Welcome to World-Class Neighborhood E-News, the City of Indianapolis' official electronic newsletter designed to keep you informed and updated on city services and on-going community-building initiatives.

Important Resources

Mayor’s Action Center (317) 327-4MAC (4622)

Franklin Neighborhood Liaison Lori Hill (317) 327-4838 lahill@indygov.org

Neighborhood Organization Registration

Government Services Directory

This e-newsletter is brought to you by your Neighborhood Liaison Lori Hill.    This cost-saving newsletter is available FREE of charge to anyone interested, so please send this e-mail along to your friends and neighbors by clicking on the "Subscribe" link at the top of the page.  If you know someone who is interested in receiving this but does not have access to a computer, please let Lori know and she will provide a paper copy.

Mayor Bart Peterson

Department of Public Works

Mayor's Action Center

Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center

Indianapolis Economic Development Portal

GINI is a partnership between the City of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC) and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The funds were awarded to neighborhoods through the Indianapolis Matching Awards for Great Indy Neighborhoods Engagement, or IMAGINE (www.greatindyneighborhoods.org/engagement/imagine.html).

The grants are designed to help implement neighborhood improvement projects throughout the city. Grants are awarded to groups that best adhere to GINI’s 11 principles of healthy neighborhoods (www.greatindyneighborhoods.org/principles.html) and which establish new and stronger relationships among grassroots organizations and businesses. IMAGINE grant recipients must offer a dollar-for-dollar match, but may count volunteer labor, donated materials, supplies, services or cash as part of that match. The maximum grant per neighborhood-based organization will be $5,000, and GINI plans to distribute a total of $50,000 this year.

To date, the GINI IMAGINE Initiative has funded seven neighborhood improvement projects:

• The Elements of Art Through Photography – Zion Hill Baptist Church, awarded $5,000 for a $10,000 project.
• Community Safety Links – Martindale Brightwood Weed & Seed, awarded $1,500 for a $10,000 project.
• September 15th Street Festival – Eastside Community Organization (ECO), awarded $3,700 for a $12,840 project.
• Cultural Trail Celebration and Celebration of the Arts – IPS #2 Center for Inquiry Parent-Teacher-Student Association, awarded $5,000 for a $11,864.70 project.
• Taste the Difference – Lafayette Square Area Coalition, awarded $5,000 for a $10,100.40 project.
• CAFE Idea and Engagement Discussions – Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE), awarded $3,000 for a $6,077 project.
• Youth Sign Design and Engagement Project – Norwood Place Community Organization, awarded $1,450 for a $3,173.23 project.

For more information on the funded projects, visit www.greatindyneighborhoods.org/engagement/imagine_projects.html.

Send in your application soon! The final 2007 IMAGINE application deadline is 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 21. Applications will be accepted from neighborhood-based organizations working in collaboration to increase involvement of residents and partners in communities across Indianapolis.

For application support, questions, or assistance, contact the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center at imaginehelp@inrc.org or call 920-0330.

• It produces useable compost, offered free to citizens, to help strengthen and beautify lawns and gardens. Free compost may be available at the Southside Landfill located at 2577 S. Kentucky Ave., (317) 247-6808. Compost can be used as a soil conditioner, potting soil or mulch. Using compost improves soil aeration, drainage, and nutrient exchange - improving the health of lawns and helping gardens grow.

• By not burning the leaves, we can all enjoy that crisp fall air and see those beautiful trees more clearly. That's why open burning of leaves is illegal in Marion County (see www.indygov.org/NR/rdonlyres/858C392A-2F5A-4491-9AF4-6566808CB64C/0/chapter511.pdf).

As always, a total of up to 40 items will be taken from each residence, of which no more than 10 items may be regular household trash. The remaining items may be leaves. For example, in a hand collection area, a resident may set out 2 bags of trash and up to 38 bags of leaves, or 8 bags of trash and up to 32 bags of leaves and so on. For 96-gallon cart collection areas, all leaves must be bagged and at least 3 feet away from the cart in order to allow our trucks to continue to service the cart. All regular trash must fit in the 96-gallon cart.

We ask that all residents place their leaves out at the normal pickup location, but keep them a few feet separate from their regular household trash if possible so that the crews may differentiate between trash and leaves (since each hauler will have a trash crew and a leaf crew). In addition, all leaves need to be set out by 7:00am on your normal pickup day.

On Election Day, Tuesday, November 6th, there will be residential trash and leaf collection. However, there will be NO trash, heavy trash, or leaf collection on Thursday, November 22nd, in observance of Thanksgiving. Trash will run one day late and resume on Friday, November 23rd.

For more information about Leaf Collection, visit www.indygov.org/eGov/City/DPW/Residential/Trash/Leaf+Collection.htm.

The event was coordinated by the Indianapolis Business Leadership Network and the Indianapolis Private Industry Council in cooperation with the Mayor’s Office of Disability Affairs. Created by the Mayor in 2000, the Office of Disability Affairs is charged with going above and beyond the fundamental requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to engage in partnerships both within and outside of city government in order to promote the full inclusion of people with disabilities in Indianapolis. As a result of citywide efforts, Indianapolis was recognized for the third year in a row by the National Organization on Disability as one of 10 nationwide models for creating and promoting an accessible and inclusive community. This accomplishment is on the heels of the City being ranked 8th by Black Enterprise magazine in its 2007 Best 10 Cities for African Americans to Work, Live, and Play in recognition of the Mayor’s commitment to diversity, economic empowerment, and development.

For more information about the Mayor's commitment to advancing the goal of equal opportunity for all Indianapolis residents and ensuring that we are a welcoming community that celebrates diversity, visit www.indygov.org/eGov/Mayor/Diversity/home.htm.

Join us to celebrate the many successes of Great Indy Neighborhoods, catch good food, and a family movie (at no extra cost to you) while you're at it!

Neighbors in Indianapolis have been working hard this past year to engage new people, identify priorities, and create new activities in the heart of their communities. To express our gratitude for your hard work and support, we're inviting you to join us for food and fun at an event that truly celebrates all that GINI stands for. Lafayette Square Area restaurants will be sharing free tastes of a veritable cornucopia of culturally diverse foods. A brief program will highlight activities from the past year and set the stage for upcoming events. Following the program, join us for a free family-friendly film at a neighborhood theatre that's helping bring Lafayette Square back as a popular community gathering place. Bring your friends, your neighbors, and the whole family!

Special thanks to State Farm and to the Lafayette Square Area Coalition for co-sponsoring this event.

Event Details
Who: Great Indy Neighborhoods
Where: Georgetown 14 Cinemas (3898 Lafayette Road)
When: Monday, November 12th
Food served from 5:30 - 6:30 PM
Brief program begins at 6:30 PM
Movie starts approx 7:00 PM

For more information, visit: www.lafayettesquareareacoalition.org/tastethedifference.pdf.

If you or someone you know is interested in being a part of this effort in the summer of 2008, contact Lisa Laflin, Recycle Indianapolis Coordinator, by email at llaflin@indygov.org or phone at 327-4664.

Today, this dedicated team of City employees serves the citizens of Indianapolis with even more options than it did over 15 years ago as a portal through which they can request services, obtain basic City/County government information, or register comments and concerns with the City/County. Despite its long history of service to the citizens of Marion County, many common questions about the MAC persist. The following is an attempt to answer the most common of those:

What are some of the reasons I should call the MAC?
From 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday, the MAC can provide you with general information about all local government services, and it records comments and concerns about local issues. The MAC is also where you report missed trash, abandoned vehicles, potholes, dead animals, illegal dumping, high weeds and grass, and a variety of other City/County issues.

Does the MAC actually do the work?
No. The MAC is the City/County inbound call center that specializes in connecting citizen requests to the appropriate agency. The computer system used by MAC representatives interfaces with major departments of city government, allowing them to quickly send service requests to multiple city and county agencies. Those agencies are then responsible for prioritizing and completing the requested services.

Does the Mayor decide which requests are handled?
No. While the Mayor fully supports the important work of the MAC, service requests are not filtered by the Mayor or any other member of his staff. When callers request a service, their requests are routed directly to the departments that perform the work. It is those departments that evaluate, prioritize, and complete the work needed to fulfill a service request, not the MAC representative or the Mayor.

Do I have to give them my name?
Not in most cases. While some reports may require contact information, the vast majority of service requests can be entered anonymously. MAC representatives can tell you whether that information is required for your specific request at the time you call.

Will the MAC call me back with updates?
No. On average, the MAC receives approximately 900 - 1,500 total calls per day that are handled by just ten (10) full-time customer service representatives. This leaves little time for outbound update calls.

So, how do I find out the status of my request?
While the MAC does not provide call-back updates, all callers are provided with a service request number. To find out the status of a report, simply call the MAC again and provide your service request number to the MAC representative. The agencies that evaluate, prioritize, and complete the requests also provide the MAC with status updates. By calling the MAC, your customer service representative can provide you with any updates from the responsible agency.

When are the best times to call the MAC?
The MAC is open from 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday through Friday, but the best time to contact the MAC is Wednesday through Friday, especially for updates or non-time sensitive issues. Call volumes are typically lower during the later part of the week, and you are more likely to have little to no wait time.

Can I make reports online?
Yes! Point your browser to www.indygov.org/MAC and provide the information required by the online form. Reports are taken 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and will be entered within 2-3 business days of submission. If you provide a working email address, the system will update you with a service request number for any follow-up questions. Please do not report any time-sensitive issues online (animal bites, sewer back-ups, traffic signal malfunctions, etc). Instead, please call the MAC directly at (317) 327-4622.

Can I make a report after hours?
Yes! Simply call the MAC number (317) 327-4622 and leave a message. Your report will be entered on the next available business day. For time-sensitive issues, you will be provided with touch-tone options and redirected to the responsible department. As always, for any life-threatening emergency, please dial 9-1-1.

The Franklin Township Civic League is a not-for-profit community organization founded in 1971. The Civic League is Indiana's largest neighborhood based community organization. Its boundaries include all of Franklin Township. The activities of the Civic League are coordinated by an elected, volunteer board of directors and a variety of committee members. The Civic League seeks to gather and provide information to Township residents and organizations on matters that will impact the Township's quality of life. They encourage communication and collaboration between residents and between residents and government agencies.

Franklin Township Civic League - Land Use Committee
Meetings: 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm
Franklin Township Civic League Community Building, 8822 Southeastern Ave
Chair: Cathy Burton

Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce
Lunch Meetings: 2nd Tuesday of each month at 11:30am - Location TBA
Phone: (317) 328-6100
President: John Gorman
Website: www.franklintwpchamber.org
Membership is open to "anyone interested in the effort of aiding the community as a whole." The vast majority of Chamber members are individuals who own a business in, and/or, live and do business in Franklin Township.  For more information please call, (317) 328-6100.

Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce - Economic Development Committee
Meetings: 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:30am - Location TBA
Phone: (317) 862-0540
Executive Director: Julia Dunkman

Franklin Township Historical Society
6510 S. Franklin Rd.
Building is open March – October, 1st Saturday and 3rd Sunday, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Mailing Address:P.O. Box 39015
Indianapolis, IN 46239
Phone: (317) 862-6371
Website: www.fths.org

Franklin Township Lions Club
Meetings: 2nd & 4th Thursday of each month
Franklin Township Civic League Office
8822 Southeastern Ave.
Phone: (317) 861-8102
Website: www.indyftlions.org

Please contact Lori Hill at (317) 327-4838 if you would like your organization's meetings published in this newsletter.

For a complete listing of Marion County neighborhood organizations, visit the Registered Neighborhood Organizations website at http://imaps.indygov.org/RegOrgs/.

For a complete listing of your local, state and federal elected officials and their contact information, visit http://imaps.indygov.org/GovntProfile/. This webpage will provide you with a listing of your elected officials as well as a schedule of city services available in your area based upon your address.

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library is an essential community information service providing materials and programs in support of the lifelong learning, recreational and economic interests of all citizens of Marion County. For more information or to find a branch near you visit www.imcpl.org.

Franklin Township Community Schools

Our mission is to instill in all students a passion for lifelong learning and to inspire each one to contribute as a responsible citizen to the future of our interconnected world. For more information visit www.ftcsc.k12.in.us/.

Public Safety Information

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD)
The Department was established on January 1, 2007, consolidating the former Indianapolis Police Department with the law enforcement division of the Marion County Sheriff Department. The ordinance assigns responsibility for the police department to the sheriff who appoints a chief of police, under whose direction the department operates. Comprised of approximately 1600 sworn officers and 350 civilian employees, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department provides police services to Marion County, Indiana, with the exception of the excluded cities within the county.

Emergency: 911
Non-Emergency: 317-327-3811
Web: http://www.indygov.org/eGov/IMPD/home.htm
District Information: http://www.indygov.org/eGov/IMPD/Enforcement/Districts/

Franklin Township Fire Department (FTFD)
The FTFD will provide an appropriate, safe, and professional response to fire, medical and environmental emergencies. The Department is dedicated to minimizing the loss of life and property through suppression, rescue education, code enforcement, investigation and other innovative programs.

Emergency: 911
Web: http://www.franklintwpfire.org/