin making our wages more attractive. We have some officers with many years of service who tell me this is the most raises they have seen in their entire career. We still have a long way to go to be more competitive but are making strides in this area. Vehicles and tools of the trade were also let go for far too long. The first goal of reducing the 20-year replacement cycle of vehicles was greatly reduced by utilizing ARPA dollars. Our goal is to get to an 8-year cycle, which still seems like a long time for vehicles that are used for patrolling. Equipment was also a major challenge. When our swat team deployed, we had to call surrounding departments for gas grenades, and we didn’t have masks to enter the building after deployment. Their helmets were old and the communications in them did not work well, increasing their risk of personal harm. Stop sticks were worn out and had to be shared between each shift so there was always at least one usable. Vehicles did not have printers causing inefficient paperwork time. The server that is used by CPD and the Sherif’s department was failing constantly because it was outdated and no longer serviceable. The cost was $350,000, which included 2 patrol vehicles and the old Bookmobile for a swat vehicle. We utilized ARPA money, opioid fund, insurance fund savings, and money we had saved in vehicle fund to purchase all the equipment. Now, our officers have the equipment needed to do their job safely, effectively, and efficiently.
"Ordinance enforcement saw a change with Randy Wulff being hired to replace Nick Brown. Nick started from scratch helping us build a program that hadn’t existed for a long time. Randy Wulff has taken what we started and implemented new strategies to improve the process. Ordinance enforcement is vital to enhancing quality of life by helping to sustain safe, healthy living conditions for residents and businesses of the city.
"Fire Department: The Fire Department faces the same pay and equipment challenges. Most of the trucks are approaching the end of life use as well as other outdated equipment. When we looked at replacing our 30-year-old ladder truck it was around $900,000. We applied for grants but were not selected so we continued to look for different options. That same truck is now $1.3 million, and we were able to secure funding through the Indiana Bond Bank to purchase the truck. The reason this method was selected is that the payment for this truck does not come out of our budgeted general fund obligation. Without this option, we would not be able to replace the truck leaving a 30-year-old truck in service. Another major item that was at its end-of-life use were the SCBA’s which are air tanks and masks to protect firefighters. The total cost of the SCBA’s was $280,000 we received a grant that covered 80 percent leaving $80,000 for the city to cover. We used ARPA money to cover this cost. The timing of updating the radios and the SCBA’s at the same time was we were able to match the radios with the masks, so we have good quality communications when firefighters are inside a building fighting fire. Being inside a burning building is already stressful enough, not being able to communicate makes it worse. These new masks have top quality communications adding another layer of safety for our firefighters. Other equipment that got replaced was the Assistant Chief’s truck and several small tools that needed to be replaced costing $168.000.00, which ARPA money covered.
"EMS Department: The EMS Department faces the same pay and equipment challenges just like fire and police. Last year a study showed the state of Indiana was 1,000 paramedics short without any real answers on how to address the problem. Just like the other departments, pay raises were not given for several years, once again putting us even further behind. The current ambulances we have are older and are having more maintenance issues. One ambulance was added over 5 years ago which were purchased used from another department. The cost of each ambulance is around $270,000.00 and we used ARPA money along with some saved money to purchase 2 new ambulances. They have been on a 2 year plus waiting list with expectations of being delivered sometime this year.
"Street Department: The Street Department had, and still has, several issues with old equipment and just like the other departments have the same pay and staffing issues. Just about everything was old and broken down, more than was able to be used. To date we have replaced a new hotbox for asphalt repair, 2 used dump trucks, 2 new trash trucks, 2 pickup trucks, one used and one new with a snowplow and salt spreader, a UTV with snowplow, lawn mowers with rear discharge to replace the side discharges that were causing insurance claims, a new backhoe, and new loader. Road maintenance is something we have focused on so we can maximize the amount of work we are able to do with the money we have. We have 75 miles of roads in the city with an approximate cost of $800,000 a mile to mill, pave, and update ADA ramps. We budget $375,000 and receive $375,000 in Community Crossings Grant for a total of $750,000. Even though this seems like a lot of money, this puts us on an 80-year cycle. This is why we have focused on preservation methods to help make our roads last longer. Our long-term goal is to touch every single road every 3 to 5 years with a maintenance program to extend the life of the road. To accomplish this, crack sealing and using different road preservation methods like micro sealing are in the long-term plans. A good maintenance program takes many years to implement completely, but the result of a good program pays off in the long run. Since we can utilize the Community Crossings Grant for preservation, we are going to dedicate a portion of the amount we receive to do road preservation work.
"Our trash and recycling program has been met with difficulty from day one. Our first obstacle was two trucks with cracked frames put out of service and the automated truck we had was not maintained as it should have been, especially since it was the only one we had. We now have two new trucks that alternate so proper maintenance can be done. We wanted to offer curbside recycling after we purchased the second truck, but the tipping fees and transportation costs started escalating beyond what was feasible for us to pick up. We formed a trash committee with council members and board of works members to evaluate next steps. Many ideas were tossed around but finally we decided to bid out the trash two ways. The first bid was the way we currently do it, and the alternate bid was to let someone else do it all which is challenging because we offer services that most trash companies do not.
"Parks Department: The Parks Department started off the year with the new director, Marla Steele. Marla faced a huge task of evaluating each area to find the strengths and weaknesses to make each one better. Like all other departments, it faces the same staffing and pay problems. We have made good strides in replacing equipment and getting it on a cycle, but there is still more that needs to be done. We have updated most of the mowing equipment, tractor, utv, and were able to use ARPA money to purchase two pickup trucks, one with a snowplow and salt box so the staff can maintain the roads and parking lots more efficiently. The facilities in the park are old and in need of more maintenance and in some cases completely updated. The playground across from the Roberts Building will be replaced with our portion of the HELP Grant we were awarded. This will coincide with the pump track and skate park to be built in the same area. This area will provide opportunities for all ages and all skill levels and is another piece of the puzzle for physical fitness to help our health rankings. Another project for health and fitness is the Offutt’s Park Fitness Park, which is also part of the HELP Grant. We committed one million dollars from our ARPA money to be matched one million from OCRA all dedicated to legacy programs like the fitness park and skate park. This fitness park will include a walking path with exercise stations spread out along the path, a shelter, water bottle filling station, hand sanitizing station, ADA paths to the futsal and basketball courts, and update the basketball court.
"One goal we had was once Historic Downtown Winterfest was running strong, we wanted to grow the Christmas in the Park event by adding a drive-thru light display. The event was a huge success this year and the park looked beautiful throughout the entire month of December. This year, we want to grow the event, so it is bigger and better. If you would like to participate in this year’s light display, reach out to the parks department and begin planning your display now! Our hope is that the light display grows every year making Connersville a destination city for Winterfest and Christmas in the Park!
"The Kennedy Bridge has been a very long process, but finally on its way to completion. There were several obstacles to overcome which caused the project to stall, but it is standing as it should now. Once the siding has acclimated, we will be painting the bridge to protect it from the weather. The bridge is now set as it should so it can be enjoyed by all for many more years.
"The 2nd Street Park project is another one that has taken longer than anticipated. The funds for the project were all donated along with contractors contributing their labor as donations. The first contractor was not able to do the project, so we were left to find someone who wanted to complete the project as a donation as well. A local contractor whose wish is to remain anonymous stepped up and completed the dirt work for the project. The concrete work was also donated labor by a contractor with a personal connection to the Long family and we have been waiting on them to finish their portion of the project. They are finishing another job and should be starting on 2nd Street shortly.
"River’s Edge is a project that is going to take a lot of creativity to complete. The construction was never completed to the requirements of the grant, so until they are completed, we cannot apply for any DNR grants. The plan for this year is to complete what needs to be done so we are on good terms with the DNR and apply for grants to finish the project. We have been frugal with the ARPA money, purchasing much needed equipment first and the remaining amount is planned to be used to satisfy the DNR portion. We submitted Rivers Edge as a READI project, but the 4 to 1 match will still be difficult to reach with the price tag of the project. We had an estimate in 2021 of 5 million without lighting, which we believe inflation has moved that number closer to 8 million. I know this number seems high for baseball fields, but as I speak with mayors from around the state, this is not out of line with what they are seeing.
"Market Street Plaza was commissioned by the Redevelopment Commission to be constructed on the old Burkhart’s lot. The RDC committed $650,000 to the project along with the Fayette Community Foundation securing a grant from Lilly of $80,000 and the READI grant of $200,000. We utilized the BOT (buy operate transfer) model for construction so local contractors can work on it. Most government projects that are completed the traditional way are forced to use large companies that can meet the bonding requirements that small, local contractors cannot. If we are using tax dollars to create quality places to benefit the community, I believe local contractors should be able to benefit from some of the work keeping the money local instead of sending it outside the community. We had to do a lot of re-design work and creative solutions like the street department helping remove the dirt, bringing fill we saved from the wastewater overflow project, and compact it so it is ready for foundations and the concrete pad. The permits are turned in for approval with the anticipated excavation beginning in April. The prefab work is on a 3–6-month time frame and the contractor building the structure is available later this year. There may be periods of time that the project seems stalled while waiting for contractor to start work.
"The Utilities started construction on the 24-million-dollar headworks facility at the wastewater treatment plant for storm water retention. Instead of digging up the streets and installing a storm water collection system, the wastewater treatment plant will retain storm water in a pond and treat it before discharging it into the river. The reasoning for this route is the cost of digging up the streets and installing a separate storm system is much more than building the wet weather facility at the plant. Secondly, our plant is old and needed updated screens and pumps, so the update was included in the new wet weather facility. This facility is also a better option when discharging water to the river since it will be processed through the facility instead of being collected off the streets and discharged directly into the river. This project completes the 30 million dollar agreed order placed on our community by IDEM over 25 years ago.
"Our local government spent many years kicking the can down the road on many items in each department. My administration has been focused on fixing the problems while creating placemaking opportunities so our community can grow. There is still much work to do, and we are committed to working on solutions to help propel our community forward and encourage others to want to live and work here. The future is bright, and I look forward to serving another four years as Mayor of Connersville."
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