Housing needs, enhanced quality of life, and infrastructure plans headlined this yearโs Lunch with the Mayorโs program presented by the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership on July 26 at Old National Events Plaza.
Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry made her Lunch with the Mayorโs debut alongside Princeton, Indiana, Mayor Greg Wright; Henderson, Kentucky, Mayor Brad Staton; and Mount Vernon, Indiana, Mayor Steve Loehr.
Boonville, Indiana, Mayor Charlie Wyatt, who was scheduled to appear, was absent due to โunforeseen circumstances,โ Talent EVV Director Tyler Stock said during introductions, leaving questions about the EDGE of the Lakes developmentย unanswered.
In a discussion moderated by Channel 14 WFIE-TV anchor Randy Moore, the assembled mayors outlined improvement projects, municipal goals, and the importance of regional collaboration.
โI think we have to keep focused on these strong relationships that have already been built with our neighbors,โ Terry said. โThese relationships are critical, I think, to everything that we do.โ
Housing
Evansvilleโs affordable housing trust fund has gotten a boost from an additional $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act interest, which Terry said will aid home repairs as well as new development. Thatโs in addition to a $3 million investment in local nonprofit housing projects.
Loehr spoke candidly of Mount Vernonโs longtime focus on job creation causing it to โkind of miss the boat on keeping the housing market home.โ The Posey County seat now is reconnecting with homebuilders and investors to refire the housing market.
To rejuvenate Hendersonโs housing market, officials eyed a crucial point of the cost of home ownership. โOur city property tax rate was too high about 10 years ago, so we’ve been actively working to decrease it because numerically we want to encourage people to come and move to Henderson,โ Staton said. โToday, our city property tax rate is lower than it was nearly 20 years ago.โ
Quality of Place
The mayors echoed Terry in discussing the need for safe neighborhoods, cultural amenities, and plenty of green spaces and recreation options to make their cities attractive both to potential and current residents.
Wright singled out YMCA of Southwestern Indiana President and CEO Johnathan Pope for praise, championing the nonprofitโs investment, alongside Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, in a Downtown Princeton campus. โThe impact theyโre going to make in our city, as far as the quality of place aspect, is immeasurable,โ Wright said.
Staton touted Henderonโs bustling Downtown โ complete with retail merchants and restaurants, plus a new distillery breaking ground this fall โ as a boon to the city. โThere are a lot of reasons for people in Evansville to come join us in Henderson and celebrate life together,โ he said.
Infrastructure
Terry joked that the top two questions her office receives are โWhen are you going to fix the roads?โ and โWhy is there so much construction?โ
โIt is an orange barrel season, and and that means progress is happening,โ she said.
Among Evansville officials priorities are replacing Evansville Water and Sewer Utilityโs 125-year-old water treatment plant and throwing support behind an ambitious planย to transform the cityโs Downtown river shoreline into a retail, culinary, and recreation destination.
โWe want to continue to see that process move forward, because I think it’s going to truly create a destination for our city and really transform the city,โ Terry said.
Work on the Interstate 69 Ohio River Crossingย also was a major topic for the mayors of Evansville and Henderson. Staton says Section 1, which will link the Kentucky side of a newly construction bridge to I-69 south of Henderson, will generate about 200 acres of retail space and improve connectivity to a new 300-home development in the vicinity.
The groundbreaking for the Indiana bridge approach, known as Section 3, is expected this summer. Section 2 covers the building of the four-lane bridge beginning in 2027.
Leaders in Princeton and Mount Vernon also have their eye on expanding their residentsโ access to broadband internet.
Regional Cooperation
Each mayor agreed that they are building on strong existing relationships between their respective city administrations in accomplishing regional goals. Wright pointed out the mayorsโ strength in numbers and highlighted one close connection: His wife and Loehrโs wife are first cousins.
โWe’ll be at a family reunion talking about sewer plants and those kinds of things,โ he laughed.
A former coach, Loehr likened regional leadersโ communication to a sports team working toward a common goal.
โWeโve got to share ideas,โ he said. An idea in โone city may not work in another, and vice versa. But you can’t be afraid to communicate, and that has not been a problem with the mayors here and I appreciate that.โ
โIt’s not Henderson versus Evansville. It’s Henderson along with cities in our region,โ Staton added. โWe’re very willing to continue that partnership moving forward and make intentional effort to get together on a regular basis to share information and share good things and see how we can prosper together.โ