DNA's next Merchant Meeting is Tuesday, December 18, 8:30 a.m. at the Culbertson Mansion. And something about sweaters.

Now that I'm back in the communications loop -- or, stated more broadly, now that Develop New Albany is taking communications loops more seriously (thank you) -- I hate to miss a merchant meeting, but must do so.

Is a serape considered a sweater?

At any rate, here's the lowdown.

Merchant meetings are held monthly on the third Tuesday of the month at 8:30 AM and the location rotates monthly. If you are interested in hosting a merchant meeting for 2019 please send us a message as soon as possible. Usually the attendance is between 15 and 25. Wear your ugliest Christmas sweater to this months meeting!

Forget the chain envy. What New Albany needs downtown is people living there, that's what. What's the plan, planners?

There will be a merchant meeting this Tuesday morning. Since I've criticized Develop New Albany in the past for failing the transparency test when publicizing such events, fairness dictates that I correct the record when the organization does better, and lately it has.

Are you a merchant in New Albany? Join us! Restaurant, retail, realtor, insurance, salon and all of the other amazing businesses we have... come be a part of the community. Guest speaker Todd Harrett from Axiom Financial Strategies Group of Wells Fargo advisors.

I'm feeling like a rant, and hoping someday there'll be speakers on topics pertaining to walkability, parking, safe streets and other issues grouped under a broader umbrella of urbanism.

Each day the downtown business environment is shaped by factors like these, and yet perhaps because both DNA and the organization's merchant meetings fall under City Hall's indirect control, they're seemingly off limits for discussion.

What about the importance of infill housing, defined as "compact housing in already urbanized land near transit, jobs, and services”?

It's numero uno.

Both at merchant meetings and during numerous on-line chats, the question is asked: What does downtown New Albany need?

Invariably the answers proffered on-line revolve around chain restaurants and various start-up business ideas that no one commenting is prepared to undertake themselves, while at merchant meetings, business people tend to sit quietly as community leaders tell them what's already been decided.

The point constantly is being missed, because what downtown needs is PEOPLE who are LIVING downtown, people who are the common denominator for all these restaurant wish lists, people can walk to have a burger and beer and not be the single occupant of an automobile for a trip from places like the corner of Daisy and Green Valley, where yet another development has been approved -- and yet again, without a way for residents to ride a bike to points downtown.

Unless you consider a sharrow symbol something other than a license for drivers to wax imperialistic.

Somehow, while a central government investing in highways and subsidizing oil companies constitutes ‘freedom,’ any local investment and sidewalks and bike lanes smacks of the communist takeover.”
-- Jeff Speck, Walkable City Rules

To me, there's one huge campaign issue next year, and that's how we go about encouraging infill and population density downtown. It's an effort that must include affordable housing, and a spanking new city hall doesn't fit this imperative ... sorry, Schoolmaster B.

As an aside, if we're going to continue thinking we'll be a destination for people living elsewhere, then it's time for local government to put skin in the game as it pertains to an organized and coherent marketing campaign. This would help.

It will strike some merchants in attendance Tuesday that I'm talking about politics, which makes them shuffle nervously.

In the sense that politics is about power, then yes, it's political, and the independent business persons investing in downtown up to this point have far more power than they know, owing precisely to the combined weight of their investments.

And the way for them to achieve a greater return on these investments is for there to be more people living downtown.

What's the genius mayor's plan for that, apart from demolishing public housing already in place?

Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places

Attention, independent local business owners: "9 New Year's Resolutions for Small Business Success."

Phantom comeback?

After kicking off the year by allowing the mayor to prattle to the point of sheer inanity amid his Disney-flecked civic dreamscape, without anything remotely approaching a substantive cross-examination (Dear Leader advertises a lot, you know -- follow that money, people), the Jeffersonville newspaper eventually disgorged something of a scattershot counterpoint.

Gahan's loyal subaltern Pat McLaughlin duly mouthed the increasingly exhausted mayoral litany, but I was impressed the most by one small point on the part of Al Knable, as snipped here.

New Albany City Council members say more needed beyond downtown area, by Chris Morris (Coupon Gazette)

 ... (Knable) said he would also like to see a strong downtown merchant's guild.

Yes, we do, and it's something that should be completely independent of Develop New Albany's suburbanite cadres. I'm aware it was tried previously, with less than ideal results. However, times change. With patience, consciousness can shift.

Indie businesses should be coming together to pool their economic clout and community influence, and telling elected officials what is expected of them.

I'm highlighting two of these solid 2018 resolutions for small business people. If you're out there throwing punches, I suggest you click through and read them all.

9 New Year's Resolutions for Small Business Success, by Kimberly de Silva (Entrepreneur)

It's a good time to reflect on your business' progress and plan how you want to grow your business in the new year.

 ... A resolution, after all, is a decision to do something differently to bring about positive change. It’s a good time to reflect on your business’ progress and plan how you want to grow your business in the new year.

1. I will learn how to delegate and do more of it.

As a small business owner, your to-do list probably doesn’t even fit on one page. There are so many things to do, and it’s easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them ourselves. You can only work so many hours in a day. As a result, you’re probably exhausted, stressed and don’t have any free time outside of your business. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance. However, people don’t delegate because it takes a lot of upfront effort and requires a loss of control. So how do you let someone else do certain tasks, while making sure it’s done correctly? The answer is simple: communication and training. Make sure your employees are trained enough, to the point where they can take over some of your tasks. The next step is to clearly communicate the objectives and deadlines, so that you don’t end up micromanaging.

And this.

5. I will learn something new.

New year, new skill. Choose something new to learn in 2018 -- it may be directly related to your business or completely unrelated. Learning a new skill will add a dimension of interest to your life that will help to maintain that work-life balance. It will also help you to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people, if you decide to take marketing classes or learn a new language.

ON THE AVENUES: Harvest Homecoming chairman of the board David White replies to Cisa Kubley's column of November 2.

ON THE AVENUES: Harvest Homecoming chairman of the board David White replies to Cisa Kubley's column of November 2.

A weekly column by Roger A. Baylor.

On November 2, for perhaps the first time ever, I handed my weekly column slot to a guest writer.

Cisa Kubley composed an open letter to Harvest Homecoming. In it, the owner of Sew Fitting patiently and meticulously explained why Harvest Homecoming isn't always a positive interlude for independent small businesses downtown.

Why do the Harvest Homecoming powers that be seem to think that their two weeks of activity trumps the dozens and dozens of businesses that provide goods, services, and revenue for downtown New Albany year round?

Cisa's guest column proceeded to triple the number of page views one of my columns normally receives, and is by far the most-read ON THE AVENUES of the year to date. You can read it again, below, for reasons that soon will be obvious.

Even before Cisa's column was published, I spoke with David White and asked him if Harvest Homecoming would tender a reply, for which I'd supply as much space as necessary.

Here it is.

---

Dear Ms. Kubley,

My name is David White and I am the current Chairman of the Board of Harvest Homecoming (2017/2018).

I read your letter regarding the festival and do appreciate your taking the time to express these concerns. First, let me say I am sorry for your frustrations.

I have been part of the HHC for over 37 years and I will be the first to say we are not perfect (including myself), and fall short at times. However, I can assure you that ALL volunteers care about all concerns, as we have provided a Fun, Family, Friendly Festival since 1967.

I would like to meet with you in person if you will allow. I will meet you anytime and anywhere, and if it is lunch, it's my treat.

I would also like to invite you to join with Harvest Homecoming via our NEW volunteer program, and finally, I want to hear more from you regarding how we might improve upon the Festival.

My personal cell phone number is 812-786-1845 and I am hopeful that you will call me. I look forward to meeting you, Ms. Kubley.

You are appreciated and I hope this finds you well.

David White
Harvest Homecoming
Chairman Of the Board

---

Thanks to Cisa and David.

Readers, it's up to you to decide what to think. My position remains firm, in that Harvest Homecoming is an organization partnering with the city, and as such, because public time and money is "invested" in Harvest Homecoming, it is subject to the same transparency and open dialogue as we customarily (and damn well should) expect from elected officials and their appointees.

Far more prosaically, having reserved my usual column length for David's reply and readied no essay of my own this week, there is space to fill. So, following is a repeat of what Cisa wrote two weeks ago. I remain confident that some sweet day, there'll be a public forum in which these views can be exchanged, substantively and expansively -- perhaps with Mikhail Gorbachev as facilitator.

---

An open letter to the Harvest Homecoming Board and Committee

Years ago, in the early days of Harvest Homecoming, downtown New Albany (following the trend of downtowns across the country) was dying. Businesses were closing their doors and storefronts remained empty for years. At least in part, Harvest Homecoming was developed as a means of using the space available as well as to bring people into downtown.

During the past decade, New Albany’s downtown has undergone a huge transformation, especially in the last few years as growth and the opening of new businesses has positively boomed. The festival format and execution have remained practically unchanged. Do you see where this might be a problem? Wildly different and booming downtown. Outdated and static festival format.

Year-round downtown residents and businesses have complained to the Harvest Homecoming committee as well as the city for years. For seven years I have been one of those businesses. I have endured Harvest Homecoming in three different downtown locations, two on Pearl Street and one on Main Street.

Every year is a problem. Every year I try to work with the committee on improvements. Every year myself and other downtown business owners are lied to, ignored, and dismissed because, “Everyone in New Albany loves Harvest Homecoming,” “It’s been here for 50 years, you should just deal with it,” and “Downtown businesses have never complained about any issues with the festival.”

In my current location, Harvest Homecoming doesn’t affect my business only during the booth days. My neighbors and I lose our employee and customer parking for two weeks while the Fiesta rides are set up.

This does not even take into account the fact that the ride operators live in the alley behind our building during their stay here; they wander the streets in the evening knocking on our windows, let their dogs eliminate in our tree wells with no clean up, and leave garbage around our buildings.

When I have repeatedly asked what our employees and customers are supposed to do for parking for two weeks I am met with blank stares. When we lose access even to street parking during booth days and I asked what arrangements the Harvest Homecoming committee would be making to help us with a dilemma directly caused by their event, I was met with bewilderment.

It was as though they couldn’t understand why the total lack of parking access to our livelihood might be an issue to me or any other business. I continued to ask and was met with rudeness and the understanding that, as far as the Harvest Homecoming organizers are concerned, it absolutely is not their problem.

Finally, after having been told repeatedly that my calls would be returned and questions answered, I was told that the city would be providing parking passes for my employees in the parking garage on State and Market.

First of all, why is the city paying for the Harvest Homecoming’s mess? Second, how does this help my customers reach me, many of whom are elderly or disabled in some way?

Then I was told, with much palpable exasperation, that although they were very busy at the Harvest Homecoming office, someone would deliver these parking passes to my office the night before the booths opened.

Appreciating the amount of work that goes into running a festival, especially all the last minute to-dos, I thought to save someone a trip. On my way home for lunch I stopped by the Harvest Homecoming office that day to pick up the passes. I was informed that they didn’t have them and still needed to get them from the city.

My shop is open until 6 pm through the week and yet no passes were ever delivered. By closing time the first booth was up and we still had no passes. What should I tell my staff? Show up hours early for work so that you can find parking? Pay festival rates to use a local lot? Risk a parking ticket by parking in the parking garage in the hopes that the elusive parking passes eventually turn up?

After speaking with a local worker whose company pays $28 per parking spot each month in the garage so that their employees don’t take up street parking spaces that customers need to use, I won’t be asking my employees to use the parking garage. This particular company pays for their parking spaces year round, but during Harvest Homecoming they often can’t use their reserved spaces because festival goers take their place.

On the second booth day, as we still had no parking passes, two of my employees came in to work hours early in order to avoid the crowds and try to find parking. One even gave up and took an Uber to work. Saturday we simply had to close our doors.

In my years of battling the parking issue with Harvest Homecoming organizers I often have been told that if the festival is such an issue I should just shut down during booth days. Dozens of downtown businesses do exactly that.

Have you thought about what happens when a business has to close?

For every day that a business is closed they can’t make any sales. Overhead expenses don’t get put on hold when a business closes. While some businesses treat this as vacation for their employees, not all small businesses are able to offer paid vacation time. If employees are hourly, for every day that a business is closed, employees lose pay.

So what is a business to do? Stay open and incur costs that the business isn’t making any sales to offset, or close, incur costs anyway, and cut hours from employees?

When you count the number of businesses in downtown who are negatively impacted, taking into account all the ones that don’t have something they could sell from a booth, you are talking about the loss of tens of thousands of dollars of revenue and easily thousands of dollars of lost wages for employees.

While we’re on the subject of businesses who may or may not be able to offset lost sales by participating in the festival booths, how much do you know about what it takes to have a booth?

An argument that I’ve often heard when discussing lost sales from Harvest Homecoming is that I could just have a booth. My business is a service; I don’t really have anything to sell from a booth. When I was in the White House Centre on Pearl Street I was told I should have a booth with an open back so that people can walk through from the booth area into my building.

Now, let’s keep in mind that my particular business isn’t really a stop in and shop kind of place. People bring us clothing to work on and then come back to pick them up after the work is completed. Booth streets are crowded and full of people eating and drinking. Can you see where this might be a deterrent for someone carrying clothing to or from our building?

There certainly are some retail businesses in the booth areas that might be able to better utilize a walk-through booth than my business is. That being said, I know several businesses which tried and year after year they find that it is not worth the expense, the hassle, and the increased risk of shop-lifting.

For a festival that purports to support independent business and the local community, I would think the logical setup to help businesses in the booth areas would be to offer those businesses free, or at least reduced, booth space directly in front of their building. What better way to help festival attendees find out about the brick and mortar businesses in downtown than to encourage those businesses to participate and make it a financially viable option for them, right?

These businesses pay rent or a mortgage for their space all year. If you’re throwing a festival that impedes their regular business but would like them to participate, giving them booth space is a simple, cost effective way for everyone to benefit. Sadly, this is not how it works. If you’re located within the booth areas and would like a booth, or at least access to the building that you pay for all year, you can fork over hundreds of dollars for the privilege.

I have no doubt that planning for the next year’s festival begins shortly after the closing of the current year’s event. That gives a year for alternative plans to be made to assist the businesses who are negatively impacted. Why then, when my neighbors and I call in the weeks leading up to the festival every year, does nothing change?

Every year more downtown buildings are rehabilitated and wonderful new businesses move in. The problems caused by the festival are not going to magically go away. They are simply going to affect more and more businesses.

I am not asking that the festival be shut down or done away with. I am asking that the festival committee do more than offer excuses and hollow apologies to the dozens of businesses which are negatively affected because the festival is still set up and run as though downtown were a ghost town.

Take seriously the fact that refusal to change the festival model impedes the livelihoods of hundreds of downtown workers. If shops can’t be open, workers aren’t paid. The business generates no revenue and yet they still incur their regular expenses. How is our business community supposed to be sustainable when a festival that claims to celebrate that community actively gets in the way of business operations?

These aren’t new issues, these aren’t new complaints. At what point will the Harvest Homecoming committee and the city finally make adjustments for the betterment of the whole community, not just those who enjoy the festival?

With all due respect to the history of Harvest Homecoming and my assumption of good intentions on the part of the committee, I simply cannot support an event that shows such blatant disregard and disrespect for the year-round businesses that lose money year after year.

We have tried to be cooperative, we have tried to help come up with solutions and alternatives, and we have asked for some kind of recognition for the loss of accessibility and revenue that is forced upon us every year. At what point is enough enough?

Loss of a week’s income because the festival committee refuses to take the complaints of the negative impact on local businesses seriously is unacceptable to me. Why do the Harvest Homecoming powers that be seem to think that their two weeks of activity trumps the dozens and dozens of businesses that provide goods, services, and revenue for downtown New Albany year round?

---

Recent columns:

November 9: ON THE AVENUES: When it comes to beer, less might yet be more.

November 2: ON THE AVENUES: A downtown business owner's open letter to Harvest Homecoming.

October 26: ON THE AVENUES: Could that be David Duggins paddling across Jeff Gahan's putrid cesspool? On second thought, I'll take the blindfold.

October 19: ON THE AVENUES: I'd like nothing more than to go for another ride.

October 12: ON THE AVENUES: The Orange Occupation is here again, and as a precaution, we’ve baked a handy file into this cake.

Harvest Homecoming guest column follow-up: Our peculiar institution has no basis in ordinance, only habit.

On Thursday, I handed over my weekly ON THE AVENUES column slot to downtown independent business owner Cisa Kubley.

ON THE AVENUES: A downtown business owner's open letter to Harvest Homecoming.

As of Saturday morning, it has become the single most read ON THE AVENUES of 2017, doubling the views usually garnered by one of my columns.

This is richly deserved. Cisa's essay is cogent and hard-hitting, and I'm delighted she submitted it to NA Confidential. It's an example of a point-of-view the newspaper cannot do in mandating 250-word letters to the editor -- and probably wouldn't even then, as I suspect there's gold in those Harvest Homecoming advertisements.

In the interest of fairness, I've spoken to David White, chairman of the board of Harvest Homecoming. He is writing a column in reply to Cisa's, and I hope his essay will be ready for posting on Thursday, November 9.

Regular readers already know that Cisa's argument mirrors that of this blog.

These aren’t new issues, these aren’t new complaints. At what point will the Harvest Homecoming committee and the city finally make adjustments for the betterment of the whole community, not just those who enjoy the festival?

With all due respect to the history of Harvest Homecoming and my assumption of good intentions on the part of the committee, I simply cannot support an event that shows such blatant disregard and disrespect for the year-round businesses that lose money year after year.

I'll add only that the very weakest arguments mustered in response to critiques of Harvest Homecoming are these: It's inevitable; it's always been done this way; if you don't like it, just leave.

Apart from the fact of the city's existence for 150 years prior to the advent of Harvest Homecoming, it should be pointed out that the festival's inevitability has no absolutely no basis in statute.

City of New Albany, Indiana: Code of Ordinances

Harvest Homecoming is mentioned exactly twice in the city's rule book for self-governance (excerpts below), first with regard to daily leased parking in the lot adjacent to the festival's headquarters, and then as the recipient of an annual exception to registration requirements for "peddlers and solicitors."

Every other facet of Harvest Homecoming's peak street grid usage during the parade and subsequent booth days -- except for Dan Coffey's commandeering of city-owned property to park cars for self-enrichment -- is vetted and approved yearly by the Board of Public Works and Safety, just like any other request to interrupt normal operational procedures for a special activity.

Harvest Homecoming cannot function as it does without the express consent of the city, as well as traditionally uncounted city expenditures for ancillaries and overtime.

Knowing this, think again about the points made by Cisa Kubley in her guest column. In essence, City Hall approves that her business and others like it be inconvenienced for the benefit of the festival.

Why is that?

ON THE AVENUES: A downtown business owner's open letter to Harvest Homecoming.

ON THE AVENUES: A downtown business owner's open letter to Harvest Homecoming.

A weekly column by Roger A. Baylor.

This week's guest columnist is Cisa Kubley, the owner and operator of Sew Fitting, located at 156 East Main Street (on the southeast corner of Bank and Main). Harvest Homecoming officials have been offered the opportunity to reply in this space on November 9.

---

An open letter to the Harvest Homecoming Board and Committee

Years ago, in the early days of Harvest Homecoming, downtown New Albany (following the trend of downtowns across the country) was dying. Businesses were closing their doors and storefronts remained empty for years. At least in part, Harvest Homecoming was developed as a means of using the space available as well as to bring people into downtown.

During the past decade, New Albany’s downtown has undergone a huge transformation, especially in the last few years as growth and the opening of new businesses has positively boomed. The festival format and execution have remained practically unchanged. Do you see where this might be a problem? Wildly different and booming downtown. Outdated and static festival format.

Year-round downtown residents and businesses have complained to the Harvest Homecoming committee as well as the city for years. For seven years I have been one of those businesses. I have endured Harvest Homecoming in three different downtown locations, two on Pearl Street and one on Main Street.

Every year is a problem. Every year I try to work with the committee on improvements. Every year myself and other downtown business owners are lied to, ignored, and dismissed because, “Everyone in New Albany loves Harvest Homecoming,” “It’s been here for 50 years, you should just deal with it,” and “Downtown businesses have never complained about any issues with the festival.”

In my current location, Harvest Homecoming doesn’t affect my business only during the booth days. My neighbors and I lose our employee and customer parking for two weeks while the Fiesta rides are set up.

This does not even take into account the fact that the ride operators live in the alley behind our building during their stay here; they wander the streets in the evening knocking on our windows, let their dogs eliminate in our tree wells with no clean up, and leave garbage around our buildings.

When I have repeatedly asked what our employees and customers are supposed to do for parking for two weeks I am met with blank stares. When we lose access even to street parking during booth days and I asked what arrangements the Harvest Homecoming committee would be making to help us with a dilemma directly caused by their event, I was met with bewilderment.

It was as though they couldn’t understand why the total lack of parking access to our livelihood might be an issue to me or any other business. I continued to ask and was met with rudeness and the understanding that, as far as the Harvest Homecoming organizers are concerned, it absolutely is not their problem.

Finally, after having been told repeatedly that my calls would be returned and questions answered, I was told that the city would be providing parking passes for my employees in the parking garage on State and Market.

First of all, why is the city paying for the Harvest Homecoming’s mess? Second, how does this help my customers reach me, many of whom are elderly or disabled in some way?

Then I was told, with much palpable exasperation, that although they were very busy at the Harvest Homecoming office, someone would deliver these parking passes to my office the night before the booths opened.

Appreciating the amount of work that goes into running a festival, especially all the last minute to-dos, I thought to save someone a trip. On my way home for lunch I stopped by the Harvest Homecoming office that day to pick up the passes. I was informed that they didn’t have them and still needed to get them from the city.

My shop is open until 6 pm through the week and yet no passes were ever delivered. By closing time the first booth was up and we still had no passes. What should I tell my staff? Show up hours early for work so that you can find parking? Pay festival rates to use a local lot? Risk a parking ticket by parking in the parking garage in the hopes that the elusive parking passes eventually turn up?

After speaking with a local worker whose company pays $28 per parking spot each month in the garage so that their employees don’t take up street parking spaces that customers need to use, I won’t be asking my employees to use the parking garage. This particular company pays for their parking spaces year round, but during Harvest Homecoming they often can’t use their reserved spaces because festival goers take their place.

On the second booth day, as we still had no parking passes, two of my employees came in to work hours early in order to avoid the crowds and try to find parking. One even gave up and took an Uber to work. Saturday we simply had to close our doors.

In my years of battling the parking issue with Harvest Homecoming organizers I often have been told that if the festival is such an issue I should just shut down during booth days. Dozens of downtown businesses do exactly that.

Have you thought about what happens when a business has to close?

For every day that a business is closed they can’t make any sales. Overhead expenses don’t get put on hold when a business closes. While some businesses treat this as vacation for their employees, not all small businesses are able to offer paid vacation time. If employees are hourly, for every day that a business is closed, employees lose pay.

So what is a business to do? Stay open and incur costs that the business isn’t making any sales to offset, or close, incur costs anyway, and cut hours from employees?

When you count the number of businesses in downtown who are negatively impacted, taking into account all the ones that don’t have something they could sell from a booth, you are talking about the loss of tens of thousands of dollars of revenue and easily thousands of dollars of lost wages for employees.

While we’re on the subject of businesses who may or may not be able to offset lost sales by participating in the festival booths, how much do you know about what it takes to have a booth?

An argument that I’ve often heard when discussing lost sales from Harvest Homecoming is that I could just have a booth. My business is a service; I don’t really have anything to sell from a booth. When I was in the White House Centre on Pearl Street I was told I should have a booth with an open back so that people can walk through from the booth area into my building.

Now, let’s keep in mind that my particular business isn’t really a stop in and shop kind of place. People bring us clothing to work on and then come back to pick them up after the work is completed. Booth streets are crowded and full of people eating and drinking. Can you see where this might be a deterrent for someone carrying clothing to or from our building?

There certainly are some retail businesses in the booth areas that might be able to better utilize a walk-through booth than my business is. That being said, I know several businesses which tried and year after year they find that it is not worth the expense, the hassle, and the increased risk of shop-lifting.

For a festival that purports to support independent business and the local community, I would think the logical setup to help businesses in the booth areas would be to offer those businesses free, or at least reduced, booth space directly in front of their building. What better way to help festival attendees find out about the brick and mortar businesses in downtown than to encourage those businesses to participate and make it a financially viable option for them, right?

These businesses pay rent or a mortgage for their space all year. If you’re throwing a festival that impedes their regular business but would like them to participate, giving them booth space is a simple, cost effective way for everyone to benefit. Sadly, this is not how it works. If you’re located within the booth areas and would like a booth, or at least access to the building that you pay for all year, you can fork over hundreds of dollars for the privilege.

I have no doubt that planning for the next year’s festival begins shortly after the closing of the current year’s event. That gives a year for alternative plans to be made to assist the businesses who are negatively impacted. Why then, when my neighbors and I call in the weeks leading up to the festival every year, does nothing change?

Every year more downtown buildings are rehabilitated and wonderful new businesses move in. The problems caused by the festival are not going to magically go away. They are simply going to affect more and more businesses.

I am not asking that the festival be shut down or done away with. I am asking that the festival committee do more than offer excuses and hollow apologies to the dozens of businesses which are negatively affected because the festival is still set up and run as though downtown were a ghost town.

Take seriously the fact that refusal to change the festival model impedes the livelihoods of hundreds of downtown workers. If shops can’t be open, workers aren’t paid. The business generates no revenue and yet they still incur their regular expenses. How is our business community supposed to be sustainable when a festival that claims to celebrate that community actively gets in the way of business operations?

These aren’t new issues, these aren’t new complaints. At what point will the Harvest Homecoming committee and the city finally make adjustments for the betterment of the whole community, not just those who enjoy the festival?

With all due respect to the history of Harvest Homecoming and my assumption of good intentions on the part of the committee, I simply cannot support an event that shows such blatant disregard and disrespect for the year-round businesses that lose money year after year.

We have tried to be cooperative, we have tried to help come up with solutions and alternatives, and we have asked for some kind of recognition for the loss of accessibility and revenue that is forced upon us every year. At what point is enough enough?

Loss of a week’s income because the festival committee refuses to take the complaints of the negative impact on local businesses seriously is unacceptable to me. Why do the Harvest Homecoming powers that be seem to think that their two weeks of activity trumps the dozens and dozens of businesses that provide goods, services, and revenue for downtown New Albany year round?

---

Recent columns:

October 26: ON THE AVENUES: Could that be David Duggins paddling across Jeff Gahan's putrid cesspool? On second thought, I'll take the blindfold.

October 19: ON THE AVENUES: I'd like nothing more than to go for another ride.

October 12: ON THE AVENUES: The Orange Occupation is here again, and as a precaution, we’ve baked a handy file into this cake.

October 5: ON THE AVENUES REVISITED: Chocolate covered frozen banana republic, or "understanding" Harvest Homecoming, our peculiar institution.

Grid Control, Vol. 24: Deliver me this.

Courtesy of JP. Who's up for delivery etiquette lessons?

Three downtown streets have been reverted to two-way traffic. Barring a few details, Spring, Pearl and Bank are finished. Market will be next, and then Elm.

All we know for sure is that the whole of the grid modernization project is to be completed by September 30, and until then, any conclusions offered by me or any other observer will be strictly provisional, subject to experience over a period of subsequent months, not hours (whether the viewpoint is ecstatic or embittered).

I'm bullish, though to put it simply, a counter-productive arrangement that took decades to institutionalize cannot be rebooted into sensibility overnight. Our current civic position is the end of the beginning, and we need to be looking ahead to the next steps -- a few short-term tweaks, and a lot more long-haul thoughts and plans.

In the aftermath of two-way traffic reversion on Pearl and Bank, I've heard a few comments about the potential for downtown business deliveries to be disruptive.

Something like this: a truck pausing 25 minutes to unload during the morning on Bank or Pearl when traffic is at its very lightest somehow serves as sufficient panic-stricken reason to abandon the whole notion of 24-hours-per-day grid reform over an area far wider than two or three downtown blocks.

I've heard this fear/annoyance factor mentioned for years, and Jeff Speck covered it in a street study as yet unread by so many sidewalk superintendents.

Trucks sometimes load and unload on these streets—especially Pearl Street—and the removal of the second lane will make this act more difficult. Before a two-way conversion, the City must work with business owners to identify alternative loading zones within a reasonable distance, such as nearby alleys and parking lots. One hopes that merchants will be incited to support this effort by the data surrounding two-way conversion and retail success.

A similar challenge was faced by the City of Lowell, Massachusetts, population 108,000, when the two-way reversion of its downtown streets was proposed four years ago. At that time, it was said that the main retail corridor, Merrimack Street, could not accept eastbound traffic because its second westbound lane was needed for truck deliveries. Eventually, a servicing plan was completed, and just this past summer the full downtown two-way reversion took place—including Merrimack Street. Deliveries now occur in certain designated locations, and the entire transformation came off without a hitch.

The point should be obvious. Indubitably, downtown deliveries are something to be considered and addressed, but they're hardly the sort of destructive phenomenon to justify (even more) apocalyptic arm-waving by the naysayers, primarily because whether the street runs one way or two, a truck parked in the middle of it is an obstacle.

If automobile drivers operate at safe speeds and pay attention, if truck drivers aren't narcissists, and if suppliers work with businesses -- if the obstacles are reduced and systematized as much as possible -- then it stands to be a minor issue, at best.

Naturally, the devil's in the "if," so I looked around a bit and found this article detailing the downtown experience in Columbia Missouri -- not pertaining to a post-reversion situation, as in New Albany, but the everyday problem of deliveries in an urban grid.

City advisory group wants traffic study related to delivery truck parking downtown, by Megan Favignano (Columbia Tribune)

... Earlier this year, the CID’s operations committee and board established a list of recommended or best practices for businesses receiving deliveries downtown.

Those included delivery companies, distributors and merchants complete loading and unloading as quickly as possible, avoiding large deliveries during peak times if possible, paying meters if parked in a meter spot while loading, staying at least 30 feet away from intersections to avoid blocking traffic and larger delivery trucks parking in the middle of the street down the center divider if unloading on Broadway.

The Downtown CID’s board created these guidelines and decided not to establish any policies or recommend the city create an ordinance related to delivery truck parking. Essing said the board felt a policy restricting delivery truck parking could harm businesses.

For instance, she said, if a policy only allowed deliveries during a certain time frame, that may not match up with the hours of operation of all downtown businesses. That means some businesses would need to pay employees to come in to receive shipments during a time the business is not normally open.

Farrar said placing restrictions on delivery truck drivers could have other negative effects on businesses downtown, including delayed delivery of products they need.

The downtown leadership council discussed how prohibiting deliveries during certain hours may affect the businesses downtown, including worsening traffic during a different time of day rather than solving the traffic congestion issue.

“I think everyone wishes there was an easy solution,” Essing said. “If you make one change you need to think about what else is that going to impact.”

Farrar said community awareness could help. She said the trucks have few places to park and citizens should expect occasional delays.

Two jaw-dropping concepts emerge from this article: there's a Downtown Community Improvement District (CID) in Columbia, and a Downtown Leadership Council to tackle downtown issues.

Just imagine. I good place to start would be downtown merchants working together, not separately -- but street direction isn't a direct determinant of this relative failure, is it?

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Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 23: City's fuddy-duddies losing their minds as the debut for a two-way Spring Street is pegged at August 29.

Grid Control, Vol. 22: City engineer Larry Summers answers our questions about intersection striping errors and the "No Trucks" sign removal.

Grid Control, Vol. 21: Murderous intersection at Spring & 10th to be repaved and restriped -- and, the hocus-pocus with a disappearing "No Trucks" sign at Spring & Vincennes.

Grid Control, Vol. 20: As Team Gahan dawdles, another bicyclist is crushed into mincemeat at 10th & Spring's dangerous dogleg.

Grid Control, Vol. 19: In a positive move, HWC begins righting the wrong cross hatching on Spring Street.

Grid Control, Vol. 18: Finally a few BoW street grid project answers, almost all of them citing "contractor error."

Grid Control, Vol. 17: Judging by the misdirection of this "CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP" sign, we now reside in the British Empire.

Grid Control, Vol. 16: What about HWC's cross hatching correction? Will this be finished before or after Team Gahan declares victory?

Grid Control, Vol. 15: Dooring enhancement perfectly epitomizes Deaf Gahan's "biking last" approach to grid modernization.

Grid Control, Vol. 14: Yes, you can still park on the south side of Spring Street during the stalled two-way grid project.

Grid Control, Vol. 13: "Dear Deaf Gahan and minions: FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP TRYING TO BE COOL AND DESIGNER-ISH. YOU'RE NOT, AND IT'S EMBARRASSING ALL OF US."

Grid Control, Vol. 12: Meet the artistic crosswalk design equivalent of dogs playing poker.

Grid Control, Vol. 11: HWC Engineering meets with St. Marks, city officials nowhere to be found.

Grid Control, Vol. 10: City officials predictably AWOL as HWC Engineering falls on its sword over striping errors.

Grid Control, Vol. 9: "This was supposed to be discussed with us," but Dear Leader doesn't ever discuss, does he?

Grid Control, Vol. 8: City Hall characteristically mum as HWC Engineering at least tries to answer the cross-hatching question.

Grid Control, Vol. 7: What will the Board of Works do to rectify HWC's striping errors on the north side of Spring Street, apart from microwaving another round of sausage biscuits?

Grid Control, Vol. 6: Jeff Speck tweets about NA's grid changes, and those missed bicycling opportunities.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

The magic number is 2,228 ... days since Bob Caesar vowed to protect Pearl Street against the damned pergessives.

Don't hold your breath, but I'm about to prove Mayor Jeff Gahan wrong by doing something "positive" for the city of New Albany.

That's because it's positively hilarious to recall July 26, 2011, when Bob Caesar rose from bed, fondly recalled his pivotal role in protesting the anti-establishment hippies at Woodstock, and vowed to resist any attempt to inflict modernity on his street.

On August 30, when Pearl Street is restored to two-way traffic, it will have been 2,228 days since ranking city council "Democrat" and future mayoral hopeful Tiberius Severus Octavian Elagabalus Septimius Augustus Claudius Hadrian Caesar-- Protector of Fitting and Proper Scribnerian Values, Deliverer of all Downtown Datedness, Master of the Ex-Mercantile, and Guardian of the Gates -- uttered these immortal words:

"I am for change. Change every street to two way (but) not Pearl Street. Pearl Street will NOT be two way. It's more convenient for people to park without having to drive around the block."

Alas, Endris Jewelers closed on Valentine's day, 2015, but in the years since, Caesar has resisted all requests to divulge Bicentennial Commission records, enthusiastically endorsed aesthetic and environmental atrocities like Summit Springs, carried Gahan's jockstrap with all the aplomb of the sycophantic bootlickers on our sardine-packed housing authority board, and in general, opposed any and all progressive proposals at every turn.

As a Democrat.

Happy 2,228 days, Bobby. Can you please leave now?

Here is a lightly edited reprint of the historical record. Don't expect to see it in the News and Tribune.

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July 26, 2011: Merchant Mixer notes (2): Empty storefronts, Harvest Homecoming and Bob Caesar's all-way street confusion.

Here's the second part of my notes on this morning's Merchant Mixer meeting.

Previously: Merchant Mixer notes (1): New businesses, landscaping, parking, signage and dog poop.

(snip)

Two-way streets: John Rosenbarger explained that the city has procured a Federal street conversion grant subject to various Federal restrictions, which must have a 20% match from the city: $1.6 million from the Feds, and $400,000 from the city. Mayor England volunteered that while it’s “no slam against the council,” it would be the council’s job to find the money, which might come from EDIT.

Councilman, jewelry dealer and part-time Roman centurion Bob Caesar responded by defending the council, and added (italics mine): 

“One-way is the way to move traffic through a city; it is proven by numerous studies all across the country.”

The discussion continued, with the owners of Preston Art Supply joining Caesar in defending the inviolable sanctity of Pearl Street’s one-way flow, and this led to Caesar stating bluntly, unprompted and aloud:

“Pearl Street will NOT be two-way.”

I asked him how he could say this; he looked away and did not respond, but after the meeting, he walked past me and we had one of the most useless discussions in recent memory. If I were to have stated that 2 + 2 = 4, I'm certain he would disagree.

In short, after I asked him why he invariably opposes change and new ways of thinking about downtown areas, Caesar denied it, and explicitly permitted me to divulge this exact quote:

"I am for change. Change every street to two way (but) not Pearl Street. Pearl Street will NOT be two way. It's more convenient for people to park without having to drive around the block."

Don Preston added that all police departments support one-way street grids. Previously, Kathy Brennan had warned that if streets are two way, big trucks will park in traffic lanes to unload ... and what then? Throughout, listening to it, you'd think that cities are scary places, indeed, and meant for dashing into and away from as quickly as possible, in a car ... always in a car.

I realized (yet again) how so many of the older generation of merchants sincerely believes that whatever works out yonder in the soulless exurb should be implemented downtown, whereas the way I see it is that whatever can be done to create the polar opposite atmosphere downtown – including people-friendly, slower-moving traffic to accommodate humanity, and alternative modes of transportation apart from the automobile – should be the desired goal.

NAC has extensively and exhaustively made the case for two-way streets: Two-way traffic: A city permitted to function as designed is good for business.

All Bob Caesar and a handful of downtown reactionaries can offer in response are “numerous” studies, which he has so far failed to produce, and the admittedly honest (and I believe amazingly self-serving) stance that because he personally regards a one-way street as critical to his business (as though people cruising past a jewelry store are slamming on the brakes when they decide, spur-of-the-moment, to park next to the Endris front door and buy some bracelets), he will damn the torpedoes and impede potential two-way solutions in the same manner as he denounced the aborted proposal to divert the Harvest Homecoming Parade down Pearl Street ... 

#OurDNA's next Merchant Meeting will be July 18 at 8:30 a.m. at "the loft above Adrienne & Co."

Another merchant meeting approaches. I'll append the previous meeting's minutes to this post if/when they arrive.

First, my usual charming reminder that the chain or communications has been subverted somewhere along the way.

Dear merchants and business owners: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

On Tuesday morning, there'll be a merchant meeting, at which local indie business owners will be briefed about what's happening, with the news flowing from the top down via City Hall and Develop New Albany. I may not be in business at present, but I'll go to my grave asserting that this directional cadence is backward.

Now, the notification. If anyone reading attends and wishes to file a report, I'm happy to publish it. It is my hope that by January, 2020, the atmosphere can be more conducive for attendance.

---

Please plan to attend the Downtown Merchant Meeting on Tuesday July 18th at 8:30am. This month we will be hosted at The Bergman loft above Adrienne and Co. You can access it from the alley (front porch stoop says 134 on it - address is 134 E Market Street.)

We will be sharing about some exciting Develop New Albany events - Taco Walk, Talent Show, Historic Home Tour and how your can be involved!

We will also be hearing from all of you with what is going on in your business and any concerns you may have.

See you then!

Have a Blessed Day!

Develop New Albany is a non-profit organization dedicated to the economic revitalization, preservation, and promotion of Downtown New Albany. The organization works with local merchants, property owners, residents, the City of New Albany and others to introduce and make our downtown more attractive.

(2nd notice remix) DNA's next Merchant Meeting will be June 20th at 8:30 a.m. at Wick’s Pizza (225 State Street).

“the octopus's secret wish

is not to be a formal fish

he dreams that some time he may grow

another set of legs or so

and be a broadway music show”

―Don Marquis

There will be a downtown merchant meeting next week. The latest reminder is a tad more substantive than the last, and so I'll repeat the notice in its entirety.

First, a flashback to August, 2016.

ON THE AVENUES: There has never been a better time for an Independent Business Alliance in New Albany.

 ... Independent, locally-owned small business owners must evade the intended diversion of time spent micromanaging periodic events and instead put their mouths where their money is by heeding the advice of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and embracing a simple but eloquent truth: "There truly is strength in numbers."

And:

Sunday rumination: Independent local merchants can't shy away from the big picture.

... We welcome visitors, but we don't need to be Franklin, Tennessee. We need to be New Albany, Indiana, considering downtown economic development strategies based on who and where we are, as embracing 37,000 residents already living here. We're better off doing this ourselves, not begging for scraps from this or any other City Hall with its own political imperatives in mind.

I haven't been attending these meetings, and probably won't resume doing so in the near future. As the minutes below attest, there seems to have been a fair amount of one-directional information being dispensed. As I've been saying for the past 13 years, I believe this to be a waste of time.

In my view, it's regrettable that the merchant mixer meeting, an idea intended to spark discussion among stakeholders, now has become yet another top-down spoon-feeding opportunity. City Hall and DNA read marching orders. Rinse and repeat.

In particular, not a word has been breathed about the ongoing public housing putsch. Disagree with me if you will, and that's perfectly acceptable, but for downtown merchants to dismiss involvement in event unfolding a half-mile away from their shops is myopic.

Up the revolution, lads and lassies -- sooner rather than later, and not to forget: It's just another day, so what if I've no interest in being "blessed"?

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Happy Friday! We are exited to see you all on Tuesday morning at 8:30 at Wick's on State Street.  It's an exciting time for New Albany and there are many upcoming events we want to be sure everyone knows about! If your business has an event coming up, please email the details to developnainfo@gmail.com and we will add it to our website calendar.

​

We also have a guest speaker coming, Emily Hagedorn from Yelp. She is the Community Director for Yelp and will be showing us...

In addition to being a useful tool for consumers, Yelp enables savvy business owners the ability to reach and rouse powerful influencers to help build a brand — with most Yelp tools being free for businesses to use. Perhaps most powerful of all, Yelp allows business owners the ability to be a part of the conversation that consumers are having about businesses to the tune of 26 million monthly app users, 73 million monthly mobile web users and 84 million monthly desktop users. Yelp Louisville Community Director Emily Hagedorn will speak about how business owners can use Yelp to their benefit for free, strengthening relationships with current customers and reaching new ones.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am also attaching last month's meeting minutes to this for your review. 

Have a Blessed Day!

Heather Trueblood

Program Coordinator

Develop New Albany, Inc.

222 Pearl Street, Suite 109

New Albany, Indiana 47150

(812) 941-0018

www.developna.org

Develop New Albany is a non-profit organization dedicated to the economic revitalization, preservation, and promotion of Downtown New Albany. The organization works with local merchants, property owners, residents, the City of New Albany and others to introduce and make our downtown more attractive.

Don't Miss these Upcoming Events!

June 16-17 - Floyd County Relay For Life

https://www.facebook.com/events/386851585005027

June 18 - Elks Day at the Downs - Elks Lodge #270

https://www.facebook.com/events/171603740039925

June 29 - Develop New Albany Annual Meeting / Pillar Awards

https://www.facebook.com/events/1910328629208756/

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Merchant/Business Minutes

May 16th, 2017

Teresa called the meeting to order at 8:30am. Everyone introduced themselves and what business they were representing. Thank you to the Glass Gypsy in The Underground Station for hosting this month.

Tourism – Luanne Mattson and Kate Kane – Memorial Day weekend – Jeffersonville is hosting Abbey Road on the River. Tourism Board will have 2 concierge booths and are looking for volunteers. No selling, just advocating for Clark and Floyd if someone needs to know where to eat, shop, stay, etc. Dates are 5/25-5/29 and booth shifts are 3 hours. Please contact Kate Bewley at kate@gosoin.com to volunteer. Please copy Luanne Mattson on all press releases, events that you have going on. Her email is luanne@gosoin.com. June 6 will be the SoIn Tourism Coalition meeting to be held at the Southern Indiana Arts Council. More info will be in this week’s newsletter. Please email Luanne to be sure you are getting the consumer and partner newsletter from the Tourism Board.

Harvest Homecoming – Starting to gear up for the 50^th anniversary of HH this fall. In August at the Fair Queen pageant will be the unveiling of the pin and theme.

City of New Albany – 2 way street conversion is underway. Should be completed by early fall. Info can be found at newalbanycityhall.com. Please pay extra attention when driving downtown. River Run Family Waterpark opens Memorial Day weekend. Beautification Day went well… be sure to check out the new mural in the parking lot next to Big 4 Burgers. Parks Dept is kicking off a busy summer program and info can be found online.

Develop New Albany -  Annual Meeting and Pillar Awards will be held Thursday June 29 at TheaterWorks of SoIn at 6pm. Appetizers will be provided and a cash bar will be available. Please join us!

Carnegie Center- Taste of Art and History will be held Labor Day weekend at The Calumet Club. Businesses can participate… for $150, you will be given 2 tickets to the event and signage at the event. Contact dthomas@carnegiecenter.org for more info

PNC Bank – May is Small Business Month. PNC Bank is offering a webX on Thursday May 18^th titled “Delivering Happines”. An executive from Zappos will be presenting. Can register online at pnc.com\women

June 10^th and 11^th will be the Art on The Parish Green and will be held at St Paul’s Episcopal Church. Over 80+ artists will be there and the YMCA will be hosting a Kids Art Place Tent! More info at  http://www.artontheparishgreen.org/

YMCA  is offering a no join fee. Contact branch for more details.

The Olivet is having a 1 year anniversary celebration Saturday May 20^th. Music, refreshments and special deals. They are located in the Underground Station. Dream Boutique will host their 1 year anniv. Party reception on Sat May 27^th at 5pm. They are also in The Underground Station.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:25am

Next Merchant Meeting will be June 20^th at 8:30am at Wick’s Pizza – 225 State Street.