NAHA Maintenance Issues Brought to Attention of Mayor

As the City of New Albany continues to push forward with a modern vision for public housing, inspectors have been analyzing current conditions of the properties and found multiple issues with our current stock of public housing units. A recent timeline of the New Albany Housing Authority and details of the issues found are below.

Recent timeline of the New Albany Housing Authority

• April, 2016 - 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. 

• January 4th, 2017 - The City of New Albany detailed the partnership between CF Housing Group, the City of New Albany, and the New Albany Housing Authority. New Housing Authority board members are appointed.

  • “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, January 4th, 2017.

  • http://newalbanycityhall.com/home/2017/1/4/new-albany-public-housing-plans-advancing
• January 25th, 2017 - New Comprehensive Plan moves to City Council, and is unanimously approved by the Council. The plan details goals for the decentralization and modernization of public housing units.
  • http://newalbanycityhall.com/home/2017/1/25/comprehensive-plan-moves-to-council-for-approval
• March 13th, 2017 - Housing Authority Director Bob Lane requests a delay in the vote on the Memorandum of Understanding.
  • http://newalbanycityhall.com/home/2017/3/13/housing-authority-director-requests-delay-in-vote
• April 24th, 2017 - New Albany Housing Authority Board passes the Memorandum of Understanding.
  • http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/board-opts-for-new-albany-s-public-housing-vision-passes/article_16dd8a02-294f-11e7-ac20-c395f05ed06b.html
• May 8th, 2017 - Housing Authority Board terminates contract with NAHA Director Bob Lane over differences in vision for the future of public housing.
  • http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/new-albany-housing-authority-board-fires-executive-director/article_26e7fbcc-344d-11e7-91fd-dbe6b776b786.html

Mold and Roof Leaks

In May, inspectors visited Parkview Tower and found numerous instances of both mold and roof leaks in the property. These issues were found in common areas, such as stairwells, as well as inside units.

Failure to Maintain Properties

Numerous instances were found where properties were improperly maintained. Properties had roof leaks, broken cast iron, massively clogged drain pipes, un-maintained playground equipment for children, and more.

Estimates are currently being provided to either fix these important issues or to proceed with demolition in some circumstances where repairs are not feasible. 

City Assists Beach Mold & Tool with Business Expansion

At this evening’s New Albany City Council meeting, the council will take under consideration a tax abatement request from Beach Mold & Tool, Inc.

A recent expansion of the Beach Mold & Tool property.

Beach Mold & Tool is locally-owned premier manufacturer in the plastics industry that also has a full-service tool shop. They produce parts for customers in the medical, business systems, and automotive industries. In 2015, they announced the award of a major program to become a Tier One supplier to a major automotive manufacturer, and they will begin production for this program in August 2017. A tier one company is the most important member of a supply chain, supplying components directly to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that set up the chain. Beach Mold & Tool was recently awarded another major Tier One program from the automotive manufacturer, with production set to begin in 2019.

Due to these recent awards, Beach Mold & Tool will be expanding their existing Tool Shop, purchasing a larger capacity crane, and adding over 160 new jobs through 2019. The new programs will also help Beach Mold & Tool retain current employees, increase compensation levels, and hire higher paid hourly and salary employees.

“Beach Mold & Tool is an exceptional local employer, and they have recognized that New Albany is a great place to continue to grow their business. We are very happy that Beach Mold & Tool will be expanding in our community,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan.

Two-Way Conversion Update

Work continues on the change from one-way streets in downtown New Albany to two-way. 

Last week, milling and paving operations concluded on Spring Street, and temporary markings were placed. Crews moved to Elm this morning, and began milling there. They will then begin patching sections of roadway and then completing surface paving Wednesday-Friday of this week. 

When crews are finished with Elm, they will move to Market Street to begin milling and paving. Market Street is expected to be milled on June 12th, weather permitting. 

Crews have also begun installing detector housing units which will help control the signalization of the 2-way streets, once converted.

For more information about the two-way streets conversion, see our previous release here: http://newalbanycityhall.com/home/2017/5/10/two-way-streets-major-construction-to-begin-next-week

Two Way Streets - Major Construction to Begin Next Week

What is the Downtown Grid Modernization Project?

The Downtown Grid Modernization Project is an all-encompassing project that contains the engineering, traffic, and road design studies and plans for the 1-way traffic to 2-way traffic conversation.

Why is the City looking at switching some downtown streets to 2-way traffic? What's wrong with the 1-way traffic that we have now?

• 1-way streets are designed to quickly move drivers from place to place at fast speeds - incompatible for a modern downtown.
  
  With everyone traveling in one direction (with multiple lanes) while eliminating opposing traffic, 1-way streets promote a higher rate of speed than 2-way streets. By switching some key downtown streets to 2-way, we can help slow the rate of speed.
   
• 2-way streets help promote a safe, walkable downtown.
  
  2-way streets, coupled with smaller lane widths, are proven to help reduce speeding. This makes traveling safer for not only drivers on the road, but for pedestrians and bicyclists too.
   
• More people than ever are interested in living, working in, and visiting downtown New Albany. 
  
  New Albany's downtown, not unlike many downtowns across the nation, has seen a resurgence of late. We have seen an influx of people who are interested in living, opening a business, and visiting our downtown. The City wants to do everything it can to support that progress. We believe that converting some key downtown streets from 1-way to 2-way can help support that goal and further solidify New Albany's downtown as a destination.
   
• Studies and experts say its better for retail
  
  An uninterrupted mass of vehicles traveling in one direction can harm retail environments by obscuring visibility of shops from view and distributing vitality unevenly throughout the urban landscape. 

What steps has the City taken to study this issue?

In 2007, the first study was completed that looked at the possibility of converting some 1-way streets in downtown New Albany to 2-way streets. In 2014, the City of New Albany hired nationally recognized city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck to analyze the downtown grid and provide recommendations on how to make New Albany's grid more modern, including recommendations on pedestrian safety, walkability, alternative modes of transportation, street design that benefits retail and businesses, and more. Click HERE to view Mr. Speck's report.

The city also hosted numerous public listening sessions to gather feedback from the community, and the Mayor and other city officials have met with various community and business leaders to hear their thoughts on the project. In 2016, engineering and design work was completed by HWC Engineering in preparation for the project.

Schedule of Improvements - When will all of this begin?

Preliminary work has already begun to prepare for major construction. All non-ADA compliant ramps in the downtown grid system are currently being updated, bumpouts along Market Street have been reconfigured in preparation of the switch to 2-way traffic, and underground utility work in the area is nearing completion.

The city is anticipating that milling and paving operations will begin the week of May 15th along Spring Street. Plans include milling and paving half of Spring Street, while keeping the other half open, with crews then switching sides once the first half is completed. Upon completion of milling work, Spring Street will be paved in a similar fashion. Milling and paving is expected to take 4-5 days, with pavement marking to follow. During construction, traffic lights will switch to a timed system instead of utilizing sensors. Pavement marking is expected to take 2-3 weeks to be fully completed, but will be completed nearer to the conversion.

A draft schedule for the upcoming 2-way improvements is below. These dates are subject to weather.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE FOR 2-WAY IMPROVEMENTS - DATES SUBJECT TO WEATHER.

Bicentennial Park Summer Concerts Return May 26th

Mayor Jeff M. Gahan and the City of New Albany are pleased to announce the return of The Bicentennial Park Summer Concert Series – Fridays in May, June, July, August and September.

This year marks the 5th year of the Bicentennial Park Summer Concert Series. Each show will be held on Friday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. throughout the summer in historic downtown New Albany’s Bicentennial Park, located at the corner of Spring Street and Pearl Street. These events are free and open to music lovers of all ages!

We start a week early this year on May 26th with local blue’s favorites Kentuckiana Blues Road Show. The Road Show line-up features New Albany native Jimmy G & The Sidewinders, Laurie Jane & The 45’s and Jason Lockwood & The Stella Vees.  

June brings us a variety of national acts from across the South and Midwest. June 2nd brings us Nora Jane Struthers & The Party Line from Nashville with their blend of Americana / Roots Rock. June 9th is Mountain Deer Revival from Wichita bringing their Country Rock / Bluegrass blend. June 16th is Orlando’s Southern Rock & Blues sextet Thomas Wynn & The Believers. And bringing the month to a close on June 23rd is Stop Light Obervations from Charlestown with their brand of Southern Rock.

Special thanks to our presenting partners and sponsors, McNeely Stephenson, Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County, and our radio partners at 91.9 WFPK.