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| WELCOME! If we haven't met yet, my name is Brett Foster with the Cicero Town Council. I have dedicated a section of my website specifically to you, the residents of Cicero. You can come here to catch up on the latest, vent a little, or share some ideas. I intend to compile information that I obtain here and present it to the full council. I know that you can't make it to all the council meetings, so tell me what's on your mind...I will listen! Get involved and make a difference....your voice counts! My wife Cheryl and I constantly marvel at how lucky we are to raise our kids in such a fine town. Please check back peridiocally. As time permits I will add town information, letters from residents, and ask that you e-mail me with opinions and comments. Please also try the new message board As new sections develop, look for the link on the left. Thanks for visiting and come back soon. I'll keep you updated as time permits. |
| Please try to attend the Cicero Town Council meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Cicero Town Hall. |
| Cicero Town Website / E-mail Brett / Message Board / Residents Letters / Latest Cicero News / Cicero Area Chamber of Commerce / Brett's Projects & Opinions / Past Articles |
| Today's headlines are tomorrow's memories. I will post resident and councilor opinions as I get them for future reference. We're just getting started, so please e-mail us with your suggestions, visit the forum, and sign the guestbook. |
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| www.brettfoster.net/ciceroresidentsspeakout.html |
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| Posted 2:18 PM February 21, 2005 Cicero goals to manage boom Town looks to embrace growth, retain charm By Ryan Heath Ryan.Heath@Topics.com February 22, 2005 CICERO -- Cicero has continued to grow for years as a place for commuting families looking for a quiet atmosphere, a good school system and a low crime rate. All that was missing was a grocery store. Now, as Hamilton County maintains its ranking as one of the nation's fastest-growing counties, Cicero finds itself at the doorstep of inevitable urban sprawl and must decide how to grow with the times without losing its small-town charm. "(Growth) is an inevitability," said Brett Foster, vice president of the town council. "It's going to happen, so my feeling is let's do it the right way. Let's preserve the historic part of town, and as we build out, let's modernize." Cicero grew from 3,667 in 1990 to 4,303 in 2000, according to the U.S. Census. The research firm Claritas estimates its 2003 population at 4,626 and projects its 2008 population at 5,154. Last summer, Cicero formed an economic-development committee with the intent of helping the town build a more lively economy while preserving its small-town roots, said Kirk Demaree, president of the committee. "The long-range goals are to bring in businesses to the area that would be compatible to the small-town feel of Cicero," he said. In the short-term, Demaree said the committee has organized subcommittees to identify ways to market the town to businesses and developers. They include a tourism subcommittee, a marketing and public relations subcommittee and a communications subcommittee. "This gives the town a more focused approach to marketing what Cicero has to offer," he said. One of the most exciting projects the committee has been discussing, Demaree said, is the proposal to build four, six-story condominiums along Morse Reservoir, one of Cicero's key attractions. The plan commission gave a favorable recommendation to rezoning the land for the condos, and the town council approved the rezone Feb. 15. Town officials hope the condos will bring an economic boost necessary to accomplish more of the town's commercial goals -- like bringing in a major grocery store. "I think we're on the verge of an explosion in growth and I think you're starting to see that happen now, especially with this $12 million condo project on the table," Foster said. Other developments on the horizon include Wareham's Pond, a subdivision being constructed southeast of the fire station along Stringtown Pike, and Jackson Crossing, a subdivision on the east side of town just south of Jackson Street that could bring more than 500 households, said Art Hall, president of the board of zoning appeals and vice president of the plan commission. With the Jackson Crossing development, the town's sewage system would be brought closer to the area east of Indiana 19 south of town -- an area Hall said could be used to build a grocery store -- making it more attractive to developers. But like any new business coming to town, developers will be expected to maintain a certain aesthetic charm when building housing communities, Foster said. Last spring, residents in the Morse Landing West development created some controversy when developer James Steckley attempted to sell property intended for custom-built homes to C.P. Morgan, a company that builds production homes. Neighboring residents argued this would depreciate their property values. Eventually C.P. Morgan backed away from the deal. Foster said he hopes he won't see similar arguments rise as new developers come to town. "I would keep encouraging growth in the town," he said, "but what I would like to see is the developers being held more accountable. One of the problems I've seen is that a lot of the developers build to the minimum standards. There are enough production, what people call 'vinyl village,' homes." Brett Morrow, president and owner of Flight Tax in Cicero, moved back to his hometown of Cicero seven years ago after a 12-year stint in New York. He said Cicero has all the right ingredients for economic growth: a friendly, small-town feel, a school system with a good student-teacher ratio that could accommodate population growth, a low crime rate and the aesthetic and entertainment value of the reservoir. "Sometimes it takes moving away to realize what you have at home," he said. Demaree said another advantage Cicero has is its access to the transportation corridors of Indiana 37 to the east and U.S. 31 to the west. Foster said he envisions Cicero will someday extend all the way to U.S. 31 along 236th Street, which he said will be expanded to four lanes. Also, Demaree said the railway that still runs through downtown Cicero and is used as a tourist transport line could be revitalized and used for shipping. "We feel like the area, geographically, is a good fit for a lot of different types of development," Demaree said. With all these factors going for it, it's a wonder to some why it's taken Cicero so long to grow. Bob Durst, who has owned the Anvil Inn restaurant with his wife Kathy for 31 years, said when they moved to Cicero about 35 years ago they expected the town to grow much faster. "It's grown much slower than I thought it was going to with us being on the lake," he said. Durst said he welcomes growth in the community, but stressed the need to hold on to Cicero's small-town feel. He suggests the town look to its southwestern neighbor, Zionsville, for examples of how to handle business development. He's not the only one. Demaree cited Zionsville as a key role model for the economic-development committee in maintaining a quaint, down-home feeling to new shopping districts. "I think a lot of people are wanting to get back away from the enclosed mega malls and go back to more family- oriented shopping and business opportunities," he said. Hall agrees that Cicero could take a lesson from Zionsville, and hopes the town doesn't take the same approach to growth as Carmel or Fishers, which he said grew too quickly and too freely. "We don't want to have a gas station on every corner and traffic up and down the road so that you can't even pull out of your subdivision," Hall said. "We are not going for the big-town thing. Zionsville would be a much better role model." |
| The Following is from Outlook 2005 in the Noblesville Ledger. |
| Sewer replacement may be costly for some homeowners State orders Cicero to repair, replace broken or leaky pipes in system. By Katie Robbins Katie.Robbins@TheNoblesvilleLedger.com March 18, 2005 Are you on the list? Property owners can call Karen Blake, (317) 984-7072, to see if their property is on the list of sites where problems with lateral pipes have been identified. The town council will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. April 19 in Town Hall, 70 N. Byron St., to discuss when and how the sewer pipes will be replaced, as well as the total cost of the improvements. CICERO -- Property owners in Cicero may have to pay a hefty price to replace old sewer pipes that connect to the town's main sanitary sewer lines because the cracked and broken lateral pipes are clogging the lines. Town attorney John Culp told the Cicero Town Council Tuesday night that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has ordered the town to replace the pipes, which leak rainwater and sewage into the main lines. Depending on how many laterals need repair, the project could take 8-10 years to complete, and Culp said if the problem is ignored or doesn't get fixed in a reasonable amount of time, the town could be fined. The lateral pipes are on private property, however, so affected property owners are responsible for replacing them -- which could cost each one $3,000-$5,000. "The laterals are the responsibility of the homeowner to replace them," said town council president Bill Holliday. "Maybe we can set up a payment plan so they won't have to pay out of pocket directly." To soften the blow, town officials are exploring the possibility of providing financial assistance to low-income residents and offering long-term payment plans to other homeowners. Councilman Brett Foster said he likes the idea of working with the residents to get the bills paid and the problems corrected. "This provides them with an option and lets them know we're there to help them," he said. Karen Blake, the council's administrative assistant, said tests that the town's utilities department conducted identified 44 properties in old town Cicero with cracked and broken pipes. Further smoke and dye testing will be done once the ground thaws and more properties may be identified, she explained. Property owners and the town could save money if Cicero hires a contractor to fix several properties at one time, Blake said. Property owners then could reimburse the town on a payment plan. The council made no decision Tuesday on when or how the pipes will be replaced or the total costs. A special meeting to discuss the issue will be at 6:30 p.m. April 19 in Town Hall. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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