The Zionsville Town Council met Sept. 5 at Zionsville Town Hall to discuss several ordinances, and new Zionsville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Hanlon introduced the chamber’s 2024 budget requests.
What happened: Newly appointed Zionsville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Hanlon presented the organization’s top priorities for 2024.
What it means: The chamber’s top five priorities are member engagement; marketing and promotion; business advocacy; economic development programs; and community events and initiatives. Its request is to increase its 2024 budget for community events to $75,000 and for marketing and technology to increase to $45,000. Hanlon said the money requested is to support essential initiatives and community events to attract new businesses, visitors and potential investors to Zionsville.
What’s next: The council will consider the request after looking at the 2024 budget plan.
What happened: The council had a final ordinance reading regarding solicitation permits.
What it means: At the Aug. 21 meeting, the council approved the Zionsville Police Department and councilmember Craig Melton’s request to update the town’s House-to-House Solicitation Ordinance. Council attorney Heather Harris said they have cleaned up the ordinance, making it easier to read. They also added a 30-day business permit ($100) to align with the other 10-day permit and 120-day permit. They also included in the prohibited actions that an individual could not solicit from any individual property owner listed on the town’s do-not-solicit list.
What’s next: The town council approved the ordinance with the updated amendments.
What happened: The Town of Zionsville Parks and Recreation Department and the Board of Parks and Recreation requested an appropriation of additional funds to complete improvements to the Big-4 Rail Trail.
What it means: According to Superintendent of Parks and Recreation Jarod Logsdon, in 2022, the department had the necessary funding to complete all of the Big-4 Rail Trail expansion projects, but in 2023, the department failed to appropriate some of those funds for the Parks Capital Project. Construction of the section of the trail between Bloor Lane and Mulberry Street paused, and equipment going to the tunnel and back destroyed the existing portion, making it unsafe for public transit. The two options would be to get the additional funding and complete the project this year as planned or move it from the 2023 planned activities to next year.
What’s next: Some of the town council members acknowledged the importance of the trail but were frustrated with the lack of budgeting previously done for the project. The council approved the appropriation of an additional $300,000 to complete the project.
