Random shots from a neighborhood walk in Traders Point area today (click to enlarge)

Mr. and Mrs. Bill Cappel of Traders Point Coop on Lafayette Road.

Lafayette Road Bridge Photos Today (click to enlarge)

OCTOBERFEST Sunday, October 18, 2009, noon-5 @ Creamery

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Greater Historic Traders Point, a 501(c)(3) green space preservation group, is once again hosting the 3rd Annual Oktoberfest on the Farm. This event was started in 2007 to raise funds for the completion of two Rural Historic Districts and for future awareness of our unique, rural area.

The GREAT news is that our nominations to the National Register are now fully approved and the Traders Point Rural Historic districts are now on the National Register. Our goal for this year’s Oktoberfest is to raise money to complete signage to designate and highlight our districts. This year’s Oktoberfest will be held on Sunday, October 18, 2009, from noon until 5:00 pm. We have the Polka Boys Band back, more food and drink, and plenty of fun!

My request to you is this….we need volunteers to fill slots from 11:00AM until 6:30pm. Unfortunately, we cannot continue to host this event without volunteer/neighbor participation. Many of you have volunteered in the past, both financially and physically, and we thank you so very much! This project benefits us all and is our only fundraiser of the year. Now is the time to give back to our area by simply agreeing to staff at least one, 3 hour shift that day. Plus, it will be great fun!

Please contact Cindy Lamberjack at 250-6504 or email to c_lamberjack001@comcast.net to set up your volunteer time. If you are unable to volunteer, please consider donating to the Traders Point Rural Historic Districts. Checks may be made payable to Greater Historic Traders Point and may be sent to:
Greater Historic Traders Point
7103 W. 96th St.
Zionsville, IN 46077

Thank you again and we hope to see you soon!


Cindy Lamberjack

TPAN to present at Normandy Farms Meeting

Traders Point Association of Neighborhoods (TPAN) will be presenting at the Normandy Farms Annual Meeting: Nov 5 from 7 - 9 pm - Pike Library on Zionsville Road - Community room.

TPAN was invited to the meeting to discuss our group (which includes Normandy Farms). My talk will be about 20 minutes and will briefly highlight our group's history, its focus, what we have accomplished, and opportunities for involvement.

Zionsville Time Sentinel to feature Traders Point in Sept. 30 issue

Rural historic districts formed in area

The pastoral countryside known as Traders Point has many adjectives attached to it: rustic, beautiful and charming, to name a few. Now it can include one more: historic.



Two areas, totaling 2,600 acres in all, were recently named to the National Register of Historic Places.



We'll speak with Cindy Lamperjack, a resident who helped lead the charge to getting the designation, as well as Fritz Kunz, owner of Traders Point Creamery.



For more, read the Sept. 30 edition of the Times Sentinel.

Lafayette Road bridge update photos

WISH TV COVERAGE OF TREE TRIMMING & interview with neighbor Jerry Baker

Indy residents fed up
with tree hacking
Utility companies trim trees for
safety reasons

Updated: Wednesday, 02 Sep 2009, 11:10 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 02 Sep 2009, 7:00 PM EDT

Leslie Olsen
Edited by Hyacinth Williams
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - It’s enough to make any homeowner with a yard full of trees shudder: news that a utility company is coming to trim.

Utility companies do that to keep branches away from their lines, but some property owners say they are going too far.

24-Hour News 8 spoke to a property owner who plans to speak at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission hearing Wednesday night.

Jerry Baker and his wife live in the Traders Point area and their property is filled with old, beautiful trees.

“To be able to have a place to live, in this kind of a home, surrounded by all these trees, is just a really rare privilege,” said Baker.

Baker said earlier this decade, utility tree trimmers started getting more aggressive – and left eyesores behind.

“They take trees, trim and take trees from private property where they have declared the right to do that. But in our mind legally, constitutionally, they don’t really have that right. And that’s one of the big things that we’re contesting right now,” said Baker.

Enough homeowners agreed that utilities are not taking the care they should be in cutting trees and limbs away from power lines – that the IURC began investi

Traders Point residents speak at public hearing

September 3, 2009

Taking tree trimming too far?

Frustration is clear as landowners urge limiting the utilities' freedom to cut trees

By Diana Penner
diana.penner@indystar.com

For more than three decades, Henry Junkersfeld had no problems with utility tree trimming at his Northwestside home.

That changed in the summer of 2005, he said, when an Indianapolis Power & Light Co. contractor cut down 200 feet of trees along his property line in the 8100 block of Fishback Road. When he informed an IPL supervisor he planned to file a complaint, he was told, "If I did that, he (the supervisor) would clear-cut the rest of it."

Junkersfeld was among about 100 people who attended a public hearing Wednesday on utility company tree-trimming practices. The hearing at the Pike Performing Arts Center was the second of six that the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has scheduled statewide on the issue.

Several speakers, like Junkersfeld, told tales of drastic tree cutting and rude encounters with those working for IPL. The testimony, in what's called an "investigation" by the IURC, is run much like a trial, with witnesses sworn in and no questions answered by the commission. The IURC will make no decision until after all hearings have been held.

One speaker urged the commissioners not to drastically amend utility companies' tree-trimming rights.

Mike Gahimer, energy manager of Duke Realty Co., said uninterrupted electrical service is paramount for business and industry. When there is a close call, he said, the decision should go on the side of maintaining energy flow.

"I ask the commission not to throw the baby out with the bath water," he said.

More than 20 people signed up to speak, but it was not clear whether all would take a turn. Charles Goodman, an Eastside resident whose summer 2005 dispute with IPL led to the IURC case, attended the hearing but was not permitted to speak.

He could not agree with IPL on compensation to replace a damaged tree, so Goodman explored a civil lawsuit and ended up initiating the case now being heard by the IURC.

"I opened a can of worms," Goodman said. "They can go on private property to remove trees without consent or compensation."

The Indiana Tree Alliance, a new organization formed by homeowners who have had unsatisfactory dealings with utilities over trees, is among the passionate advocates of reining in the power of utilities.

The alliance supports establishing statewide rules for utilities, which now determine tree-trimming policies independently, and supports the long-term goal of moving utility lines underground.

IPL spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers said at the hearing that she couldn't comment on specific cases raised by residents.

However, she said IPL understands the emotion that can be triggered when trees are removed or trimmed and strives to contact residents in their electric bills months before trimming and in other notices posted near the date.

"Because safety and reliability are so important (requiring tree removal near power lines), we understand that sometimes people are going to be angry."

Pat Easterday, who lives in the 7900 block of Lafayette Road, told the commission that in September 2005 she tried to stop a crew from cutting her trees but that an off-duty Indianapolis police officer working security for IPL handcuffed her. She was detained in the squad car for about an hour.

"Of course, all this time they're cutting my trees. They didn't stop," Easterday said.

"They came through and cut everything. I don't think it's fair. And I don't think they care."

Welcome to the commercialization of Eagle Creek Park

The City of Indianapolis is seeking innovative ideas to generate increased value,
from the City-owned Eagle Creek Park, through partnerships including but not
limited to development, reuse, banquet, sporting, and concert/venue events.
The City intends to take full advantage of all viable opportunities to generate
revenue or offset current operating and capital expenses within the context of
the fundamental mission of Indy Parks.
The following is a description of the assets that will be available for utilization at
the Eagle Creek Park.A. Eagle’s Crest
B. The Hide-A-Way
C. Lilly Lake
D. The Marina
E. The Beach
F. Eagle Creek Bait Shop
G. Octagon Building and Shelter
H. Rick’s Boatyard Café

Should Traders Point Association of Neighborhoods be concerned?

Traders Point residents get press in today's Star

September 2, 2009


Those teed off about tree-cutting get a say

At state hearing, some to urge statewide rules for utilities to follow

By Diana Penner
diana.penner@indystar.com

Property owners angry about tree-trimming practices of utility companies will have a chance to suggest changes to regulators at a hearing today.

And while those advocates will be polite and professional, they also will be passionate.

The recently formed Indiana Tree Alliance, a coalition of concerned property owners, plans to be there. In a recent release, the group used terms such as "abusive vegetation management practices" and "butchering of trees'' to make its points.

The issues are complex and long-standing, but at the core, they want consistent rules applied statewide, with recognition of the rights of private property owners.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is holding six hearings statewide to collect public comment on the issue. Tonight's hearing is the second of the series and the only one in Indianapolis. The hearings are being conducted in the service areas of six power companies and end in October in Evansville.

The commission has not determined what changes might be made and wants to hear concerns and suggestions from residents, said Danielle Dravet, spokeswoman for the IURC. After the public hearings are complete and written ideas have been received, the commission will go over them and decide on a next step, she said.

The Tree Alliance members don't dispute that trees should be maintained so they don't interfere with utilities, said Jerry Baker, a resident of the Trader's Point area on the Northwestside and a member of the alliance. But many homeowners think utility companies run roughshod over their rights and mangle trees in the process, he said.

"We want to bring to the commission's attention certain methods and behaviors . . . relative to trimming trees that we think are out of line."

Now, power companies establish their own rules. The alliance wants to see consistent, statewide rules that would limit utility companies' power to cut trees and would compensate property owners if trees must be sacrificed, Baker said.

Jacque Griffin, also a Trader's Point-area resident, said her first encounter with Indianapolis Power & Light came in 2002 or 2003, about six months after she moved into a new home. She found a "door-hanger" flier alerting her that the utility would be trimming trees in her neighborhood, with a number to call with questions.

She said she called and was told someone would get back to her to consult about how much would have to be cut. She was even willing to hire a tree company to meet the utility's requirements while taking into account the health of the trees. Griffin said she was told not to worry because crews wouldn't be in her area for several weeks.

But a few days later, she said, she came home and found several trees hacked and piles of lumber in her yard.

That's what she wants to avoid in the future, she said.

"We all like our electricity,'' she said, endorsing appropriate tree management. "But it does not have to be done in the manner that it's done."

Additional Facts
Meeting tonight
An information session about tree-trimming practices and guidelines for testifying will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Pike Performing Arts Center, 6701 Zionsville Road.

Formal comments will begin at 6 p.m. No end time has been set.

People who cannot be at the meeting still may register comments. Cite IURC case No. 43663 and send comments to Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor, 115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South, Indianapolis, IN 46204-3420; fax them to (317) 232-5923; or send them by e-mail to uccinfo@oucc.in.gov

For background on the case, go to www.in.gov/oucc and click on "Electric Utility Tree Trimming Investigation."

To contact the Indiana Tree Alliance, send an e-mail to Jerry Baker at cjbaker47@ comcast.net; Steve Jones at sast jones@comcast.net; or call Charles Goodman at (317) 356-2499. Or go to www.treesvspowerlines.com for more information.