City Council to Vote on Capital Development Bond with Clark/Floyd Counties Convention Tourism Bureau

At their meeting this Thursday, the city council is set to discuss a capital development bond for the Clark/Floyd Counties Convention Tourism Bureau. In June of 2017, the city, in partnership with the Culbertson Mansion, applied and was awarded $825,000 from the Tourism Bureau for the New Albany Visitor and Historic Generator Project. The Culbertson Mansion is currently undergoing many restoration projects, including a full restoration of the home’s original cast iron. As part of the $825,000 award, approximately $231,000 will be applied to the cast iron restoration at the Mansion.

The Culbertson Mansion

The City is aiming to help promote tourism through several additions, including a new boat ramp, additional picnic areas, boat docks, increased walking and running trails, and more along the Ohio River, including updates to the scenic and historic Loop Island Wetlands.

The Ohio River Greenway

The capital development bond will be paid for through the $825,000 grant awarded to the City. There is no financial obligation for repayment of the bond from the city – the Tourism Buereau is responsible and obligated to pay the bond.

“This generous gift from the Tourism Bureau will help restore one of our most historic properties, the Culberston Mansion,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “In addition, the city will continue working towards connecting our citizenry back to our river heritage, and will provide opportunities for everyone to enjoy our Riverfront Greenway.”

City Takes Steps to Save $220,000 Per Year Through Refinancing

At today’s New Albany Redevelopment Commission meeting, the board moved forward with refinancing three outstanding bonds in order to save approximately $220,000 per year. The refinancing proposal will not increase the original term length of financing, and lowers interest rates significantly.

The three outstanding bonds have a current rate of 4.125%, 4.870%, and 5.700%. Under the refinancing package approved at today’s meeting, the rate is 2.500% for all three outstanding bonds, saving approximately $220,000 per year.

“I’m pleased that we are able to refinance these obligations at a much lower rate,” stated Mayor Gahan. “This end of year action will net savings for the citizens of New Albany.”

The proposal will now move to the New Albany City Council for approval at their Thursday meeting.

Police Chief Todd Bailey to Participate in Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey is celebrating many milestones this year. A few days ago, he turned 50 years old. This year is also his 20th anniversary serving with the New Albany Police Department.

“There are a lot of great milestones happening for me this year, and so I decided to knock another thing off my bucket list – running my first ever marathon,” stated Chief Bailey.

Chief Bailey, in the past year, has taken up running as a great way to get in shape and improve his health. This past year, he has been focused on improving his health and losing weight. Since April of 2017, he has lost over 60 pounds.

“Ever since I have taken up running, I feel better and healthier each day,” he said.

This Saturday, Chief Bailey will be participating in the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, a full 26.2 mile run through the heart of Indianapolis. As part of his preparation for the marathon, he has been raising money from the event in order to support the New Albany Police Department’s holiday celebration. So far, he has raised over $2,000 to give back to the NAPD.

From all of us at city hall, we wish Chief Bailey well on his first ever marathon!

Mayor Gahan Joins Lawsuit Against Wholesale Opioid Distributors

Mayor Gahan joins others in a lawsuit against wholesale opioid distributors, which have helped spread the opioid addiction crisis.

“The opioid crisis is spreading to communities across the nation, and we all need to be more active in learning about what we can do to prevent opioid addiction,” stated Mayor Gahan.

Earlier this week, Mayor Gahan attended the 8th Annual Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Symposium in Indianapolis, where keynote speaker Governor Chris Christie, head of the National Commission on the Opioid Crisis, shared specifics on the epidemic which kills over 175 people per day. The conference featured workshops and speakers from a cross section of professions that intersect with the opioid crisis, including doctors, medical professionals, law enforcement officers, rehabilitation clinic professionals, municipal and state leaders, and more.

Here are a few startling facts that were presented at the conference:

• 4 out of 5 heroin addicts began their addiction on legal, prescription pain medications.
• Americans consume 85% of the world’s drugs, while holding only 4% of the world’s population.
• The opioid epidemic kills over 175 people every day.

Additionally, the City of New Albany applied and is under consideration for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayor’s Challenge Grant. The grant is focused on the need for early education, the adverse effects of a highly addictive group of drugs called opioids, and what we can do as a community to assist in fighting this epidemic.

Downtown 2-way Conversion Update - Market Fully 2-way on Oct 31

The Downtown Grid Modernization Project is nearing completion as crews are putting the finishing touches on the project.

Crews have been busy connecting detection loops into controller cabinets over the past week. This will allow the stoplights to detect cars waiting at a light, which should decrease wait times at stoplights in the downtown grid. For the past few months, these signals have been on a timer system. Crews will continue to monitor the detection loops over the next few weeks to help smooth downtown traffic. Work is also being finalized at the 15th and Spring Street intersection, as well as the Main and Pearl intersection, where crews are installing new controllers and signal heads as well as pedestrian crossing buttons.

The final stretch of Market Street set to be converted to 2-way traffic (from State Street to West 5th Street) will convert on October 31st. The intersection at Scribner and Market Street will temporarily be a 4-way stop while crews work to convert the signal. After this conversion is complete, all of Market Street will hold 2-way traffic.

Help our Tree Canopy thrive!

Do you know of a rare tree, or one with a unique feature near you? The New Albany Tree Board wants your help expanding their list of significant trees in New Albany. We are looking for trees that are noteworthy for their size, rare in New Albany, or have unique features. The trees must be either in the city’s right-of-way, a park, or can be plainly seen from a city street or alley – we cannot list trees on private property that the public cannot see.

The City of New Albany continues working to improve our tree canopy. By bringing awareness to unique trees that we have in the community, we can continue to improve on this together.

If you know of a specimen that deserves to be on the Tree Board’s list of Noteworthy Trees, please email Krisjans Streips, Tree Board Administrator, at kstreips@cityofnewalbany.com