Zionsville Matters- June 2021

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MATTERS A T OW N OF ZIONS V IL L E P UBL IC AT ION

Creekside Corporate Park FULL SPEED AHEAD

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MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

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s I watch the vaccination rate of those ages 12-plus in Indiana, I continue to see Zionsville (the 46077 zip code) among the highest vaccination rates in the state. As I type this, 46077 is over 80% fully vaccinated for those ages 12-plus. That’s the sec-

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TOWN HALL QUICK HITS What You Need to Know This Month The Municipal Action Center (MAC) is under construction with an expected opening of July 2021.

When you enter Town Hall, the MAC will be the one space visitors can come for all government services. In addition, administrative staff from the Department of Public Works and Parks Department have moved into the second floor of Town Hall.

Utilizing what was heard during the wayfinding survey that launched late last year, we are sharing the draft signage concept proposed for Zionsville. You are invited to visit the virtual open house and provide input before the plan is finalized. Visit the virtual open house at www.gettingaroundzville.com/open-house.

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ond-highest zip code in the state.

This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Boone County Health Department and its volunteers, to community leaders working together and to you … our residents. Zionsville is truly leading the way in Indiana.

I am thankful to the Boone County Health Department for running the county’s vaccination site with utmost efficiency and care to visitors and to our residents for understanding the importance of rolling up our sleeves. There is still work to be done—please continue to do your part. The Boone County Health Department vaccine clinic accepts walk-ins, but appointments can be made at ourshot.in.gov.

There are many reasons to be hopeful, and I am excited for the

second half of 2021—the return of the Zionsville Farmers Market, families eating out together at restaurants and momentum in Town projects, including the Municipal Action Center, the Zionsville Gateway Area and the Wayfinding Master Plan. Progress continues with the Big-4 Rail Trail north extension (from Heritage Trail Park to the common boundary with Whitestown) and south extension (from the bridge over Eagle Creek). On the north, the Parks Department is finalizing corridor easements, land acquisition and construction documents.

On the south, the project went out for bid and was recently awarded. Construction will begin shortly.

Mayor Emily Styron

We have been monitoring usage at Heritage Trail Dog Park and more registration spots have opened. Zionsville residents interested in joining the dog park can fill out the registration form online.

More information on fees, health and safety and other requirements can be found on the registration site. For more information and to register, visit www.zionsville-in.gov/dogpark.

Just in time for your summer events, reunions and get togethers, the Zionsville Parks and Recreation Department has a new shelter reservation system. Reservable shelters allow for the exclusive use of park shelters for a prearranged period.

To reserve a shelter, visit www.zionsville-in.gov/shelter.

The Town of Zionsville is hiring in our Parks and Recreation Department, Wastewater Department and Zionsville Police Department. Apply online at www.zionsville-in.gov/jobs.

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Meet Your Neighbor:

Cindy Madrick Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Laura Arick

Zionsville resident Cindy Madrick has been a dedicated member of the Zionsville community for 30 years. In a recent interview, Madrick shared with me her passion for her Zionsville community, for the environment and for inclusion. Madrick is the vice president, business development at Cornerstone Environmental Health and Safety, Inc. located in Bennett Business Park in Zionsville. Having previously served on the town’s Redevelopment Commission (RDC), Madrick currently serves on the town’s Plan Commission (PC). She and her husband, David, are the proud parents of Elise, Meryl, Marisa and Nicholas. I spoke with Madrick about her affinity for serving her local and global community, specifically working with Japanese business leaders both here in the U.S. and in Japan.

Community Contributions

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me,” Madrick shared. “And soon after Mayor [Emily] Styron became mayor, she called me before Christmas and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this open position that I would like for you to consider for the RDC, and I was happy to say yes. I did that for about a year and a half, and I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

There’s a lot of great people on the RDC who are really dedicated and are very thoughtful about the process.”

Assisting with the COVID-19 grants process last year is one of Madrick’s fondest memories. The grants were awarded to local businesses to help those who suffered unplanned expenses and lost revenue as a result of the pandemic.

“I have to tell you that was just a heartwarming experience,” Madrick expressed. “We listened to those stories over the course of a year, and through those grants, we were able to make a difference.”

Madrick was approached by Mayor Styron once more to fill a vacancy on the Plan Commission.

“I’ve got a lot to learn,” Madrick stated.

“But I’ve had some nice conversations

The “Day” Job Cornerstone provides enterprise environmental health and safety compliance solutions to the regulated community throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Madrick began working at Cornerstone in 1992 in sales and has worked her way up the corporate ladder over the years.

Her role is vice president, and her focus is on business development.

“This [Zionsville location] is our corporate office,” Madrick said. “Cornerstone is privately owned by a fellow Zionsville resident, Mark Miller. As I’ve evolved in the job, I’ve been very involved with the Japanese part of our business, which is a niche within our company but is about a third of our business and represents a lot of companies and revenue for us.”

Madrick continued, “As time went on, we’ve become very involved with the Japan America Society of Indiana and with other Japan America Societies throughout the country. Because I’m on the executive board, I also head up our programming and make trips to Japan every other year. COVID-19 prevented me from going last year, and I probably won’t go back until 2022, but I work with our Japanese clients literally on a daily basis and hope to have more inbound business coming soon.”

Having become a seasoned traveler to Japan, Madrick shared many fascinating aspects about the Japanese culture from a female executive’s perspective.

She emphasized that while the Japanese hold their ancient customs in the highest respect, they are gracious and profound people.

“The Japanese men and women are gracious and peaceful people,” Madrick expressed. “They are profound, deep thinkers, and I’ve learned so much from working with them over the years. They may be ‘old school’ in some ways, but they are kind and loving people.”

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Madrick shared that one of her favorite aspects of working on the RDC was the role the commission played in providing COVID-19 grant money for not-for-profits and for-profit businesses.

In her new role on the Plan Commission, she looks forward to continuing to learn about town government, to joining a group of dedicated people with varying opinions coming together for Zionsville’s future and to the results of the Zionsville Gateway Area plan.

Many may know Madrick from one of her many volunteer positions serving Zionsville organizations such as the SullivanMunce Cultural Center, where she served on its board of directors, the Zionsville Farmers Market and the Azionaqua Swim Club. She is also an elder at her church, First Meridian Heights Presbyterian Church, serving on the Mission & Outreach Committee and is program chair and on the executive board of the Japan America Society of Indiana.

“We love everything about Zionsville, and we got involved pretty early on, which was important to both David and

with the people who are on the commission, and I’m looking forward to playing a role in the vision of where we’re going as a community, and I’m excited about that.”

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accessible playground for children ages 5 to 12. The Parks Department will also be installing a hoop house for future gardening programming that will teach people how to garden, compost, grow natives and more.

Zionsville Golf Course

Zionsville Parks and Recreation Projects Update Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Submitted

Exciting things are happening this summer throughout our community, and the efforts of many local residents and volunteer parks board members, who had the foresight and vision to make long-term plans for our parks and trail systems, are coming to fruition in 2021.

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he Town of Zionsville’s Superintendent of Parks and Recreation Jarod Logsdon and Parks Board President Tim Casady shared updates on the Big-4 Rail Trail extension and park projects.

Overley-Worman Park and Big-4 Trail Southern Extension Opening Fall 2021 “What’s going to be fantastic about the grand opening of Overley-Worman [Park] is that it’s going to pair with the expansion of the southern rail trail,” Logsdon stated. “So, not only are we going to have a brand-new park and a new segment of trail coming online, we’re connecting them so folks from the Vonterra [neighborhood] can finally connect to the rest of the park system through the rail trail and everyone north of the Overley-Worman Park is going to be able to walk to it.”

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In addition to the rail trail connectivity, Overley-Worman will offer the town’s first town-sanctioned mountain bike trails, a nine-hole disc golf course and a fishing pier and boardwalks.

Visitors looking to fish in the park will need to abide by state laws and carry a fishing permit.

“Zionsville is getting a lot of firsts in this park,” Logsdon stated. “We’re embracing the unnatural topography of this park and creating unique features.”

As most longtime residents know, the golf course was intentionally built in a floodplain. The Parks Department is working on improvements to help drain the course more expeditiously while trying to mitigate the wear and tear to the course. The department also plans to improve the cart paths.

“We keep attracting more people [each year over the last couple of years], and the revenues are going up. We put that aside so that we can continue to improve the course,” Logsdon said.

The Parks Board Encourages Residents to Provide Input The Parks Board President Tim Casady expressed how important residents’ input is, especially when the board is creating its next five-year strategic plan.

“In 2022, we will be doing our next fiveyear plan, and we will look to the public to explore, discover, enjoy our parks and trails so they can give us feedback when we’re doing our long-range planning,” Casady said.

If you have feedback related to our parks and trails to share with Superintendent of Parks and Recreation Jarod Logsdon, please contact him at jlogsdon@zionsville-in.gov.

Heritage Trail Phase II The construction recently started on the Heritage Trail Phase II and is expected to be completed by late August of this year. These improvements are part of the Zionsville Parks and Recreation FiveYear Master Plan.

Park improvements include expanded parking, a multipurpose pathway along CR 875 East, dog park drinking fountains, new sidewalks, and an additional

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Zionsville Gateway Area:

How It Started, How It’s Going

With the demolition of the PNC bank building and locksmith shop at the northwest corner of Main and Sycamore streets on July 28, 2020, the Town of Zionsville began the first stage of the planning for what would become known as the Zionsville Gateway Area (ZGA).

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(and continue to engage) Zionsville community members and residents. To ensure they were creating a “whole-community serving” experience, the consultants involved the community in the process through a community survey, two in-person listening sessions, one online listening session and many stakeholder interviews. Along with public input about conceptual ideas and desires, the consultants gathered data to help understand general trends, the makeup of residents and market context.

What’s next? Over the next few months, DELV and TPMA will finalize the collected data from the survey, listening sessions and stakeholder interviews. In the summer of 2021, it is expected that the results of the study and data gathering will be presented to the community. The study will represent the first step toward achieving the Town’s goals for the ZGA, but this is only the beginning.

We look forward to sharing more soon—please follow along at zionsville-in.gov/gatewayarea.

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What is the ZGA? The ZGA represents an underutilized area of downtown Zionsville. It is the southern entry point and major gateway into the downtown area. Including land surrounding the intersection of Sycamore Street and Main Street, the ZGA’s northern boundary is loosely based on Sycamore Street. Creekside Park generally represented the eastern boundary, and private property is the area’s boundary to the west. Eagle Creek is the extreme southern boundary.

The Town engaged DELV Design and Thomas P. Miller & Associates (TPMA) to better understand what development residents would like to see and how these preferences could take shape.

TPMA and DELV identified three main objectives to guide the Town through the redevelopment based on design thinking methodologies: Understand (solving the right problem), Explore (solving the problem right) and Implement (next step: full design ahead).

Together the Town and the consultants developed a mission statement that highlights the importance of identifying an economically vibrant outcome for the ZGA: We are here to identify the highest, best and most sustainable mix of uses within the Zionsville Gateway Area (ZGA) and to explore ideas for an economically vibrant, whole-community serving and authentically Zionsville experience.

The Town and consultants vowed to involve the public in the development of a framework for future development in the ZGA and engaged

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Full Speed Ahead:

Economic Growth, Quality of Life and Creekside Corporate Park

Last month the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) team broke ground on their future corporate headquarters in Creekside Corporate Park. During the groundbreaking Bobby Rahal shared how the project is a culmination of many dreams. Mike Lanigan discussed the economic growth that has taken place in Zionsville and said, “I salute the mayor and the business development people with all the expansion that you have had.”

He added that he jumped at the opportunity to come to Zionsville – “great town, great people and I thank you for working with us in a big way.”

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the environment as little as possible. Small rain gardens below ground level take the place of retention ditches. The porous pavement allows rainwater to drain into the ground.

The property, which is owned by the Zionsville Redevelopment Commission, enhances Zionsville’s sense of place and improves the community’s overall economic well-being. Walk through Zionsville’s Creekside Corporate Park on any given day and it will feel more like a nature park than a corporate business park.

Walking trails, open green spaces, ravines and a variety of wildlife surround you. Residents walk, run and bike on the one-mile winding, paved trail system that connects to South Main Street, Main Street and Creekside Nature Park.

A basketball court and stretching stations allow for recreational activity.

“The health of employees more important than ever,” said Planning & Economic Development Director Wayne DeLong. “Creekside Corporate Park is playing a part in this as the Town knows a community that invests in recreational amenities is more likely to attract a highly skilled, educated and entrepreneurial workforce.”

As the Town of Zionsville continues to seek development opportunity that is the right fit for Creekside Corporate Park, leadership is committed to the local culture. “Our local team is committed to pursuing innovative growth and corporate investment that aligns with our community’s unique sense of place,” Mayor Emily Styron said.

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overnor Eric Holcomb said, “What (RLL is) going to bring here is going to be instrumental for future growth — not just in the state but really as a model for the rest of the world.”

Mayor Emily Styron talked about the collaborative spirit of working with the RLL team. “In working with RLL this past year, it’s evident that collaborative leadership coupled with a firstclass corporate park is a winning combination.”

Located on the north side of 106th Street, Creekside Corporate Park blurs the line between the office and the great outdoors. The parcels can accommodate multiple smaller office buildings around 10,000 - 20,000 square feet, as well as larger buildings in the range of 150,000 - 250,000 square feet. Nearly 30 percent of the property is preserved as woodlands and wetlands. Of the 90 acres in Creekside, 25 acres are maintained for green space and passive recreation.

Creekside Corporate Park has received statewide recognition for its design and ingenuity.

The park received a Merit Award for Design from the American Council of Engineering Companies and an Excellence in Sustainable Design award from the White River Alliance. But that is just one part of Creekside’s story.

A conservation office park, Creekside is one of the most progressive and environmentally friendly office parks in the metro area.

Creekside is among the first of its kind to utilize low-impact development that is meant to alter

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Board/Committee/ Commission Spotlight:

Community Development Corporation

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he Town of Zionsville’s Community Development Corporation (CDC) serves to receive funding in the form of assessments and awards from various for-profit and not-for-profit entities. In turn, the CDC awards the funds to various for-profit and not-for-profit entities via the Redevelopment Commission (RDC) in the interest of and for the betterment of the community of Zionsville.

The CDC is comprised of six members. Four are appointed by the mayor. Two are appointed by the RDC. Term of service is one year.

MEMBERS • • • • • •

Cara Weber – President Tammy Kelly – Vice President Brooks Mattice Erika Pickell Jaclyn Spillane Ben Worrell

COVID-19 Grants Throughout 2020 and early 2021 the CDC focused on supporting local businesses impacted

by COVID-19. In 2020 the CDC awarded $113,000 in grants to 14 local businesses. In early 2021 the CDC awarded $50,000 to five local businesses.

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Recent Agenda Items Grant to zWORKS – the CDC awarded zWORKS a grant of $15,000. In April, zWORKS requested $25,000 from the Zionsville Community Enrichment Grant and received a grant of $10,000. With the additional amount from the CDC, zWORKS has received the full requested amount of $25,000 from the Town of Zionsville. The grant will be used to preserve low-barrier-to-entry membership and office pricing to attract entrepreneurs and startups; sustain the professional and attractive atmosphere in the Village of Zionsville; and maintain flexibility of use.

Objectives, goals and budget for 2021 – the CDC is requesting a one-time additional funding of $10,225 from the RDC to be used for legal fees to expand CDC programming, accounting fees for filing 2020 required not-for-profit tax returns, an insurance policy premium for Creekside Corporate Park and an expense for replacing two trees planted in 2015 within Creekside Corporate Park’s common areas. With $163,000 awarded to 19 local businesses through the COVID-19 relief grant program, the focus on COVID-19 grants has concluded. In 2021, to continue to fulfill its mission of contributing to the betterment of Zionsville, the CDC will return its focus to strategic partnering and funding for local for-profit and not-for-profit businesses in the community.

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