Come One, Come All - Tuesday June 16

Hello, neighbors!
Attached is the Vision Plan and Mission Statement that created from your responses at the two workshops in May. Please look them over and plan to talk about them at the next meeting on Tuesday, June 16, at 7 p.m. in Good Hall Recital Hall (the same place the workshops were held).

Proposed Neighborhood Vision Statement

The University Heights (UH) neighborhood is a community where homeowners and
renters work in unison to create an atmosphere that mimics the sociable ambience, beautification efforts, and safe environment of years past. This commitment contributes to an escalating pride of place that encourages longtime residents to remain and younger residents, many with families,to establish new roots.
The UH neighborhood is an established community where homes were built with character, such as including porches and yards to encourage neighbor interaction. Residents engage in friendly conversation and welcome the continued diversity of homeowners. Tree-lined streets with sidewalks make it a walkable community and easy access to downtown Indianapolis and major highways is an added convenience. The University Heights Neighborhood Association was established to give the residents a common voice, to deal with problems as they arise, and to revitalize the neighborhood.
The UH neighborhood is adjacent to the University of Indianapolis, which adds resources for residents’ use and various other support services, such as police patrols. In recent years, rental property owners have been lackadaisical in the upkeep of their homes and in monitoring their renters’ actions, so current residents have complaints about the lack of ownership renters place on these rental properties. Because of this concern, the University requires certified housing qualifications to be met for its students by following these steps:

• Rental property owners sign a contract and abide by its rules of conduct, maintenance, and service.

• Students sign a contract and abide by its rules of conduct, maintenance, and service.

• Action is taken by the University against students who do not show initiative in the maintenance of the property and/or who do not abide by the rules stated in the contract.
  

The land that was occupied by the University’s apartments on the corner of Castle Avenue and
Edwards Street is now a park-like setting that includes green space and picnic tables for area
residents.

As the University Heights neighborhood begins its renewed interest in the future of this
close-knit community, businesses and restaurants will move back into the area as they see
opportunities to participate in the revitalization of the area.

University Heights Neighborhood Mission Statement
In order to achieve this vision, we require positive actions by a strong neighborhood association,
committed neighbors, and strong partnerships with the University of Indianapolis and other area businesses.

Attention Neighbors. Now is the time to take part!

ATTENTION UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS NEIGHBORS:

Are you concerned about?
Loud parties
Pot holes and Abandoned cars
Barking dogs
Unsafe driving
Parked semi trucks
Suspicious people and cars
Door to door solicitations
Graffiti and Vandalism
Litter

Would you like to see?
A beautiful neighborhood sign
A Pocket park
Good sidewalks
Ample street lighting
Repaired streets
Good alleys
Friendly neighbors
Increased property values
Involved landlords

If you said “yes” to any of these questions, then you are a concerned neighbor and care about the future of our neighborhood. There have been some problems and concerns as well as dreams for a better neighborhood in the near future. In order to accomplish these dreams, we must all get involved. The meeting held last fall is proof that we only get a response from neighbors when there are problems. We should stay one step ahead of the problems and work together to make our neighborhood a community that people desire to live in.

We have an opportunity that many neighborhoods do not have – the University of Indianapolis is our neighbor and our friend. They have made it clear that they want to be a good neighbor and are willing to help us; all we have to do is ask. David Wantz, from the Community Relations office at UIndy, has agreed to facilitate a workshop to help create this vision and to also establish a mission statement for our neighborhood.

There will be (2) workshops available in order to accommodate everyone’s schedule:
Monday, May 11, from 7-9 p.m. OR Saturday, May 16, from 9-11 a.m.
Both workshops will be held on the first floor (Recital Hall) of UIndy's Good Hall (big columns on Hanna Ave. and Otterbein"

(Map available here: http://www.uindy.edu/maps/campusmap.php)

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend either session. I am looking forward to working with all of you to make our neighborhood the neighborhood of choice.

Sincerely,
Denny Rusher
President, University Heights Neighborhood Association

Meeting Tonight

There is a neighborhood board meeting tonight, Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Alumni Building. All neighbors welcome. Hope to see all of you there.

Discussed will be the topic of the outcome of the Married Student Housing Building at the corner of Edwards and Mathews.

Great Indy Clean Up This Saturday!!!

Hello UIndy Community!

It's that time of year again for the Great Indy Cleanup! I know many participated last year, and the Community Programs Center, along with Campus Program Board, would like to extend that opportunity to you again.

The Great Indy Cleanup will take place on Saturday April 4th, 2009. Registration starts at 9 am by UIndy Hall, with the service projects lasting from 9:30 am until noon. These projects range from picking up trash at UIndy and the surrounding community, as well as the Hannah House and University Heights church and preschool. The hours of service accumulated can be added to students' transcripts.

Lunch and t-shirts will be provided to all who participate.

Registration is currently taking place! There are green forms available in SC 209 (Student Affairs Office). However, if you would like us to send you an electronic copy of the form, please e-mail us a response. Registration can be by individual or teams.

Also, we are looking for Group Leaders for each of the projects during this event. The Group Leaders would be responsible for taking a group to an area assigned to them. We would love for faculty to participate as Group Leaders. If any faculty members are interested, please have them respond to me for more details.

This will be an exciting event, and we hope many of your will want to take part!

Thank you for your time!!!!

----

Marianna K. Foulkrod
Community Partnerships & Service Coordinator

University Heights Spring Meeting!!!

Tuesday, March 24th at 7:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall. This will be a regular style meeting, just barebones, so eat before you come.

Denny says "Hope to see everyone there!"

Everyone is welcome.
Bring your ideas. Bring a neighbor!

Greg

More Pothole Fun!

The City of Indianapolis website has some new features on it. I was pleased to find some specific improvements with some new information that you might want to refer to periodically, namely for scheduled chuckhole repairs.



http://www.indy.gov/eGov/City/DPW/Road/StreetRepairs/Pages/PotholeRepairSchedule.aspx is where you can access the scheduled repairs. DPW restructured last year into planned and unplanned repairs. This allowed them to initiate scheduled maintenance, which as any good car owner knows is key to maintaining things properly. This link is for the crews doing the preventive maintenance for known stretches of bad road. Unplanned repairs are not listed here, as they are by definition unplanned. That is in response to your emails and calls.



Please use the new link to report potholes directly 24 hours a day at http://www.indy.gov/eGov/Mayor/Pages/MACenter.aspx.



Gary

Gary A. Loveless

Mayor's Neighborhood Liaison/Perry and Franklin Twps.

Mayor Gregory A. Ballard

2160 City-County Building

Potholes Swallowing Cars!

While this is a funny name, it works wonders for entering your chuckholes that need fixed. You can enter them yourself at whatever time of the day or night you happen to think of it and have time. 24 hours. And it goes DIRECTLY into the software to get it fixed. The weather is cooperating better now, but the two day repair time we were down to is now up again, but expect all repairs to be completed in ten days is what we are being told. A street address is important to enter this into the software so please write down a close address.

Here is the link to our page!

http://www.indy.gov/eGov/Mayor/Pages/MACenter.aspx

Southside Neighborhood Forum

Southside Neighborhood Forum

Sponsored by the GSBA (Greater Southport Business Alliance)

Wednesday, March 25th

7-8 pm

Southport Community Center

6901 Derbyshire Rd

Topic: CRIME: How to identify, protect and inform

others regarding small crimes, thefts, vandalism,

graffiti, “tagging” and gangs

Facilitator: Kevin Wheeler, Government Affairs Chair, GSBA

Representatives from:

Southport Police Department

Indianapolis Metro Police

Homecroft Police Department

Marion County Prosecutor’s Office

Perry Township Schools

Attendance Benefits:

LEARN:

Who to call/how to report

What to do to protect property and person

How to ID Suspected criminal activity/persons

**Sign up for future Focus groups**

Panel Discussion

For more information, please contact the GSBA at: 787-1300

What if you could live in our neighborhood but pick the school your children attend?

A new change to Indiana State Law could allow people in our neighborhood to send the children to Perry Township schools. Here we are in University Heights neighborhood which is in Perry Township, yet because of the way they did things in the past, students here go to IPS. What if this change in state law allowed students to be sent to Perry Township Schools? Would that allow more families to move into our neighborhood? More homeowners?

From the Indianapolis Star:

"

In the past, schools have charged parents as much as $5,000 a year to recoup the difference between what the state paid to teach their child and what local taxpayers contributed. But next year, the state will pick up schools' entire operating budgets as a way to reduce property taxes.

With the state paying all operating costs, tuition will largely be a thing of the past after this semester, though some districts can still charge small amounts.

The new rules should give parents more opportunity to choose their child's school. Unless the legislature steps in, though, school districts have discretion to decide whether to accept transfer students and, if they do, which ones they will accept.

"

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080829/LOCAL/808290446

Garage Sale / Trees

Get your stuff out! Garage sale tomorrow!

Read this today regarding the value of trees:

Trees worth $5.7 million a year to Indy, study says

Study details the economic value of trees and the need to plant more

As a push to plant 1 million new trees across Indiana nears its halfway mark, a new study shows that trees provide an annual $5.7 million benefit in Indianapolis alone.

» Intercept 318.9 million gallons of rainfall a year at an estimated savings of nearly $2 million, or about $17 per tree, in storm-water handling costs.

» Cut electricity use by more than 6,447 megawatt hours, worth $432,000, by the shading effect of trees in the summer, which helps keep homes cool.

» Remove 1.5 pounds of air pollutants per tree, valued at $212,000.

» Increase property values and provide other benefits worth $2.9 million or, on average, $24 per tree.

Read More at the Indy Star: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/LOCAL/805160469/1304/LOCAL

Not mentioned in the article is that neighborhoods with more trees have less vandalism. Trees slow the cold winter winds. And best of all trees have a positive effect on people - they make us feel happy and connected with nature, they reduce stress, they help us recover from illness faster, and they restore our spirits.

Plant a tree this weekend!

Greg

Neighborhood Yard Sale

This Saturday, May 17th, is the neighborhood yard / garage sale. Ads in the Indianapolis Star start tomorrow, May 14th, and run also on Thursday, May 15th in the print addition.

The online addition will carry info about the garage sale through the weekend.
Remember, while this is a neighborhood wide garage sale, you will host your items in your garage, front porch or in your yard.

Try and be outside by 7:30AM. Big buyers are early birders.

• Have calculators, pens, newspaper to wrap breakables, boxes, and bags handy.
  
• Have plenty of change and one dollar bills on hand.
  
• Set up a secure area for your sales transactions to enable you to keep a close eye on your money box.
  
• Inform your direct neighbors that you are having a garage sale. Offer to rope their yard so people don't park on their grass.
  
• Have extension cords plugged into outlets so that electrical items can be tested.
  
• Plan to set an inviting mood by playing soft, easy-listening music.
  
• If you are short on help, consider wearing a 3-pocket apron or a fanny-wrapper purse, so that you can keep your money near you while you mingle with your shoppers.

Below are some tips and a couple of hyperlinks you should in preparation for Saturday!


From the Fun Times Guide to Yard Sales:
http://thefuntimesguide.com/2007/06/garage_sale_tips_yard_sales.php

If You've Had A Yard Sale Before...

Think back to what went wrong and what went right at your previous yard sales. Make mental notes of things you want to do at this year's yard sale, based on what you've learned from previous ones.

And if you want to do it even better the next time, then take the time to jot down some notes, and make a point to save any items that you can reuse at future yard sales.

For example, I've probably hosted a dozen or so yard sales in my lifetime, and I have one large Rubbermaid container that contains all my "necessities". So, whenever it's time to have another yard sale, I just drag out that one bin and everything I need is right there.

What's inside:

black sharpie markers	flags, pennants, balloons
blue painter's tape	staple gun
coin box	waist aprons with pockets
leftover posterboard	any old, leftover signs
clear see-thru page protectors	notepad of all my notes & a pen
mr. clean magic erasers

Prepare Your Individual Items For Sale

This year, I found a lifesaver... it's called the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!

Those little white cubes worked "magic" for cleaning things up a bit. For the yardsale, they worked best on hardbound books, removing soot from candle jars & candle holders, and cleaning out all the tiny nooks & crannies on plastic things like coolers, chairs, handles, lids, etc.

Also helpful were Lysol Cleaning Wipes. I used those to wipe-down practically everything I was selling.

As a result, many of the items I was selling looked much newer than they actually were!

Decide What You're Going To Do With The Dog

The the dog lover in me agrees with The Queen of Yard Sales:

Although you may have the friendliest dog in the world, it's best to keep them away from your yard sale. Some people are afraid of dogs or are allergic. The day of your yard sale may be the day that your friendly dog, unaccustomed to the excitement of all the people, may decide to take a chunk out of the toddler that pulls on his tail. (Or jump up on customer and get mud on a customer's pants - but hey, I swear it wasn't my fault - that customer shouldn't have come to my yardsale until I was officially opened!) It's also for the dog's safety as well, since cars will be coming and going from your driveway."

At first, I gave my (very shy) dog room to roam back & forth from the kitchen to the garage -- up to a certain point where I'd strategically placed tables to "block off" the back of the garage. But after awhile, I decided this was a bit confusing to him, so I let him hang out in the house alone. If your dog isn't particularly comfortable entertaining himself in the house alone, you may want to try a crate or kennel instead. (My dog would've done just as well inside his crate.)

Read more yard sale tips here:
Good tips!
http://couponing.about.com/od/smorgasbord/a/garagesale.htm
More:
http://thefuntimesguide.com/2007/06/how_to_have_a_yard_sale_tips.php

University Heights Clean Up - Great Success!

This last Saturday saw hundreds of students and volunteers out cleaning our neighborhood. Gutters were cleared, brush was removed and litter picked up. This event didn't just occur in University Heights, but was mirrored in neighborhoods throughout the city.

The weather cooperated and the sun came out. I must say that this clean-up would not be possible with out the help of many contributors. The University of Indianapolis was probably carried the most weight in getting this together along with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. The students I worked with great, full of energy and goodwill. They worked hard and I think that should count toward their grades. I will have a list of other gracious folk who should be recognized.

Here is a short paragraph from our president, Denny Rusher:
"I want to thank everyone personally for their efforts last Saturday . . . As a group we need to figure out how to publicly thank the students for their contributions . . . Their contribution was awesome. We drove around the next day and the neighborhood looks great."

I thought the process was more efficient than last year. The event kicked off with several dignitaries including the mayors of Beech Grove, Southport and Indianapolis. For lunch, pizza was served, both from the campus dining service and from Papa John's. Workforce, Inc. was onsite and was able to recycle more than a dozen gaylord boxes of recyclables.

March Update

Spring Meeting Just Around the Bend: MONDAY APRIL 7th! Yes, It is on a Monday this time.

Monday April 7, 7:00 PM– In basement of University Heights Methodist Church at the Corner of Otterbein and Hanna. If you have any neighborhood concerns, please bring them to this meeting.

How about the election this month? Did you vote? I almost didn't realize our polling location had changed. I liked walking to UHMC to vote, but I must say the new location on Sumner was fine.


The Great Indy Clean-Up

After last years very successful clean-up of our neighborhood, this year's clean-up has a broader vision with clean-ups around the Southside.

We need 50 volunteers from our neighborhood– Section Leaders, Block Captains, and workers. Bring your own shovels, brooms and other tools that might be useful.

If you have a pickup truck that could be used – bring it. Gloves provided.

Our focus this year will be curbs and then trash in alleys as time permits.

All residents need to park their cars off of streets that morning – church and/or UINDY parking lots should be utilized.

If you are going to work the cleanup, but can not attend the Spring Meeting (see below), contact Denny Rusher @ 788-7019 or 965-4966 so that you can get a T-Shirt.



Annual Garage Sale will be Saturday, May 17.
Get out your stash and sell - sell - sell!

Neighborhood Meeting. Spring Around The Corner

At 7:00PM this Wednesday, Feb. 27th, meet me and other concerned neighbors for 2008's first University Heights Neighborhood Association board meeting. As usual we'll meeting at the United Methodist Church at Otterbein and Hanna. We will be discussing this year's neighborhood clean-up, which is NOW scheduled for Saturday, April 26th. Last year's clean-up was such a success that several other Southside neighborhood's will be participating as well.

Our Spring general meeting will be held Wednesday, April 9th. We plan on passing out fliers, supplied by University of Indianapolis, at the end of March. Along with fliers we have an awfully neat refrigerator magnet to hand out also. I believe these were designed by students and include several helpful phone numbers on them. Cool. At this meeting we will need two to three folks to stand up and help organize the flier dispersal.

I'll have some images up soon (of the flier).

Thanks, Greg

Uheights now viewable in Google Maps Street View

The Indianapolis Star has an article about Google Maps Street View service. It doesn't have every street in Indy mapped, but it does have a lot (including our neighborhood). If you haven't tried Street View, it is pretty interesting. You get basically stroll down the street viewing the neighborhood from the street.

http://maps.google.com/

"Google has added Indy and seven other cities to its “Street View” service, (http://maps.google.com/) a new twist on Internet mapping that lets users explore 360-degree panoramic photos of cityscapes and even residential streets.
Catching offbeat images in Street View has become the subject of a blog devoted entirely to the subject.

The images, including a police officer pulling over a driver, car accidents or attractive joggers, are at http://www.streetviewfun.com/.

Indianapolis' one appearance on the site comes when a Google camera catches a horse at a strange angle, making it appear as if it's headless.'

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/LOCAL/71226008

Christmas and New Year’s Day Trash Collection

HOLIDAY NOTICE:

Christmas and New Year’s Day Trash Collection

Curbside recycling and trash collection will operate on a slide schedule during holiday weeks

Indianapolis – The Indianapolis Department of Public Works would like to remind residents that there will be NO curbside recycling, residential or heavy trash collection on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day Tuesday, December 25 and Tuesday, January 1 in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.

Monday collections will be as normal on December 24 and 31. All other collections will run one day late for the remainder of the week. Tuesday routes will be collected on Wednesday, Wednesday on Thursday, Thursday on Friday and Friday collections will be made on Saturday for both weeks. All routes will return to normal schedules on Monday, January 7.

Next Board Meeting

Things have slowed up for the neighborhood association for the next couple of months. We will resume our monthly board meeting for all of those interested again on the second Wednesday in February 2008. February 13th at 7:00PM at University Heights Methodist Church.

Until then keep an eye out here for news regarding the neighborhood.

-Greg

Holiday Trash Service

Just a reminder: When you take out all of your old turkey bones and tater skins and cranberry cans for the trash after Thanksgiving next week, remember trash day will have been pushed back to give our trashmen the good day off. So set it out on Saturday, Nov. 24th.

-Greg


The Indianapolis Department of Public Works would like to remind residents that curbside recycling, leaf and residential and heavy trash collection will operate on a slide schedule next week in observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

What to do with yard waste.

You Rake it, we’ll take it


Indianapolis – The Indianapolis Department of Public Works (DPW) will soon begin to collect fallen leaves throughout Marion County. Last year, more than 20 million pounds of leaves were collected during the annual leaf collection program.


From Monday, November 5 through Friday, November 30, up to 40 bags will be picked up in hand-collection areas each week; No more than 10 items may be regular household trash. In automated collection areas, where customers use a 96-gallon cart for their regular trash, 30 bags of leaves will be collected each week. All leaves must be bagged and placed at least 3 feet away from the cart to allow DPW trucks to continue to service the cart.


To ensure a successful collection effort, Indianapolis residents are asked to follow these simple guidelines:

*

Place leaves in plastic or paper bags
*

Place leaf bags out by 7 a.m. on your regular trash day
*

Clearly identify and separate bags of leaves from regular trash (Place them on opposite sides of the driveway, place in different colored bags, or use different color tie wraps)


Because leaves can be recycled into a useful end product, DPW composts the leaves collected and makes them available to the public free of charge. Compost can be used as a soil conditioner, potting soil or mulch. Using compost improves soil aeration, drainage and nutrient exchange – improving the health of lawns and helping gardens grow. Free compost from last year’s program may now be available at the Southside Landfill, 2577 S. Kentucky Ave., (317) 247-6808


As a reminder, it is illegal to burn leaves in Marion County. Smoke from burning leaves pollutes the air with many harmful particles, and is hazardous to young children and people with heart and lung disease.


Residents also should take special care to ensure that sewer inlets and drainage pipes are kept clear of leaves and debris to avoid serious drainage and flooding problems.


For further information please call the Mayor’s Action Center at 327.4622 or visit www.RecycleIndianapolis.org.


-30-

Fall Family Festival - Free

Fall Family Festival - Free
Sunday, October 28
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
University Heights United Methodist Church
4002 Otterbein Avenue
317-787-5347

Come and help us celebrate the arrival of fall with an event sponsored by the church and the Children's Center.

Food andfun will be on the agenda. There will also be prizes for games, plus cookies and snacks and booths. Children may dress in their costumes for this fun event.