Huntingburg’s Stellar hopes becoming reality

“The one thing I would change about the process that happened on Thursday is that we [the ten-person delegation] weren’t here in town when the news broke,” Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner said about the moment he received notification that Huntingburg had been chosen as a Stellar Community.

Spinner was joined in Indianapolis by nine other members of the Huntingburg Stellar committee; Huntingburg’s director of communications Rachel Steckler, Councilman Alex Blackgrove, Chamber of Commerce executive director Nick Stevens and Vickie Lewis, Phil Ahrens, Cory Menke, John Mundy, Cathy Young and Jane Hendrickson.

After news broke last Thursday, a ripple went through town. Spinner heard from Sue Tooley, Huntingburg’s officer manager, that the phone just began to ring with calls coming in congratulating the city.

The ripple continued through town. Linda Gelhausen, owner of Gelhausen’s Flowers and Gifts, said she went outside and headed over to Cool Beans Café to tell the people there of the great news.

“It just seemed to ripple down and then the word spread so quickly through social media. It was just a great moment that people could latch onto,” Spinner said.

Soon after he stepped up to place the “designee” sign on the pillar representing Huntingburg’s Stellar Grant proposal, his own phone began lighting up with texts. The first, from Huntingburg Waste Water Superintendent Mike Kemp, coming nearly five minutes after Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann opened the certificate at the podium.

“If I would have put my phone on my back, I would have got a nice back massage,” Spinner said. “Between 10:20 when the announcement was made and 11 o’clock, I got 18 texts and 37 emails.”

The mayor’s first text out went to his wife Shari, who was unable to be there due to another event in Indianapolis she had to attend through her work.

Spinner credits the community, Dubois County and Huntingburg, with the designation through its show of support. He credits the team of numerous community members who listened to the community input to create the list of projects to include in the Stellar application. And, he credits the guidance of Ed Curtin, owner of Latitudes, LLC, throughout the process. Curtin may become a hot commodity for future Stellar Grant cycles; Huntingburg is the second city he guided through the Stellar process culminating in the designation. He assisted Bedford through their designation last year.

According to Spinner, the day the Stellar committee conducted the site visit, they stayed in town all day. “The day we received the designation, Rachel [Steckler] was speaking with one of the members of the selection committee and we were told that they [the committee] saw the strong support for these projects from the community,” he said. “That was a key factor in being chosen.”

“There was a sense of confidence that we had done all we could do,” Spinner said about his mindset while waiting to learn whether the city would be chosen. “I am sure the other cities had equally strong proposals.”

Huntingburg joins Wabash as the 2014 Stellar designees among six finalists that included Decatur, Marion, Mount Vernon and Nashville.

Huntingburg’s proposal focuses on transforming and connecting the community and driving economic investment. Major projects include the development of workforce and senior citizen housing, the construction of the Heritage Trail as well as the Maintenance and Emergency Shelters. Infrastructure improvements are the extension of 9th Street, reconstruction of 14th Street, improvement of gateways and the 4th Street waterline along with the creation of the 4th Street Market Park. The total cost estimate for their strategic investment plan is $40.7 million with a funding gap of $10.3 million.

The projects, funding, and timelines can be viewed in the slideshow above.

The excitement is still buzzing around town in anticipation of the next steps, but those first steps will be subtle and won’t begin until after an October 15 meeting with the state agencies involved. For now, the city is putting together some of their own timelines for the projects.  “There are three agencies involved and our projects have to fit into their funding cycles,” Spinner said. ”

Despite the funding cycles, the city will likely begin work on the Ninth Street extension because it is essential for the overpass project to proceed. Funds from a tax incremental finance district will be allocated to fund the work.

The Huntingburg Overpass project, although not a Stellar project, has become a large part of the completion of the projects. “It is the unifying piece that brings the whole Stellar project together,” Spinner said. “We are a small town but there was a divide between the north and south sides of the community. I think the overpass gives us as an opportunity to view ourselves as a fully connected community for the first time. That’s what Stellar is about.”

Construction on the planned senior housing project at the former hospital is tentatively scheduled to begin in November. The project recently received notice of a $500,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis that was awarded to Miller Valentine through a partnership with TRI-CAP.

After eight months of planning and a moment of exhilaration, the buzz is still felt but as these projects move forward, the real work is set to begin. But first, a Stellarbration is planned for Friday at 2 p.m. on Market Street behind the Huntingburg Old Town Hall. Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann and members of the state’s Stellar selection committee will be on hand to make the official announcement and celebrate with the community.

“This is a community award,” Spinner said. “Community is what made it happen. Huntingburg, Jasper, Ferdinand and Dubois County made it happen and that is what is going to keep it moving forward.”