June 17 - News from District 1 Lots of great things have happened for Greene County since April. Courthouse work is progressing at lightening speed. Our Architect has come up with preliminary plans and design for parking around the courthouse. The plans call right now for almost 50 parking places!! County road work is progressing nicely and road prep for paving is moving right along. We should see paving and chip seal accomplished in District 1 in late July or early August. The BRAC announcement causes all to breathe a sigh of relief - NSWC Crane was spared closure. The potential loss of 700 jobs is not desirable, however, the process is not yet complete and we can be thankful that we did not lose the entire base. BRAC Commissioner Skinner was very direct and amicable during the press conference held on June 6th after his visit to the base. He projected optimism and extreme interest in the surrounding communities and what NSWC Crane means to us. He is originally a Mid-Western guy, and I believe that these roots will weigh heavily on his summary to the BRAC Commission. Following is a link to my statement regarding New Terrain I69 and information gathered at the Public Hearing for Section 4 held June 16 in Bloomington. (Read the Speech ) The most disturbing information learned at the Public Meeting, is that there are only two planned interchanges for New Terrain I69 : St Rd 37 and St Rd 231. Interchanges at St Rd 45, St Rd 54 and the possibility of an interchange in the Carmichael Rd/Breeden Rd area are on the maybe list. DLZ informed the public at the hearing that "none, one, two or all three - may or may not happen". Early on, I attempted to become a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and was unsuccessful. Mr. Larry Hasler is the Commissioner's representative on the CAC. I also questioned DLZ and other Greene County elected officials late last year, as to why the Section 4 Office was not placed in Greene County. There were two answers: 1) They refused to put the office in Bloomfield because Bloomfield is not within the route designation and 2) DLZ could not think of a more convenient location (to them). I also questioned DLZ on June 7th, as to why the Public Hearing was being held in Bloomington at the AMVets location. The answer at that time, was "that was the decision of INDOT, BLA and DLZ and they believed that this locale would provide more control". Educate yourself regarding New Terrain I69 by utilizing the following links: http://www.in.gov/dot/projects/ http://www.carri69.org/ http://www.i69tour.org/