Rebekah Hanna, appeared and thanked the Board for the opportunity. She stated that she “wanted to recognize the group that helped draft the ordinance being presented, individuals who had devoted countless hours to developing a proposal that reflects the values, needs and aspirations of the McKinley Neighborhood. That the team consisted of Bruce Rector, President of the McKinley Neighborhood Association and has lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years, Rachel Robertson, the Vice-President of the McKinley Neighborhood Association and resident for over 20 years, Bill Inman, Neighborhood Association Member and 20 year resident, Joe Robertson, Neighborhood Association Member and 20 year resident, Bill Lett, neighborhood investor, developer, and owner of Seven Rock Brew and Elm Street Brewing Company, Jonathan Chambless, of CRU Construction a neighborhood investor and developer, Phil Tevis, landscape architect and neighborhood investor and owner of Flatland Resources, and myself, Rebekah Hannah, a realtor and neighborhood advocate. She stated that this ordinance was developed as a collaboration among residents, business owners, developers, real estate professionals, and planning experts who share a common interest in the future of the McKinley Neighborhood. We benefitted from the advice, feedback, and support of many neighbors, community stakeholders as well as key figures throughout the process. At this time, I would like to introduce Phil Tevis. Phil will provide a brief history of the neighborhood and discuss the investment and revitalization efforts and community support that have helped shape McKinley’s growth and success over the years”.

Phil Tevis, appeared. He stated that the Muncie Action Plan (MAP) came from a tension period of the City of Muncie in 2009 from an outside consultant which held approximately 30 public and community meetings, with around 3,500 people overall attending those meetings. He stated that one of the tasks of everyone who attended a meeting was to take a green or red sticker and identify on a city map an area they thought was a good or bad area. He stated that the information might not be surprising, and that this was in no specific order, East Central Industry, East Central Neighborhood, Thomas Avondale Neighborhood, Old West End, and McKinley Neighborhood. He stated that the map had been used by Ball Brothers Foundation as a measure of how they give funds. He stated that McKinley was directly across from Central High School and was considered as part of the heart of the city. He stated that in the 1998, Ball Corp left Muncie and when that happened it took 150 corporate executives out of the community, including their income and leadership. He stated that shortly after this, Indiana Steel and Wire closed, General Motors left, Borg Warner left, Muncie Sanitary faced problems, and the Muncie School District faced its financial collapse. He stated that the Muncie Sanitary District (MSD) was given the burden to update the levees in the community to meet the (Hurricane) Katriana standards, and the McKinley Neighborhood was right in the middle of that area with real estate valuing over half a billion dollars. He referred to maps that outlined the neighborhoods, school, railroads, pipelines, bridges, and a levee all in that area. He stated that as part of this upgrade, MSD was charged with upgrading the pipes and sometimes people overlook the lifecycle of those lines. He stated that concrete had a lifecycle of 60-70 years before it degraded, and that most of this area still had brick pipes that were being replaced. He stated that on big lifecycle projects such as this, the question is what else can be done to improve quality of place in an area. He stated that 90% of the homes were rentals, there was a high demographic of males 25 and older with no high-school diploma, and there were more vacant or blighted homes than any other neighborhood. He stated that MSD, Community Redevelopment, Muncie Redevelopment Commission, community stakeholders came to an understanding of what needed done to separate the sewers, create water storage, and fix the levee to decrease the number of vacant homes. He stated that of the 200 homes, 35% were raised and converted to green space, parks, levees and some were ready for infill projects for the neighborhood in the future. He stated that since 2014, MSD had spent $9.8 million, the City of Muncie $2.8 million, Muncie Community Schools $21 million, not-for-profit $40 million, and private investments totaling $38 million have been spent in and around the McKinley neighborhood area. He stated that half a