July 13, 2017— Cicero Town Councilman, Craig Penwell, along with council members from Arcadia, Atlanta, and Sheridan spoke at the Northern Hamilton County Chamber’s State of Our Towns’ luncheon. Councilman Penwell spoke about several current projects happening in the Town of Cicero. He spoke about the Office of Community and Rural Affairs'(OCRA) Place Based Investment Fund (PBIF) grant the Town/Parks Department received for the construction of the Cicero Pier project at Red Bridge Park. The grant was a $50,000.00 grant with the match coming from the Town of Cicero, the Cicero Parks Department, the Cicero Friends of the Park, and Hamilton County Tourism. The project is set to be complete by early fall of this year. He noted that the NRG factory on the south side of town, which caught fire a few months ago, is in the demolition phase. The Town has been able to replace the ultraviolet filtering system at the wastewater treatment plant without issuing a bond due to long term planning on this project. Mr. Penwell stated that the Town was grateful for the Community Crossings Matching Grant that the Town received from INDOT in 2016 for paving streets. The Town will be applying for this again and was excited about the reduced match requirement for smaller communities.
The Town has been doing some long range planning by having studies completed for the intersection at Jackson and Main Streets, a trail system which would connect Community Park, Red Bridge Park, and possibly an inter-town trail system that would connect with Noblesville in the future. The Town is working with MKSK on these studies. He also spoke about a Municipal Building Study, which the Town is working with SPS on completing. The Town hopes to have all of these studies completed in 2017 to be able to move forward with projects in 2018. Mr. Penwell mentioned the Town’s work with the Hamilton Heights school system and how at the Town’s June Council meeting recent Hamilton Heights graduate, Alexis Reynolds, was presented with a check for $500.00 for her winning design of the new Town of Cicero entrance signs. He stated how the Town was proud of the achievements of the Hamilton Heights school system and how the Town sees that connection with the school as a great way to attract new residents to our area.