Comprehensive Plan Moves to Council for Approval

For over a year, the City has been working hard on updating its Comprehensive Plan. A comprehensive plan outlines public policy with regards to land use, transportation, housing, recreation, and utilities.

Gathering Community Input

The city began by extensively interviewing over a dozen stakeholders, including realtors, educators, developers, neighborhood reps, and others. In September of 2016, a public meeting was held at the Calumet Club, with all residents invited to attend and provide their thoughts on how to best move the city forward. The city also received over 700 responses from residents to an on-line survey that allowed New Albanians to give feedback on what issues are important to them and what the comprehensive plan should focus on. This is all in addition to the hundreds of hours from volunteer steering committee members that helped guide and shape the plan based on input directly from residents.

Highlights of the Plan

The comprehensive plan that will go before the City Council for approval outlines the future development for the city, including additional latitude for zoning and code enforcement. It also includes protections for the knobs, one of our most treasured natural resources. Additionally, the comprehensive plan details goals for the decentralization and modernization of public housing.

“The comprehensive plan focuses on creating a more environmentally aware plan for future development and redevelopment of New Albany,” stated Scott Wood, Director of Planning and Zoning.

The comprehensive plan also includes strategies for continuing to grow our downtown, protections for adjoining neighborhoods, and a renewed focus on making New Albany a more walkable and pedestrian friendly city.

New Albany Municipal Utilities Moving to More Accessible Location

The New Albany Municipal Utilities (NAMU) will be moving into a more convenient and accessible location for customers in February. NAMU currently is on the third floor of the City-County Building located at 311 Hauss Square, and oversees the billing services for all municipal utilities, including sewer, stormwater, and trash services.

NAMU is moving to the first floor of the newly rehabilitated former News and Tribune building at 303 Scribner Drive effective Monday, February 6th. The building was recently rehabilitated by local developer Matt Chalfant. The move will be completed on the weekend prior to opening, as to not interfere or negatively impact customer service.

The office will be located on the first floor of the building, with a convenient parking lot, dedicated handicapped-parking spaces, and on-street parking available. Additionally, residents will not have to go through metal detectors or a security gate simply to pay their bill or get a question answered from the department.

“This will be a much more convenient and accessible location for residents who need to visit our offices, whether to pay a bill or solve an issue,” stated April Dickey, Billing Director for the department.

New Phase of Grant Line Road Project Begins Initial Stages

At this morning’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, the Board approved initial steps on the next phase of the Grant Line Road Project. This work will provide an additional northbound lane between Daisy Lane and Beechwood Avenue and mill and re-surface the roadway from Daisy Lane to McDonald Lane. It will add curbs and gutters, and provide a 5 foot sidewalk on the east side and complete the 8 foot multi-use path on the west side of Grant Line Road. These facilities will provide pedestrian connectivity on Grant Line Road from Daisy Lane to Mt. Tabor Road.

The project will also include intersection improvements at Daisy Lane, Beechwood Avenue, and Jollisant Avenue, adding additional turn lanes where needed, and will work to improve the flow of traffic at the Beechwood/Daisy/Grant Line Road intersection. Additionally, included in the project are pedestrian safety enhancements, including new pedestrian signal equipment and improved crosswalks.

This project is federally funded at an 80/20 level, with an overall project cost of approximately $5 million. Project officials are currently in the process of purchasing small parcels of right-of-way from 41 property owners along the construction area. Appraisals are currently underway. Adjacent property owners have been notified of the project.

The project is scheduled to let in January 2018, with construction beginning in Spring of 2018.

New Albany Public Housing Plans Advancing

In April of last year, the City of New Albany entered into a contractual agreement with Patrick Costigan and CF Housing Group, headquartered in Washington, DC to assist the New Albany Housing Authority in planning a strategy to meet the capital maintenance needs of the public housing authority.

As part of this process, along with the creation of an updated comprehensive plan for the city, recommendations have been made for a reduction in overall housing authority units. The new comprehensive plan calls for a reduction of units, along with a decentralization of current units in New Albany. The housing authority will soon begin demolition on 7 buildings, totaling 44 units, in the Parkview/Broadmeade neighborhood. 

“This marks the beginning steps the City of New Albany and the New Albany Housing Authority will be taking to improve public housing. In conjunction with the comprehensive plan and the recommendation of CF Housing Group, we will reduce the density of public housing on HUD properties inside the city limits, improve existing public housing stock, and improve the quality of life for all residents,” stated Mayor Gahan.

Additionally, Mayor Gahan appointed three new members to the New Albany Housing Authority board. The NAHA board oversees operations of the local, federally funded housing authority. Recently appointed were Stanley E. Robison, Jr. and Dr. Irvin Joshua, who will begin serving immediately. A third appointment, Mr. Bob Norwood, will take effect beginning March 31, 2017. 

Stanley Robison is a local attorney and public servant, serving as New Albany City Attorney from 2011-2015. Mr. Robison has over 30 years’ experience as a litigator, criminal lawyer, and family law attorney.

Stanley Robison, Jr.

Dr. Irving Joshua

Dr. Irving Joshua is the chairman of the University of Louisville’s Department of Physiology. He has served as member of the New Albany Redevelopment Commission since being appointed by the New Albany City Council in 2000. Since 2005, he has served as the president of the Redevelopment Commission. He is a resident of New Albany for over 35 years, and has served in a number of civic organizations, including the NAACP, the advisory board to the New Albany Floyd County School Corporation, the Jones Memorial AME Zion Church, Board of Directors for the New Albany YMCA, and the New Albany comprehensive plan steering committee.

“I’m enthused about participating on the Housing Authority and having an opportunity to provide direction and guidance related to improved housing and career opportunities for individuals in the low-income segment of our community,” stated Dr. Joshua.

Mr. Bob Norwood entered into the financial business after attending IU and worked for Union National Bank for nearly a decade. Since 1984, he is the owner and founder of Norwood Insurance.

Proactive Steps Taken to Protect New Albany Citizens

On Thursday evening, the New Albany City Council will take their final vote on bill G-16-03. If approved on final reading, the ordinance would fulfill three major goals:

• Safeguard residents and businesses against large sewer rate increases by assigning the Consumer Price Index for future rate changes

No one is happy when their sewer bill raises 40% over 2 years, and that's exactly what happened in New Albany in 2010 because sewer rate issues were not addressed for nearly a decade. Other nearby communities are experiencing similar massive spikes in sewer rates, with some cities even experiencing approximately 200% increases to their monthly rates. By assigning the Consumer Price Index to sewer rate increases, massive one-time bumps can be prevented.

"The CPI will act as a way to protect residents and businesses from exorbitant or huge rate increases." - Mayor Jeff Gahan

• Protect public health

In 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanded that the City eliminate sanitary sewer overflows in the City of New Albany under a Consent Decree. A sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) occurs when untreated sewage is discharged from the system before it reaches the treatment facility. Since 2010, the City of New Albany has made great progress on this front, going from nearly 80 sites where SSOs could occur to only 16 present-day sites. The proposed ordinance before the City Council will fund projects aimed at eliminating these final SSO sites.

Here, untreated water is tested at an SSO site to determine the risk to public health.

"Unsanitary water coming out of the top of the manhole running in the streets, exposing our citizens to contamination, is not acceptable - period." - Mayor Gahan.

• Promote Economic Growth

As part of the Environmental Protection Agency's 1992 Consent Decree, oversight and final approval of any new development that would tie into the New Albany Sewer System lies with the EPA. This means that the EPA can limit, reduce, or deny economic development projects and growth opportunities for the City. With the growth the City is experiencing and interest in New Albany at an all-time high, we must ensure that we comply with the Consent Decree so that we can continue to promote economic growth in New Albany.