Committee suggests consolidation

July 9, 2010

BY CHARLEE BEASOR CNHI The Hendricks County Flyer Fri Jul 09, 2010, 05:23 PM EDT

BROWNSBURG — Citing the desire to have control over planning and development decisions in Brown and Lincoln Township here, a committee that has been studying a possible consolidation with the town gave a recommendation to reorganize during the Town Council meeting Thursday.

The committee has been working since April to look at the logical reasons behind a possible consolidation of Brown Township, Lincoln Township, and the Town of Brownsburg.

Joy Vrabeck spoke on behalf of the nine-person committee during the meeting, which was also a joint meeting of the Brown and Lincoln Township Boards. She told the boards and the council what the committee had been studying and what they felt was best for the residents of Brownsburg.

“We were requested — there are three of us from each of the entities — we are volunteers, citizens, charged to pursue whether it made sense and was logical to consolidate,” Vrabeck said during the meeting.

She said Public Law 186, part of the Government Modernization Act of 2006 and a result of the Kernan-Shepard Report, cites streamlined government as a reason for consolidation. They researched the law, and spoke with Brian Bosma, who authored the law, and the Town of Zionsville, who are the first to successfully consolidate with their townships.

“We tried to speak to as many folks as possible. We didn’t do any budget work, just an overview to see what was logical,” Vrabeck said. “Why do we want to do this? Those who live in Brownsburg think of it as Brownsburg, not townships. The fire territory and school system already think of this as one and we also wanted to consider local development and land use. We recommend the Town of Brownsburg formally pass a resolution to start participation in a proposed reorganization.”

After the meeting, Vrabeck and other committee members said the land development and use was one of the biggest concerns and reasons for consolidation.

“It’s destiny. We want to be able to control how we develop for the future,” Vrabeck said.

“Local control of the land (in the townships) goes to the County Planning Commission right now,” added member Marsha Cassels.

Some members also said that they wanted to be proactive, instead of just waiting for state mandates that might come down and demand they consolidate.

“Change will come and I wanted to see that we control the change. We don’t want to react,” Vrabeck said.

“We need to be more proactive in what’s going on in our town 10 to 20 years from now. You have to be more proactive to control your own destiny,” Brown Township resident and committee member Alan Kelly added.

Town Council members Dwayne Sawyer and Matt Bowles said they were excited to see the work of the committee and hoped for more community involvement in the future.

“I’m certainly excited to take a deeper look to see if it makes sense to move forward but we need to have a dialogue with the public,” Bowles said.

Sawyer said he was concerned that the committee might be too small.

“I like moving forward and get a committee formed, I’m encouraged by the quick movement and to continue on the right path, but I don’t want to have it too small, we need to include the townships in our discussions,” he said.

Vrabeck said educating the rest of the town and townships about the potential for consolidation will be important as they move forward.

“If it comes to fruition, we want people to understand,” she said.

“People don’t know this is going on and we need to get people to know and ask questions,” Kelly added.

The timeline for the potential consolidations includes the local entities adopting resolutions Aug. 26 and appointing a study committee Sept. 9. Following the study committee appointment, the next formal action wouldn’t take place until Aug. 25, 2011, when a reorganization plan would be submitted to the legislative bodies and another formal study group formed that year. Voters wouldn’t see anything on their ballots until spring 2012.

The Town Council will discuss the potential consolidations at their 7 p.m. Aug. 12 meeting in the council room at town hall, 61 N. Green Street.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com

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