New Albany Hosts Local Meeting to Discuss Wildfire Prevention

The trees that make up our Knobs are a precious local natural resource, and we must do everything we can to protect them. With rising heat levels, the threat of fires must be taken more seriously than ever. As a city who shares this asset with other communities, it is time we come together to develop a strategy to protect our skyline and natural habitat from wild fire.  

That is why Mayor Jeff Gahan requested the New Albany Fire Department meet with local fire districts and organizations to discuss forest fire prevention. The Command Staff from the New Albany Fire Department met with Fire Officials from Lafayette and Georgetown earlier this week.

“Most cities and towns do not possess equipment that is capable of battling a fire emergency within steep slopes and foothills,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “But New Albany and Floyd County’s landscape is unique, so we must be ready. This is a good time to discuss the impact forest fires can have on our community, and what we can do to be better prepared.”

Greenway Wins Trails Award; New Albany Applies to Expand Greenway with READI Grant

The Ohio River Greenway Project just received the “Outstanding Trail Project – Indiana” award from the Mid-America Trails and Greenways Conference! Previous winners include the Indianapolis Cultural Trail (2018), B-Line (2015), Panhandle Pathway (2013), and B&O Trail (2011).

“We recognized early what an asset our New Albany Shoreline is, and we have been investing and improving it for the last decade with more to come,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “Our New Albany Loop Island Wetlands, Flow Park, and our upcoming improvements will make our portion of the Ohio River Greenway stand out as a wonderful place to live, reconnect with nature, and have fun on our home waters.”

The Ohio River Greenway began in the 1990s as a dream to connect New Albany, Clarksville, and Jeffersonville with a multi-use path and park system. In late 2018, the final piece of the Ohio River Greenway was completed when New Albany secured the connection over Silver Creek with a $3.5 million bridge, finally connecting the three communities.

Additionally, the City of New Albany has submitted an application for the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) Grant that will allow for an even further expansion of the Ohio River Greenway. READI grants are a $500 million initiative from the State of Indiana meant to accelerate the state’s economic growth through major projects.

This expansion would convert 68 miles of abandoned CSX railroad line to a new trail system that would expand the Greenway north, stretching through 5 counties and connecting nine Indiana towns and cities into the Greenway. This stretch of trail, known as the South Monon Freedom Trail, pays homage to the trails significance as part of the Underground Railroad. The railway served as a verified escape route serving as a pathway to freedom for many enslaved African Americans traveling both in train cars and following the tracks by foot.

If completed, this would be the longest, continuous recreation trail in Indiana, creating immense recreation opportunities for the area. We are hopeful that the State READI Grant committee sees the economic, cultural, and recreational value that this project can bring to Southern Indiana.

Read more about the South Monon Freedom Trail Here: https://newalbanycityhall.com/home/2021/7/22/new-albany-designates-monon-south-freedom-trail-as-most-impactful-regional-project-to-drive-growth-and-improve-quality-of-life

Read more about the New Albany Shoreline and Ohio River Greenway Extension here: https://www.newalbanyshoreline.com/

Northwest Ordinance Distilling Announces Second Expansion Since Moving to NA

Northwest Ordinance Distilling (formerly known as Sazerac) has announced their second expansion since opening in New Albany!

In 2018, Northwest Ordinance Distilling (NOD) purchased the old Pillsbury Plant in New Albany, committing to creating 110 new full time employment jobs with average hourly wages in excess of $23/hour. The facility is known primarily for bottling Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey.

In 2020, NOD met its 110-employee commitment one full year ahead of schedule, and announced its first expansion at the site. NOD committed to bring an additional 50 new full time employment jobs with the first expansion, additional bottling lines, building improvements, and more. Earlier this year, NOD met its 160-employee commitment, and now they are working on their second expansion!

With this second expansion, Northwest Ordinance Distilling is committing to bring another 50 full time employment jobs to New Albany. This expansion will expand the plant’s capacity to 10 bottling lines, with a total project cap in excess of $48 million. Including this project, NOD has committed to investing over $153 million in the NOD facility in improvements and equipment. Additionally, the NOD facility still has capacity to accommodate more growth as Sazerac continues to respond to demand in the market.

The former Pillsbury Plant operated for nearly 50 years on Pillsbury Lane before shuttering in 2016. To celebrate and honor Sazerac and Northwest Ordinance Distilling’s commitment to New Albany, Pillsbury Lane was recently renamed to Northwest Ordinance Lane.

“We are fortunate to have such wonderful partners in Northwest Ordinance Distilling,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “They were a perfect fit for our facility here in New Albany, and we could not be happier with their recent expansions and commitments to our city.”

Updated COVID Booster Guidelines from CDC

The CDC has updated their COVID Booster recommendations, and is now recommending third doses of the COVID vaccine to certain individuals.

According to the CDC, people who are eligible for a third dose are:

• People in active cancer treatment; those who have received organ transplants and are taking immunosuppressive therapy;

• People who have received CAR-T cell or blood stem cell transplants;

• People who suffer from moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as those with DiGeorge or Wiskott-Aldrich syndromes);

• People with advanced, untreated, or unknown status HIV infection;

• People taking 20 milligrams or more of prednisone or similar corticosteroid every day, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, severely immunosuppressive cancer chemotherapeutic agents, TNF blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.

Patients should receive a third dose no earlier than 28 days from the completion of the second dose in the series. The patient should, whenever possible, receive the same brand of vaccine, at the standard dose. The Booster policy includes ages 12 and up.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is not included in the Booster regimen at this time; neither second dose efficacy or timing have been fully studied. People requesting Booster injections that previously received the J & J immunization will need to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The Floyd County Health Department will start giving Booster doses on 16 August 2021 for walk-in patients, and they also will schedule them for the Tuesday clinic and accept them at Pop-ups.

The CDC estimates about 3% of the population fits the above criteria; this would suggest a need to provide about 2300 additional vaccine doses to the citizens of Floyd County.

The City of New Albany still encourages everyone eligible to get the primary series of COVID immunizations, especially due to the Delta variant.

The CDC and the FDA have not issued guidelines for a general public Booster  program, and currently, routine use of Booster doses in this population is not recommended.

Mayor Gahan Taps ARP Funds for Early Childhood Education

The City of New Albany will put American Rescue Plan funds to work to improve early childhood education accessibility and quality in New Albany. The City has partnered with Head Start to expand their services to more low-income families in a new location in New Albany.

The City of New Albany has invested hundreds of thousands of American Rescue Plan funds to improve mental health services, drug and alcohol addiction services, utility and food assistance services, and other non-profit assistance. Now, Early Childhood Education joins that list.

“New Albany has a major shortage of early child care that is both affordable and available to young families,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “For years, we have been looking for ways to expand these types of services, and I’m thrilled that we were able to partner with Head Start to help more children and young families in New Albany.”

Head Start is a nationally recognized daycare and early childhood education service that provides affordable services to children and families. Head Start is specifically listed as an approved beneficiary in the federal guidelines for ARP funds. It provides children from low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and educational needs. Currently, Head Start is located off of Corydon Pike, and at their current location, they can only serve less than 30 children. 

Head Start will be expanding to Colonial Manor on Charlestown Road. Efforts to revitalize the nearly vacant Colonial Manor took off in early 2020, as the New Albany Redevelopment Commission approved a partnership with Hoagland Commercial Realtors that would pledge $1 million to Colonial Manor for infrastructure, façade work, lighting, parking lot improvements, trees, and more along Charlestown Road.

“The Colonial Manor development is a perfect example of a public-private partnership,” stated Brian Forrest with Hoagland Commercial Realtors. “The City of New Albany stepped up and helped with some funding to make this development possible and offset a higher sales price, and now these children and families will get to see the benefits for years to come.”

Those investments have been paying dividends, as Colonial Manor now plays host to a suite of services, including Child Protective Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, LifeSpring Health Systems, and now Head Start. Estimates indicate that nearly 1,000 people will move through Colonial Manor per day once all of these initiatives are completed, compared with nearly 0 just a few short years ago.

The New Albany Redevelopment Commission approved an additional $800,000 to be used for a new buildout of Head Start at Colonial Manor. The new location will allow them to serve approximately 115 children in 5 large classrooms. The new location will also have a full cafeteria, an indoor gym and play area, a dedicated outside playground, as well as a full service kitchen.

“We are so excited about this opportunity because we have so many families in need of our services,” stated Tara Meachum, Director of Head Start with Floyd County Community Action Agency. “This new location will allow us to serve nearly four times more children and families than we currently can at our Corydon Pike location. This would not have been possible without the City of New Albany’s commitment to early childhood education and the young families of New Albany.”

“I think this is a tremendous program that will benefit the local area,” stated City Councilman and American Rescue Plan committee member David Aebersold. “Moving from Corydon Pike right into the middle of one our residential districts will have immense impacts on use, and even be in walking distance for some. I’m behind this program 100% and am very excited to see the benefits to the people of New Albany.”