Step 1
The Letter of Intent
With a population of 6, 728 residents, North Vernon faced issues of the growing demand for housing and economic revitalization to support the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, an urban training facility for civilian and military organizations.  MUTC brings over 10,000 people a year into the city. North Vernon needed resources to fully support the center and to capture the economic opportunities it brought.  Additionally, North Vernon experienced several other challenges of an aging infrastructure and housing stock, the out-migration of residents, and a declining central city center.   Prior to Stellar, North Vernon developed community development strategies to address its needs and had made strides towards several of these efforts.   First, the city completed upgrades in its infrastructure, including water and sewer lines for MUTC as well as large roadway expansion projects.  Second, North Vernon finalized a downtown revitalization project in 2006. Third, the city completed a Comprehensive Plan (2009), which included downtown revitalization, building downtown into a regional destination hub, MUTC support, and housing revitalization.  In addition, there was a downtown revitalization study completed by a recent graduate student Merritt Ertel which identified and outlined redevelopment opportunities in North Vernon’s downtown core.

Staff at the Jennings County Economic Development Corporation encouraged the mayor to apply for the program. To prepare the city’s application and letter of intent Mayor Campbell established a Stellar Communities Development Team comprised of local representatives from the Mayor’s Office, North Vernon Redevelopment Commission, Jennings County Redevelopment Commission, Jennings County Community Foundation, and Jennings County Economic Development Corporation.  The city also hired consultants Hannum, Wagle, and Cline Engineering (HWC) to serve on its team to help in its administration and implementation capacity.    

However the North Vernon Stellar Development Team faced a few hurdles in completing its letter of intent. 

  • Due to the nature of Stellar being a new program, grant expectations and perimeters were either not fully defined or articulated to potential applicants, therefore leaving program expectations open for interpretation.  
  • In addition, due to the accelerated nature of the program, application turn around was rapid. Because it was a pilot program state representatives wanted to launch the program in 2010. The timing provided for the application and letter of intent did not allow much time for shifting through all project options.  Consequently the condensed timeline for the planning and site visit forced the team to make quick decisions on plan components and identifying projects.

The North Vernon Stellar Development Team decided to build on its existing assets of the Muscatatuck Park and trails.  The city’s letter of intent submitted by Mayor Campbell focused on North Vernon’s desire to bring new investment and vitality into its downtown, faced issues of the growing demand for housing and economic revitalization to support the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, strengthen the housing around the downtown, and also improving the amenities that would make the area attractive for new investment and for use by the public and enjoyment by the public.  The mayor along with North Vernon Stellar Communities Development Team submitted a letter of intent in December 2010.

In February 2011 the mayor received a phone call from former Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman’s office announcing North Vernon as a finalist.  The City of North Vernon was selected as one of seven communities contending for the highly competitive Indiana Stellar Communities program.  As finalists North Vernon was awarded $10,000 planning grant to assist in preparing an in-depth Strategic Community Investment Plan proposal, and to help in planning the site visit with the state selection team. Each city had approximately five to six weeks to develop this plan.    
Step 2
The Strategic Community Investment Plan
The North Vernon Stellar Development Team worked tirelessly for several weeks to complete the application and the planning for its strategic community investment plan and site visit.  The committee’s focus area included its downtown business district and Irish Hill neighborhoods near the downtown. To confront concerns and opportunities of rural decline, North Vernon participants established a number of community development initiatives as part of its Stellar Strategic Community Investment Plan.

The overarching priorities of the development team was to develop a plan to allow the city to obtain the full benefits of the SR 50 bypass, restoring downtown, and fully integrating the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center into the local economy.  North Vernon’s plan entailed downtown revitalization, streetscape and infrastructure improvements, housing renovations, and trail improvements.   Key components of North Vernon’s comprehensive community development strategies include:    
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Downtown Streetscape, Facades & Main Street Development
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Muscatatuck Trail
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Irish Hill Sidewalk & Street Improvements
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Carnegie Library Renovations
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Irish Hill Housing Improvements
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Short Street Plaza and Main Street Development
Step 3
The Site Visit
Introductions of city partners and stakeholders.  The site visit kicked off with a presentation in the city municipal building. This allowed the North Vernon Stellar Development Team to illustrate their ability to foster local, private, and regional partnerships as well as local support for the ISCP initiative.

Visual presentations of the need and potential projects.  The North Vernon Stellar Development Team also developed storyboards describing each project.

Tours of projects sites and areas of impact. The North Vernon Stellar Development Team took the state representatives on bus tour of the target area and projects.  The purpose of the tour was to show possibilities for new streetscaping, housing renovation, and downtown revitalization.  The state team also visited the Carnegie Library, one key component to the downtown revitalization. 

Question and Answer Session. The visit ended with a question and answer session among the North Vernon  Stellar Development Team and the state selection committee representatives at the municipal building.  Overall, the site visit lasted approximately three hours.   
Step 4
The Announcement
On Monday, March 7, 2011, out of 42 applicants and 12 finalists, North Vernon  along with Greencastle was named one of two communities to be the pilot communities for the new multi-year, multi-million-dollar Stellar Communities program. The Greencastle team was elated to win the Stellar designation and were anxious to begin working on the planning and implementation of its projects.