Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner addressed the 20-person Stellar Communities committee on Wednesday. Staff photo by Jonathan Streetman
HUNTINGBURG — Huntingburg was ready.
A banner welcoming the Stellar Communities site committee hung above the city’s sign on U.S. 231 on Wednesday afternoon. Yard signs supporting the city’s Stellar efforts were stuck in grassy patches, planted in flower pots and hung in windows on nearly every street. Several local businesses even changed their signs’ message boards to remind everyone to “Have a Stellar day” and to welcome the committee to town, even if the visit was brief.
The community again supported Mayor Denny Spinner’s Stellar Communities ambitions in a big way.
“That was very gratifying to see,” Spinner said. “But that’s what this community is all about. We rally around big ideas.”
The Stellar Communities program is a multi-agency partnership designed to fund comprehensive community development projects in Indiana’s smaller communities. Huntingburg is one of six finalists in 2014 — the others are Decatur, Marion, Mount Vernon, Nashville and Wabash — and two cities will be selected.
The 20-person Stellar committee pulled from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and Indiana Department of Transportation arrived in Huntingburg at about 1 p.m. and heard an impassioned presentation from Spinner, Brad Ward from the Dubois County Community Foundation, Doug Bawel from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, Becky Skillman from Bedford-based economic development leader Radius Indiana, Cory Menke from Huntingburg-based furniture manufacturer OFS Brands and Kyle Werner from Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center.
“I was so honored to be the person to present this as mayor,” Spinner said of the formal presentation. “I believe we were able to convey to the committee that our strategic investment plan is community-based ... and that our plan is uniquely Huntingburg.”
A six-minute promotional video used during the presentation will be posted on Huntingburg’s website soon.
Following the presentation, the party boarded Southridge High School’s charter bus to tour each of the nine locations outlined in the city’s Stellar proposal. Along the way, large project posters and more yard signs indicated the location of each project and displayed the potential. Presentations from Huntingburg’s committee members at each location further drove home the point.
Spinner said the presenters focused less on the nuts and bolts of the projects and more on how they would improve the quality of life.
“One thing we heard from Stellar committee members was that it was very easy for them to see where the projects are and visualize their impact,” Spinner said. “We wanted to show that it’s more than just projects. It’s about the people that they’ll impact and the continued growth of our community.”
At the Fourth and Market Street park proposal area, an impressive display allowed the committee and citizens of Huntingburg to picture just what this designation would bring. A nearly life-sized banner showing a rendering of the possible park hung from the side of a semi trailer, allowing passersby to glimpse into the future. Spinner told the committee members he saw groups of people taking photos with the trailer Tuesday evening.
By 4 p.m., the group had seen each site.
Now comes one final wait. A decision from the committee on whether Huntingburg will be designated one of two Stellar Communities this year is expected in early to mid-August.
Spinner feels as good as ever about the city’s odds.
“I’ve said all along that we have very good chances,” he said. “I believe we answered all of the questions the state asked of us. Now the decision is theirs. There’s nothing we left unsaid.”
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