In the State of the Town address on Feb. 27, Mayor Styron shared some of the initiatives the Town has been working on, as well as her vision and goals for 2020. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, Styron welcomed guests, introduced Deputy Mayor Julie Johns-Cole and thanked the Zionsville Town Council for a collaborative partnership.
Watch the 2020 State of the Town
Styron opened her presentation sharing economic development news. The Zionsville Redevelopment Commission is in receipt of offers to purchase Lot 10 and Lot 11. This includes a 100,000-square-foot headquarters building for multi-series race team Rahal Letterman Lanigan and a 100,000-square-foot headquarters building for an office user (developer William Tres). Together, these companies would bring 600 new jobs to Zionsville offering six-figure salary jobs.
In other economic development news, new businesses are coming to Main Street including a bridal shop and the restaurant Tipsy Mermaid, along with Hotel Tango, Black Acre Brewery and Alchemy Spirit House.
Styron also made an announcement: the dumpster on First Street has been removed.
Other highlights:
- The PNC bank building will be torn down and the lot will be resurfaced. The Town is discussing the future of how this area will look.
- There will be a new process for signage requirement on a property when a petition has been filed with the Zionsville Board of Zoning Appeals or Plan Commission.
- The Town is working on a new wayfinding system that will indicate park zones, commercial zones, pathways and more.
- There are plans to create a mayor’s action center, likely created by the end of the year, to streamline customer-facing requests.
- Welcome to four Zionsville Fire Department new recruits: Chris Kelly, Ben Shercliff, Jarrett Vardaman and Alex White.
- Thank you to Zionsville Police Chief Robert Knox, who will be retiring in April after decades of service. The police chief hiring process is underway, and a total of 66 applicants have applied. A committee made up of community members will review the applicants and present the top three choices to the mayor.
- An announcement of the Pedestrian Mobility Advisory Committee to work with public safety and the Street & Stormwater Department to address finding safe alternatives when crossing the street.
- Starting the process of discussing a community center and thinking through partnership opportunities and what the community would like to see.
- The participation in a greenhouse gas emissions inventory project and the investigation into a Sustainability Commission.
- An update on the Big-4 Rail Trail extensions. The extension north is just north and west of Heritage Trail Park to our common boundary with Whitestown. The extension south is from the bridge over Eagle Creek to Zionsville Road. Final land acquisition, engineering and construction plans will start this year and carry into 2021. There will also be trailhead off of Zionsville Road.
- Overley-Worman Park is in progress and there are a series of features: mountain bike trails, multi-purpose trails, disc golf, park shelters, parking lot, fishing pier and more.
- An overview of 2020 road projects. This includes the North-South Connector and Sycamore Road Bridge project. New, clever detour signage will be added.