Gahan's street grid sausage-making: CNA 27 tour attendees, please help us -- New Albany is being held hostage by New Urban Imposters.

Today's the 14th, and perfect weather for New Albany's leadership cadres to mislead people -- and make no mistake, that's exactly what they'll be doing.

Gahan, Rosenbarger set to go full frontal Pinocchio about their urbanism credentials when the Congress for the New Urbanism 27 meets in Louisville June 11-15.

If any CNA 27 attendees are reading this note, and you plan to tag along on the New Albany tour this afternoon, please do me this one small favor: ask questions of these serial liars.

• Why the beg buttons? 
• Why the Main Street beautification median?
• Why the reformatted Market Street median? 
• Where are the bike lanes?
• Why so many fading sharrow markings?
• What's the reason for the plethora of routinely ignored pedestrian crossing beg-button-flashing-light "permission" stations? 
• Why is the traffic still moving so damned fast? 
• Isn't there more to walkability than bright shiny beautification projects?

They won't so much as attempt to answer, and you'll probably be hustled off to detention with the police chief.

But please try. Gahan's street grid bait 'n' switch is abhorrent, and the emperor is unclothed.

Gahan, Rosenbarger set to go full frontal Pinocchio about their urbanism credentials when the Congress for the New Urbanism 27 meets in Louisville June 11-15.

Jeff Speck's coming to the Congress for the New Urbanism's CNU 27 in Louisville. On Wednesday afternoon (June 12) in Louisville he'll be speaking about his new book Walkable City Rules.

On Friday (June 14) Speck returns to New Albany.

Whoa, boy.

We've long noted that Deaf Gahan, Pinocchio Rosenbarger and various other pay-to-play functionaries brutally gutted Speck's amazing Downtown Street Network Proposal, a renewal plan for the downtown street grid. They retained the two-way street reversion and quickly punted, discarding every other useful suggestion Speck made about bicycling, wasteful medians, the interstate intersections and so much else.

If any CNA 27 attendees are reading this note ("help us, we're being held hostage by idiots"), and you plan to tag along on the New Albany tour on June 14, please do me this one small favor: ask questions. Why the beg buttons? Why the reformatted Market Street median? Where are the bike lanes? What's the reason for the plethora of ignored pedestrian crossing beg-button-flashing-light "permission" stations? Why's the traffic still moving so fast? Isn't there more to walkability than bright shiny beautification projects?

We could have had transformation. Gahan, Rosenbarger and their coterie settled for dull shrapnel reflecting their fundamental cowardice. They should be ashamed of themselves, but as we've seen oft times before, there's nowhere near the level of self-awareness necessary for shame.

About The Congress

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the nation’s oldest international nonprofit working to build great places and walkable, vibrant neighborhoods. CNU will host its 27th annual Congress, CNU 27.Louisville, in Louisville, KY June 12-15, 2019.

The Congress is the premier national placemaking event, convening 1500+ diverse, interdisciplinary urbanists and placemakers from all 50 states and around the globe to exchange ideas, explore urban places, work alongside residents, and learn in the field.

Congress programming is varied and accessible to urbanists and members of the public at any level of knowledge and understanding of New Urbanism.

Pinocchio Rosenbarger says don't worry, we can write the words later, after we've already started what we're waiting to be approved.

I have a few suggestions for the blank space.

#FireGahan2019
#FlushTheClique
#CleanSweep2019
#GetOutYourPitchforks

Jeff Gahan's war against Mt. Tabor residents is another reason to flush the clique in 2019.

“If they’re going to continue to take the right of way back so then we’d have to come and repurchase again, which is a cumbersome option to begin with, I would just hate to do all that over."

City engineer Larry Summers' opening comment in Danielle Grady's newspaper report (below) perfectly summarizes Team Gahan's collective, bored and arrogant indifference to the lives of humans existing outside the institutional inbreeding of the Gahanite ruling clique.

That's why Jeff Gahan's here, remember? To pretend he's listening.

Mt. Tabor residents haven't finished yet, as Deaf Gahan faces a court date: "Eminent Domain Law Put to Test Against City of New Albany."

But that's okay, Jeffrey. Keep on keeping on.

Roll out the heavy artillery and smash the Mt. Taborites with a phalanx of lawyers, seize whatever land you need, and keep the juice flowing from the various contractors, engineers and vendors into the lifeblood of your campaign finance account.

Voters are quite capable of seeing Team Gahan's petulant displays of self-centered, regime-first spite. They're witnessing an escalating absence of fundamental human empathy of the sort occurring when the bunker-bound can no longer distinguish between people and dollar signs.

To paraphrase John Lennon, one thing Jeff Gahan can't hide is when he's crippled inside, and voters are sensing the unmistakable odor of decadence and decay, so please, Deaf, keep lobbing those shells at the dissidents.

With each explosion, votes melt away in disgust.

Have you considered which of your campaign cash patrons might undertake to hire you as consulting piss boy for six figures when the end finally comes? I'm betting on HWC Engineering, although ol' Jorge Lanz's checkbook has been smoking hot for a long time.

Or will they sniff the wind, catch a teasing hint of the political putrefaction, and conclude that veneer salesmen are no longer altogether that interesting once their power is gone?

I'm betting on the latter. It's going to be a painful comeuppance when the cult of personality is revealed to be fashioned from wet Bud Light Lime beer labels, but that's the way hubris works.

#FireGahan2019
#FlushTheClique2019

Legal challenge has city considering old Mount Tabor intersection plans, by Danielle Grady (Tom May Content Repository)

NEW ALBANY — The city abandoning its plans for additional traffic studies and going ahead with turning Mount Tabor Road and Klerner Lane into a signalized intersection may be an option for New Albany as a resident asks for land back that was taken for the stalled project.

“If they’re going to continue to take the right of way back so then we’d have to come and repurchase again, which is a cumbersome option to begin with, I would just hate to do all that over,” said City Engineer Larry Summers after a Floyd County Circuit Court hearing regarding the resident’s legal motion.

New Albany’s attorney in its Mount Tabor Road eminent domain cases, Greg Fifer, is recommending that the city takes that route. Ultimately, the decision would be up to Mayor Jeff Gahan and the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety, Fifer said, but he believes nothing is stopping the city from doing so.

Nothing, maybe, but public opinion.

Mt. Tabor residents haven't finished yet, as Deaf Gahan faces a court date: "Eminent Domain Law Put to Test Against City of New Albany."

Welcome to NA Confidential's 13,000th career post.

The Green Mouse has received a press release: "Eminent Domain Law Put to Test Against City of New Albany," and it's a corker, but before we revisit the overreach that city officials refer as Mt. Tabor Road Restoration and Pedestrian Safety Project (is the phrasing totalitarian or Rosenbargerian?) let's recall an undisputed stone cold classic video clip from earlier in 2018.

VIDEO: "That's why we're here," Gahan flails amid a pack of lies in this classic footage from last night's Mt. Tabor project meeting.

Thanks to whomever posted this video at YouTube.

There's a reason why the forever agoraphobic Jeff Gahan's handlers keep him secured in the bunker, and it's because the moment any public scenario strays from the script, he cannot improvise. The more he tries, the worse it gets -- and the angrier he becomes.

In this video, observe his petulance escalate with each "that's why we're here," until he's demanding to know why citizens aren't listening to him, even as he insists his Potemkin facade of a meeting was to prove he's listening.

For a well-monetized but fading emperor with increasingly threadbare clothes, it just doesn't get any more illustrative than this. Here's the press release, followed by a few more links about the Mt. Tabor Speedy Pass Through and Driver Enhancement Project.


Eminent Domain Law Put to Test Against City of New Albany

New Albany, IN (August 7, 2018) – New Albany officials are feeling the heat once again with the redevelopment of Mt. Tabor Road. The first Motion to Vacate and Set Aside Taking was filed by residents claiming the City has no legal right to claim the power of eminent domain., which is the taking of private property for public use. The Hon. Judge Terrence Cody will hear the case in the Floyd County Circuit Court on Wednesday, August 8.

You may recall that residents cried foul last January accusing the City of not following Indiana Code or policies set forth by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). INDOT officials attended an open house hosted by the City and observed residents insisting Mayor Jeff Gahan acknowledge invalid traffic studies and that a major overhaul of the 4-way stop was excessive. The Mayor repeatedly told those in attendance to submit their concerns in writing as he was not there to answer questions. The following week, two-thirds of the project was put on hold pending future traffic studies and revised plans.

With more than twenty-five percent of the homeowners still refusing to sell the property around their homes, this first case will set a precedent for all other cases that will follow. An eminent domain complaint must state the use the plaintiff – the City of New Albany - intends to make of the property, if a right-of-way is sought, the location, general route, width, and the beginning and end points of the right-of-way. It must also detail a specific description of each piece of property to which the plaintiff alleges the benefits will accrue.

The original complaint stated the City was improving Mount Tabor Road from Grant Line Road to Charlestown Road, reconstructing approximately five thousand eight hundred ninety-nine (5,899) feet and improving the intersection of Mt. Tabor Rd. and Klerner Lane, none of which is now true. The City’s current plan is to reconstruct Mt. Tabor Rd. from Grant Line Rd. to 200 feet West of Klerner Lane.

The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. in room number 413 of the fourth floor of the City County Building, 311 Hauss Square, New Albany, Indiana.

---

For all labels with Mt. Tabor Road Restoration and Pedestrian Safety Project, click here. Following are recent highlights.

Gahan Money Machine: The Beam, Longest and Neff firm takes its turn at the wheel of the mayor's gravy train.

The city's newly ordained symbol is an anchor buried beneath the Ohio River mud flats, but there are no brakes on the Gahan Campaign Finance Express.

The Jeopardy! answer: "It's why we're here."

The Jeopardy! question: "How important is campaign finance to Mayor Jeff Gahan?"

And here.

That's why he's here: Lumberjack-in-chief Jeff Gahan's deforestation of Mt. Tabor Road begins.

The clearcut was delayed a couple of weeks, but the jollies were not to be denied.

And finally here.

Hemorrhaging votes, an increasingly disoriented Deaf Gahan sidesteps Mt. Tabor-Klerner intersection ... for now.

In a stunning roundabout turnabout, Deaf Gahan dispatched his Minister of Engineering to this morning's meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety, and with little fanfare, erased his previous line in the sand -- and drew a new one to the west of the intersection of Mt. Tabor Road and Klerner Lane.

Even Pinocchio figured it out, so get those political signs out of the verge and into your yard.

Political yard signs aren't supposed to be placed in the verge, or the grassy area between sidewalk and curb. In the photo above, the house in the foreground gets it right. The two houses in the distance don't. It's an easy fix, so do it, okay?

In fairness, after a momentary lapse of protocol, even Pinocchio recalled some of the lessons of 40 years spent self-aggrandizing. At first he had it wrong ...

 ... and now he has it right.

People, this isn't nuclear physics. Keep your touts off the verge, and no signs get hurt.

All hail Pinocchio: The Liz Watson campaign says it has a huge lead, based on tiny polling numbers.

Ever since I saw the Liz Watson yard sign illegally placed right there in the verge by Pinocchio Rosenbarger's house, it has seemed likelier than ever that in the ongoing congressional case of Watson v. Canon, the Bloomingtonian is the preference of the local Democratic Party's tightly scripted establishment.

The parallels with goings-on in the national party are fairly obvious, and I needn't repeat the tired litany.

And, a poll of 400 voters, among them 33% undecided, isn't very much of a damning verdict apart from serving as campaign hype generator.

So it goes (insert yawn here).

Me?

I've no issues with Watson, but my preference remains elsewhere. Knowing that Pinocchio's nose knows Dickeyformity is a nudge, to be sure, but I have these other fish yet to fry.

Until they are, I remain a passive observer.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Liz Watson Has Double Digit Lead in Indiana 09 Democratic Primary

Bloomington, IN -- On Tuesday, the Liz for Indiana campaign released poll numbers that show Liz Watson with a 13-point lead over Dan Canon in the Democratic primary to replace Trey Hollingsworth in November.

“This poll proves what we already know. Democrats are ready to vote for Liz in May, and they see Liz as the best candidate to take on Trey Hollingsworth in November,” said Brian Peters, Campaign Manager for the Liz for Indiana campaign.

The poll, together with Liz’s support from 27 labor unions and a slew of progressive organizations, as well as the campaign’s $165K cash on hand lead over the rest of the field combined, shows a commanding advantage in the May 8 primary.

“Not only do the poll numbers show our campaign with a large lead, but we also have the resources to get Liz’s message out to every voter in this district. That is a good thing, because they like what they’re hearing.”

The poll was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in the field from March 3-5 and sampled over 400 Democratic primary voters.

Hemorrhaging votes, an increasingly disoriented Deaf Gahan sidesteps Mt. Tabor-Klerner intersection ... for now.

In a stunning roundabout turnabout, Deaf Gahan dispatched his Minister of Engineering to this morning's meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety, and with little fanfare, erased his previous line in the sand -- and drew a new one to the west of the intersection of Mt. Tabor Road and Klerner Lane.

In the aftermath, City Hall's patented Tilt-A-Whirl propaganda wheel was utterly predictable: Don't you see, peasants? Dear Leader listened to your comments at the most recent public meeting.

Are your hip boots on?

On January 2nd, the City of New Albany held the third public information meeting for the Mt. Tabor Road Project. After receiving feedback and comments from residents and engineers, the City of New Albany has removed plans to modify the intersection at Mt. Tabor Road and Klerner Lane. As part of this federally-funded project, the four-way stop will remain ...

... “We will keep working to improve the roadway and infrastructure at Mt. Tabor Road,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “We welcome and appreciate the input and feedback from our neighbors and business owners. Please stay connected by reading the News and Tribune and by visiting our website.”

Ah, but lest we forget, Team Gahan didn't want this meeting to occur in the first place. John Rosenbarger, Larry Summers, et al -- they publicly sulked and pouted when INDOT reminded them of their legal obligations v.v. the intersection's change in configuration, and as Gahan babbled incoherently ("that's why we're here") ...

 ... the functionaries smirked.

The Jeffersonville chain newspaper's Morris properly waited a bit to acquire quotes from the Taborite objectors, who did their homework.

It was worth it.

Plan for Mt. Tabor Road-Klerner Lane intersection on hold

NEW ALBANY — Bidding for phase one of the Mount Tabor Road project begins Feb. 7 and work is slated to start in April or May. But there will be one major change moving forward. Phase one won't include the intersection of Mount Tabor Road and Klerner Lane ...

... One of those residents, Scott Whalen, said he was happy to hear the city is taking a second look at its plans for the intersection.

"It is great news that the city has chosen to take another look at the traffic conditions at the intersection while they address the primary reason for the project — the hillside leading to Slate Run Creek," Whalen said via email. "As not only a stakeholder in the project, but also as an engineer, it is important to ensure the measured conditions represent the typical use. Performing the traffic counts for only 24 hours and while the intersection was the detour for McDonald Lane did not meet this criteria. The re-evaluation is what we at the corner have been asking for" ...

... INDOT told the city that it should complete an additional information document and involve the public with its plans again to become NEPA complaint, which is a requirement for federally funded projects.

"Although I’m relieved to learn somebody finally heard the residents, it’s disheartening to know that all parties involved have already spent thousands of dollars on legal fees. Why did we (the local residents) have to reach out to the top state politicians and INDOT management for our own city to listen to us," resident Kelly Feiock said in an email. "We’re not shy and we’re willing to talk. All of this wasted time and money could have been avoided five years ago with open communication."

So, really -- why the change of heart? Politics -- first, last and always.

It isn't so much about disappearing votes in the 6th district, Gahan's traditional home field. The 6th already is lost to Democrats, probably for a generation. Rather, it's about panicked quarantine.

No one's buying City Hall's limp palaver about the housing authority putsch, and with each passing day, more Democrats are looking at the dynamism of Dan Canon and Liz Watson, contrasting them with Gahan's agoraphobic, bunker-confined DINO disguise, and scratching their heads in bewilderment.

Dan's and Liz's direction is incompatible with Jeffrey's, and it's likely that DemoDisneyDixiecratic party chairman Adam Dickey has been cooing seductively in Gahan's ear, but the irony remains, because apart from his own self-generated mythology, the mayor is far more of a liability to the party than an asset.

And that's fine by the resistance. Don't forget: #FireGahan2019

VIDEO: "That's why we're here," Gahan flails amid a pack of lies in this classic footage from last night's Mt. Tabor project meeting.

Thanks to whomever posted this video at YouTube.

There's a reason why the forever agoraphobic Jeff Gahan's handlers keep him secured in the bunker, and it's because the moment any public scenario strays from the script, he cannot improvise. The more he tries, the worse it gets -- and the angrier he becomes.

In this video, observe his petulance escalate with each "that's why we're here," until he's demanding to know why citizens aren't listening to him, even as he insists his Potemkin facade of a meeting was to prove he's listening.


Chins up, Mt. Taborites. Your comments may be "unlikely" to produce change, but in 2019, your votes will help forcibly detach Jeff Gahan from the public teat.

Until the past couple of days, I felt sorry for Larry Summers. Sadly, it's time to get past this, and to get started.

#FireGahan2019

Chins up, Mt. Taborites. Your comments may be "unlikely" to produce change, but in 2019, your votes will help forcibly detach Jeff Gahan from the public teat.

As an aside, has anyone else noticed how short John Rosenbarger's leash has become?

Any time the former Rasputin of Redevelopment becomes part of the public record, city officials hurriedly reel him back in, panic-stricken, as though they're actually aware of Pinocchio's chart-busting toxicity quotient.

Why not retire Rosenbarger -- or does he have copies of the same photos Coffey keeps in a safe deposit box at Birdseye Bank & Trust?

To the overarching point: If one plans for farce and debacle, these are the likely outcomes.

Jeff Gahan does not react maturely to being challenged, and when he is, expect scorched earth. It isn't enough for his opponents to lose. They must be ritualistically and publicly demeaned and humiliated, as with last night's shambolic "public information" meeting.

To his weird sort of credit, city engineer Larry Summers -- pushed to the front to take eyes off Rosenbarger's sneering depravity -- doesn't even try to lie (underlined in the passage below). By Team Gahan standards, this constitutes heroic virtue, and the newspaper's reporter helpfully records every word.

Last night's public information spoonfeeding gave Gahan's functionaries the opportunity to taunt the rubes who stand in the way of auto-centric enrichment. You don't know what's best for your neighborhood.

Dear Leader does. but remember that paybacks are hell -- and 2019 draws ever closer.

Residents voice opinions at Mount Tabor Road public info session, by Danielle Grady (That Jeffersonville Newspaper)

Comments 'highly unlikely' to produce change

NEW ALBANY — A group of New Albany residents got what they had been asking for on Tuesday: another chance for public comment on the reconstruction of Mount Tabor Road. But responses were mixed on whether residents thought the information session would result in change ...

 ... INDOT told the city that it should complete an additional information document and involve the public with its plans again in order to become NEPA complaint, which is a requirement for federally funded projects.

The city could have just completed a memo to file for the public, said Larry Summers, New Albany’s city engineer, but because of the amount of public outreach to INDOT, the department recommended a full information session.

While the city will be taking the public comments made at the meeting, looking over them and submitting them to INDOT with their information document, Summers said it was “highly unlikely” that there would be any changes made to the city’s plan for Mount Tabor Road. Instead, the meeting was more about informing the public about the project’s final details.

“I mean, the city is always looking to hear public comments, but at this point, we’re letting the project in February so the plans are final,” Summers said.

He did add that if there was something “substantial” brought up, the city could make a change.

"City of New Albany Under Fire Amid Accusations of Ignoring INDOT Policies" as Transparency for Mount Tabor group issues scathing press release.

Previously: Here are the questions you can ask at Tuesday evening's meeting about the Mt. Tabor Deforestation and Auto Enrichment Project.

We've just received this press release from Transparency for Mt. Tabor. Take note of tonight's meeting, and best of luck to the insurgents.

---

City of New Albany Under Fire Amid Accusations of Ignoring INDOT Policies

Contact: Transparency for Mount Tabor - Scott Whalen or Kelly Feiock 

New Albany, IN (January 2, 2018) – Another large crowd is expected at the public meeting tonight hosted by the City of New Albany to unveil yet another plan for the Mount Tabor Road Redevelopment Project. The project’s initial goal was to correct erosion problems running along the north side of the road into the creek below. Revisions to the plans will be displayed at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in New Albany at 7 pm.

In addition to correcting the erosion problems, the original plan in 2013 called for scrapping the current 4-way stop with stop signs and inserting a roundabout into an area that a proper roundabout would not fit. More than 300 residents angrily voiced their opposition to this idea, begging the city to fix the erosion and leave the rest of the road alone.

A few months later Mayor Jeff Gahan reversed his stance, visiting three of the homes on Christmas Eve, which are located on the intersection of Mount Tabor and Klerner Lane, personally telling the residents that his official response to the public hearing and the Categorical Exclusion (CE) was that the intersection would remain the same. It was possible to change to a traffic signal in the future, but it would be in a separate project if or when that happened. He followed up with mailing a letter to all affected residents stating “I recently decided to eliminate the roundabout from the project. The plan is now to retain the 4-way stop.” Gahan continued by saying “This decision was based upon the public comments and concerns received from the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Fast forward three years to June 2016. Residents begin receiving letters notifying them the project was moving forward, appraisers would be visiting homes and acquisition offers to buy land would follow soon after. Yet, when the Right of Way (ROW) Agents presented the offers to residents, they showed plans marked “preliminary.” And when residents asked for a copy of the plans that actually said “Final,” they learned the plans were not yet final. Gossip swirled as neighbors began to speculate that the City of New Albany was going to change the plans again.

Unable to obtain answers from Gahan’s employees, residents turned to INDOT for answers, as INDOT must sign off any federally-funded projects. In December 2016 INDOT confirmed the 4-way stop was now to become a signalized light, and the two lanes of traffic would now insert a left turn lane. Once again residents are furious with Team Gahan. Some had already signed contracts selling portions of their land, believing the atmosphere of a 4-way stop and two lanes of traffic would remain the same. Others, who refused to sign fearing the neighborhood was about to change, have been sued and their land obtained via eminent domain. Approximately 50% of the residents are refusing to give in, and are now going to jury trial against the city.

Resident Scott Whalen kept questioning INDOT officials about policies, and asked shouldn’t residents have seen the final plans before properties were appraised, contracts signed or eminent domain granted? How can damages be calculated when the appraiser doesn’t know the end result? Finally, INDOT agreed that the residents were to be notified of the changes. Residents didn’t just want to know about the changes – they want to know how INDOT signed off on a major change of scope, and not be aware that the residents didn’t know.

Lack of communication has been an ongoing issue between city officials, INDOT and residents. INDOT requires the city mail surveys to residents for a noise analysis – but the surveys were never mailed. INDOT requires any reasonable requests be considered during negotiations - but the ROW agent didn’t tell the city about the requests. The city told INDOT that an increase in traffic warranted the change from a 4-way stop to a traffic signal – but it didn’t tell INDOT that the two traffic analysis it ordered were done when parallel streets were closed and traffic was rerouted though Mount Tabor Road. In fact, a traffic study has never been conducted while all roads are open and no traffic rerouted, so there is no base line as to the average daily amount of cars to travel Mount Tabor Road.

The last straw came when residents received a letter from the city stating trees were to be cut down along Mount Tabor Road, beginning tomorrow, January 3. With so many questions and no answers, the issues have escalated to state officials who will be discussing the project today prior to the public meeting. State Representative Ed Clere plans to speak with INDOT Commissioner Joe McGuinness with hopes that INDOT will finally become accountable for the project that it approved, yet doesn’t know anything about.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help is located at 1752 Scheller Lane, New Albany, IN 47150. The public is encouraged to bring written comments or questions they would like answered and filed on public record with INDOT.

Here are the questions you can ask at Tuesday evening's meeting about the Mt. Tabor Deforestation and Auto Enrichment Project.

There's an important meeting on Tuesday night with regard to the grandiloquently (read: "inaccurately") titled Mt. Tabor Road Restoration and Pedestrian Safety Project.

December 22:
Comments on the pre-determined Mt. Tabor deforestation and auto enrichment outcome can be given on Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (1752 Scheller Lane).

December 28
Team Gahan swears its engineering contractor will listen to your comments about the Mt. Tabor deforestation project at the mere formality on January 2.


Kelly Feiock is one of the neighborhood community leaders involved with reformatting the malign Rosenbargerization of the project, and she made this comment on our post of the 28th.

It's important to note that residents may write down specific questions they have but New Albany refuses to answer. The City and engineers must answer each question in writing and submit to INDOT.

Written questions and comments may be given to the engineers of Beam, Longest and Neff at the meeting Tuesday, or if residents will not be able to attend the meeting the letters may be sent to the engineers within 7 days of the meeting:

Brian Shaw
c/o Beam, Longest and Neff
8126 Castleton Road
Indianapolis, IN 46250
bshaw@b-l-n.com

Following are a few examples of the points being made to City Hall and INDOT by those neighborhood residents contesting the project's parameters.

Judging by the sheer size of the mailing list, my guess is most residents who need this information already have received it, and so I've edited it into bullet points. If you would like to peruse the details, let me know and I can forward the e-mail I received.

Examples of deficiencies to share with INDOT:

1. Indiana Department of Transportation Traffic Noise Analysis Procedure was not followed.
2. Acquisition of real property for federal and federal aid projects was not followed.
3. The City and its engineers claimed an increase in traffic, yet failed to provide a reasonable and valid traffic analysis warranting the replacement of the current 4-way stop with a signalized intersection.

Point #3 has its own list of conceivable questions.

• Instead of saying "I don’t think there is enough traffic on Mount Tabor Road to warrant a traffic signal," ask them how many cars travel Mount Tabor Road on a daily basis now that Rainbow Drive and McDonald Lane are open, and no traffic is being rerouted on Mount Tabor.
• Ask them to provide the document stating that this project requires sidewalks on both sides of the road.
• Ask them to provide the document stating that the sidewalks must be five feet wide.
• Ask them for the documentation stating the five foot grass buffers improve the safety of pedestrians.
• Ask them for a detailed planned to replace the trees that were cut down.
• Ask them to provide a detailed plan of replacing the trees that were cut down…. How many? What kind? How big?
• Ask them who they hired to maintain the grass and sidewalks in the new ROW.
• Ask them who should we call if the snow plow hasn’t cleared the snow in the ROW blocking access to our driveway.
• Ask them what money is being used as the 20% local match.

Team Gahan's doctrine of inflated self-importance typically causes it to react harshly to grassroots activism. As such, it's crucial for concerned citizens to keep pushing and attend this meeting. NAC hopes to be able to swing by and observe.

Team Gahan swears its engineering contractor will listen to your comments about the Mt. Tabor deforestation project at the mere formality on January 2.

Taken BEFORE Gahan's NAHA putsch.

Way back on December 22, we provided fresh news (thanks S) about an unexpected chance for the public to play its part in fulfilling the city's legal obligations, so the Mt. Tabor Deforestation and Campaign Finance Enrichment Project might finally begin.

Comments on the pre-determined Mt. Tabor deforestation and auto enrichment outcome can be given on Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (1752 Scheller Lane).

The Bookseller immediately issued an appropriate reminder.

As you well know, a "public information meeting" as run by this administration will not allow for any public comments by the citizenry. These are so far removed from "public hearings" as to be from different planets. I hope you will use your platform to remind the mice how such meetings go - first with divide and conquer breakouts where one might ask a question of a single official, but no opportunity to publicly address concerns.

Five whole days later, the News and Tribune somehow meandered around to the story, including an half-assertion this meeting will be different; this time around, there'll be some down-home, old-school listening going on.

Uh huh. Does anyone have a grain of salt the size of size of Jeff Gahan's ego?

Meeting scheduled to discuss Mount Tabor Road project, by Chris Morris

NEW ALBANY — It looks like residents will once again have an opportunity to voice their opinion on the proposed changes and improvements to Mount Tabor Road coming in 2018 ...

... Because the project is federally funded, the city must follow the National Environmental Policy Act. According to Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Manning, the approved environmental document shows the project will involve a four-way stop, which is what exists now as previously reported by the News and Tribune. INDOT reviewed documents submitted by the consultant at the request of Mount Tabor Road and Klerner Lane residents. State officials discovered that while the city changed the intersection design, the NEPA documents don't reflect this change ...

... At the meeting representatives from the engineering design firm Beam, Longest and Neff, LLC will be available to answer questions from concerned residents.

This is amazing.

It's been so long (2013) since this project was minted that it actually predates the time of HWC Engineering receiving all such contracts. Let's hope Beam, Longest and Neff have been updated on cash-stuffed envelope protocol since David Duggins hit the pay-packet lottery at the New Albany Housing Authority.

Hilariously, although probably inadvertently, Morris recycled previous thoughts from John "Pinocchio" Rosenbarger, still merrily denying culpability in ignoring this "final public hearing" requirement, and still just as happily suckling on the government's teat after all these long, wasted years.

John Rosenbarger, New Albany Public Works projects supervisor, said in a previous interview the city intends to build a signal as planned. He thinks a signal will work best at that location and will improve traffic flow. "You can time signals ... You can control flow with a signal. You can't with a four-way stop," he said.

As an aside, it's instructive to understand that deep down inside, Wile E. Rosenberger has his own embittered and self-serving complaint, which might be explained like this: he's chronically under-appreciated.

Such a tragedy.

It seems that from the start of Rosenbarger's career as veritable Rasputin of Redevelopment, those politicians for whom he has toiled, and the voters who placed them in office, both are irretrievably stupid.

They simply have not ever grasped the sheer grandeur of Rosenbarger's professional essence, and because of this, while he forever and always has possessed the very best and most brilliant Wile E. solution to any problem, seldom was he allowed to bring these solutions to bear -- because, had he undertaken to argue for what is correct from a sense of deep and abiding principle, the single worst outcome of all might have occurred.

This being that Rosenbarger might have been fired -- sacked, cashiered, terminated, made redundant, discharged, tossed, dismissed, axed, given a pink slip, kicked out and sent packing.

In turn, this means that the only deep and abiding principle Rosenbarger ever possessed was personal job security. If you're not already hugging a commode in revulsion, there's more here: Ranting on John Rosenbarger's fundamental contradictions in the aftermath of an atrocious day in the neighborhood.

#FireGahan2019
#FireHimToo

Comments on the pre-determined Mt. Tabor deforestation and auto enrichment outcome can be given on Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (1752 Scheller Lane).

The Green Mouse received a message.

It looks like the city is posting the notice for the Mt. Tabor project today - they are trying to skirt open public comments again. They are also cutting out half of the project citing money issues. Maybe if they would leave the intersection alone, they could do their sidewalks all the way.

Indeed. I don't suppose any of this will prevent the deforestation slated to begin the following day.

Gahan Doublespeak Blues (Husqvarna Mix): Say goodbye to your trees, Mt. Tabor Road residents, because it's time again to "improve the tree canopy" by flattening a few hundred of them.

Egg meets Pinocchio Rosenbarger's scowling visage as city delays Mt. Tabor clear-cutting until January 3.

Here's the latest ultimatum.

Source: News and Tribune
Category: Public Notices
Published Date: December 22, 2017

Notice Details

Notice of Public Information Meeting 

The City of New Albany will hold a public information meeting on Tuesday January 2, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. for the reconstruction of Mt. Tabor Road between Grant Line Road and Charlestown Road. The public information meeting will be held in Wagner Hall at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, located at 1752 Scheller Lane, New Albany, Indiana. 

The purpose of the public information meeting is to present additional information on the Klerner Lane and Mt. Tabor Road intersection, development of long-term slope stability solutions and overall project limits. The presentation will afford interested persons an opportunity to become better informed and provide written comments. 

The purpose of the project is to reconstruct Mt. Tabor Road between Grant Line Road and Charlestown Road, implement intersection improvements at Klerner Lane, construct curbs and gutters for storm water control, and provide pedestrian pathways. The total project length is approximately 1.1 miles and follows the existing horizontal alignment of Mt. Tabor Road from Grant Line Road to Charlestown Road. 

At the Klerner Lane and Mt. Tabor Road intersection, a four -way stop controlled intersection was proposed. As part of the final design, the four way stop controlled intersection was revised to a signal controlled intersection, based on a formal Traffic Signal Warrant Study and Capacity Analysis that was completed. 

In addition, as part of the final design the project limits were revised to more closely match the allocated construction funding. Final plans were developed to reconstruct Mt Tabor Road from Grant Line Road to approximately 200 feet past the proposed signalized intersection with Klerner Lane (Project 1). The remainder of the project from 200 feet past Klerner Lane to Charlestown Road is now anticipated to be constructed in a future project (Project 2). 

Written comments will be accepted at the public information meeting and for seven (7) days after the public information meeting is held. Representatives from the engineering design firm, Beam, Longest and Neff, LLC, will be available to address questions. In accordance with the "Americans With Disabilities Act", if you have a disability for which the City of New Albany needs to provide accommodations, please call Mr. Brian Shaw, of Beam, Longest and Neff, LLC at (317) 849-5832, or send an email to bshaw@b-l-n.com by December 29, 2017. 

Egg meets Pinocchio Rosenbarger's scowling visage as city delays Mt. Tabor clear-cutting until January 3.

It seems that concerned parties failed to receive their warnings, and Pinocchio neglected to satisfy INDOT.

Looking at the bright side, the delay will allow the propaganda commissariat to ejaculate another round of SEE HOW CHAINSAWS HELP US SAVE THE URBAN TREE CANOPY, or as it is known at the Roadhouse, "Do that sweet Husqvarna to me, Daddy Geppetto."

See posts with label Mt. Tabor Road Restoration and Pedestrian Safety Project.

As condescending as ever, Pinocchio Rosenbarger presumptuously alters Mt. Tabor-Klerner intersection plans, is called out by INDOT, and blames everyone except himself.

Previously: Since 2013 (and before), the Mt. Tabor Road beak-wetting boondoggle is a large millstone hung around Jeff Gahan's neck. Mayor overboard?

Stop me if you've heard this one before: City Hall unresponsive.

Great work, Scott Whalen. The Green Mouse believe that when it comes to the mayor's list of enemies, you're number two with a bullet.

INDOT tells New Albany officials Mt. Tabor Road project change requires more public input, by Elizabeth Beilman

City officials intend to build signalized intersection

NEW ALBANY — The city of New Albany must seek additional public involvement before it can move forward with reconstruction of Mount Tabor Road — something for which a handful of residents have been asking for about a year.

Last year, city officials changed the plans for the intersection of Mount Tabor Road and Klerner Lane from a four-way stop to a signalized intersection with turning lanes. The project will result in an entirely reconstructed 1-mile portion of the cracking road as well as new sidewalks.

Because the project is federally funded, the city must follow the National Environmental Policy Act. According to Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Manning, the approved environmental document shows the project will involve a four-way stop, which is what exists now.

INDOT reviewed documents submitted by the consultant at the request of Mount Tabor Road and Klerner Lane residents. State officials discovered that while the city changed the intersection design, the NEPA documents don't reflect this change.

"I feel vindicated," said Scott Whalen, who lives on the corner of Mount Tabor Road and Klerner Lane. "I've been saying this all along throughout the process, there's been no finished plans available, nothing formal that is saying it's changed to a signalized intersection with turn lanes" ...

Not that Team Gahan plans to do anything about it: "Bike commuting's worst enemy isn't what you think."

At some indeterminate point, but quite soon now, Pinocchio Rosenbarger will be out there with the paint crews, drawing those trademark "Chickenshit Sharrows" symbols on streets where cyclists accepting them at face value will be the target of open season by unreconstructed and imbecilic drivers.

Rosenbarger will cluck, dance, declare victory, and cash yet another paycheck.

And Team Gahan still won't get it ... not one bit. The street grid transformation might have made the streets safe for cyclists. It will go only halfway, primarily because drivers (and paving contractors) are New Albany's only real protected species.

BIKE COMMUTING'S WORST ENEMY ISN'T WHAT YOU THINK, by Arian Horbovetz (The Urban Phoenix via Strong Towns)

 ... Most people in my home city of Rochester, New York don’t fully understand why anyone would commute using any form of transportation other than a car. This mental construct is so pervasive that any form of transit other than driving is seen as either “fringe,” or worse, seen as a reflection of the person’s socioeconomic status in life.

As we continue to crawl our way toward making cities more bike friendly for cycling commuters, the biggest barrier we may have to tackle, the one that gives people a license to dismiss it as a transit outlier, is simply perception — the misconception that bikes are a means of recreation instead of a tool for empowerment, as well as the commonly held notion that biking for transportation has to be motivated by a negative catalyst (poverty, loss of license, etc.). In fairness, bikes are tremendous resources for folks that are in these positions. It can be a game changer, helping to level the playing field for our poorest communities. But there are a multitude of other reasons people make the choice to ride instead of drive.

Many think the ultimate enemy of the bicycle is the car, but the reason cars are so dangerous is simply the false perception that our streets and roads are made for driving and nothing else. It is the complete dismissal, whether conscious or unconscious, of any other practical way of getting around. It is the lack of understanding that cars are one of many forms of transit, albeit by far the most popular one. It is the lack of respect for bikes as a viable vehicle for traveling to where you need to go.

In sum, it is the mindset that categorizes cycling as an inferior way of moving about rather than an appreciation for the personal and community health benefits it provides.

To conclude ...

Seeing bikes as transit machines, like cars only slower, is an important mental hurdle for non-cyclists to overcome. It is no different than choosing a pickup over a sedan, a sub-compact versus an SUV, or a luxury car over a coupe. It is simply another way to get from point A to point B, with advantages and disadvantages. The sooner we all accept this fact, the sooner we will begin to open our eyes to a multitude of transit options for our cities that truly benefit everyone.

White Castle is just White Castle, but THIS is a genuine improvement.

Relax.

The White Castle at the dangerous intersection of Vincennes and Spring has reopened, although it's just another chain, and I don't give a tinker's damn whether it lives or dies.

If we must have cookie-cutter chains, then I'd rather have seen the building rebuilt right on the corner, flush with the sidewalk, as it used to be. At least now it's closer, and surprisingly, one aspect of the refit actually matters.

The view during construction ...

 ... and before.

I'd love to know the names of those city officials who approved the installation of a grassy berm at the precise spot where pedestrians would be approaching the restaurant. Suburban design idiocy like this is one reason why the intersection remains dangerous.

Wait ... it was John "Pinocchio" Rosenbarger, wasn't it?

After all, his fingerprints of 40 years time-serving can be found at hazardous junctures throughout the city.

ON THE AVENUES: For New Albany’s Person of the Year, the timeless words of Mother Jones: “Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.”

Show trials. We need 'em desperately.

Trees and the importance of urban canopies -- everywhere except Jeff Gahan's Chop Down City, of course.

The struggle is real, and the cluelessness well-nigh institutionalized.

There's nothing quite as sobering as reading the frequently recurring articles about the importance of trees, even as the mind's eye cannot forget those hundreds of stumps produced in New Albany during the year 2016 ... and knowing that the various bureaucrats responsible remain on the job, self-serving their time, sharpening axes in the complete absence of a reforestation plan -- because can anyone recall a moment when Jeff Gahan showed signs of comprehending any of this?

How Climate Benefits from Trees Scale with Cities at Sustainable Cities Collective

Trees influence meteorological and climatic effects at all scales of a city, from pocket parks to entire neighborhoods. However, while research has been done on the effect of trees canopies on urban environments, in general, we are only now beginning to understand how urban canopies affect climate at all scales of the city – from an individual building to a street, park, overall pattern of land use and finally, the city as a whole.

What makes the logging mania in New Albany even more grating are events over THERE, across the river.

Council Members Hollander and Hamilton introduce tree ordinance for consideration (District 9 Blog)

Metro Councilmembers Bill Hollander (D-9) and Cheri Bryant-Hamilton (D-5) announced today that they have introduced an ordinance relating to Louisville Metro trees.

Adoption of such an ordinance was the very first of 41 recommendations in the 2015 Louisville Urban Tree Canopy Assessment. It was also recommended by the Louisville Metro Tree Advisory Commission, after a lengthy review of ordinances in dozens of other cities, including several in Kentucky.

“We have seen a significant loss in tree canopy in Louisville Metro and this ordinance will help focus attention on the issue, protect the trees we have and reduce the possibility of more losses,” Councilman Hollander said. “It recognizes that trees are important to quality of life and to our health”.

“Our community needs more trees, desperately. Studies have shown that it makes a difference and it will reduce the temperature in the City,” said Councilwoman Hamilton. “We need to do a better job of getting people to connect the dots between our environment and our health and this ordinance will help.”

Of course, Louisville has its own constraints against progress in the form of Greater Louisville Inc., and LEO's editor Aaron Yarmuth is unrelenting in exposing One Southern Indiana's commonwealth next-of-kin for its utter fraudulence.

GLI, Get Lost Immediately, by Aaron Yarmuth (LEO Weekly)

It is time to question whether Greater Louisville Inc., the city’s chamber of commerce, is a shell organization, a facade for opposition to progressive city government.

It does little to advance the city’s progress. It is either functioning as a conservative political lobby under camouflage, or a group blind to the realities of urban America.

GLI has a chance to prove me wrong.

It can do so by reversing its efforts to undermine science and arguing that research doesn’t justify new rules — which it did in a letter back in August, leveling baseless attacks against the findings of Louisville’s heat-management plan. Their illogical argument concluded that the study didn’t demonstrate a cost-benefit analysis for new regulations. So therefore the science is bad?

GLI — a hodgepodge group of local business leaders, not science leaders — get out of the science-debunking business. Do your job and support any proposed tree ordinance by Metro Councilman Bill Hollander, and actively market the city’s new efforts to improve public health ...

... Instead of opposing efforts to save and restore Louisville’s tree canopy, GLI needs to aggressively support and market all public and private efforts. According to Forbes’ best places for business, Portland (No. 5), Austin (No. 11) and Charlotte (No. 19) all somehow lead Louisville (No. 54), despite the heavy hand of their burdensome tree rules. It is clear that regulations that improve quality of life do not come at the expense of business… and GLI is wrong ...

 ... If GLI wants to reclaim its role representing our interests, it needs to put the longterm interests of the community before the short-term perceived interests of business. If GLI wants to prove me wrong — try to defend the indefensible — we’ll offer them a page.

Until then, GLI means: Get Lost Immediately.

Over here in Southern Indiana, our peculiar institution generally is referred to as 1Si, which works out to (and definitely is) One Shitty Idea.

We close with further testimony from an unfortunate reader of the News and Tribune, which to date has had almost nothing of coherence to say about Jeff Gahan's deforestation fetish, probably because Bill Hanson keeps getting those fat city advertising checks.

However, this reader gets it, even if the journalists and politicians lag behind.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR (News and Tribune)

Mature tree canopy beneficial

It is concerning to me that given all the press recently about the “urban desert” of the Louisville-Southern Indiana area, permission was apparently given to raze the area on Fawcett Hill off of State Street. Not only is this an eyesore for anyone traveling on State Street, it seems to exemplify poor planning to me.

The benefits of trees in our environment are so numerous. Urban forests absorb air pollution such as sulfur dioxide ozone, soot and diesel emission; this makes the air healthier to breathe for everyone. Having trees in a city area brings cooling relief making the city more livable. Also, trees help store water, thereby creating the beneficial effects of less flooding and less erosion.

Based on these few reasons, it would seem smart to me to keep as many old trees as possible. Why did the city/county planners allow all the trees on the property on Fawcett Hill to be razed? Perhaps it is more cost-efficient for the developers to cut down all existing growth and someday, to plant small, new trees? In one article I read, it states one mature tree can remove 70 times more pollution than one small tree. Based on this fact, alone, it would make sense to me to keep some of the old growth.

Wouldn’t it be nice for those who make decisions about our shared environment to consider all aspects, rather than just the ones that make money, enlarge the tax base, or render a project cheaper to complete?

Every person will leave a legacy for his or her children. Here in Floyd County, there are still so many beautiful forested areas. It is a treasure we have that many forget can so easily disappear.

I believe with careful planning, development of existing forested areas can be obtained while keeping many of the trees that are already there. It may cut down on a little monetary profit, but it would be a wonderful example of good stewardship and social responsibility.

— Janet Chatham, Floyds Knobs