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Councilmember Broden shared a story of one (1) of the students in this program who is going off <br />to Dublin Ireland to further her work and she was so moved by this project. Councilmember <br />Broden stated the student was so excited to be a part of this and upset that she is leaving even <br />with this great opportunity to go to Ireland. We are really doing something right with this <br />program with involving local students and letting them shape their own community. This is very <br />good stuff. <br />Mr. Gilot stated this is a way to retain more talent. <br />Councilmember Scott stated he loves what is going on here. As someone who loves trout fishing <br />this will be great. A lot of Bowman Creek is underground but it can become a great creek. He <br />suggested that they give this presentation to the Chamber of Commerce as well because they <br />have looked at that area for some time. <br />Councilmember White stated she loves that the group is bringing in local high school students <br />and keeping that talent in our area. Twenty -five percent (25 %) of the lots in this neighborhood <br />are vacant and that is a serious concern but these are the initiatives that mitigate and solve that <br />problem. One (1) of the big issues for this area is homelessness, but this is a positive in the area. <br />We have a great opportunity to bring change to this neighborhood. <br />Committeemember Dr. Varner asked what are the boundaries of the neighborhood. <br />Mr. Gilot responded it is Sample to Ewing and Michigan to Miami. <br />Committeemember Dr. Varner stated this is a good segway to the next topic because this project <br />ties into the consent decree. If there is any control of water flow through these rain gardens <br />things like this can lead to significant savings with reductions of storm water into the system. If <br />we can do this around the City, it would be tremendous and this seems like a model going <br />forward. Bowman has been neglected for a very long time and it's great to see it getting <br />attention. <br />Mic Perri, 901 East Fodder Street, stated he is one (1) of the founding members of SOAR and <br />was privileged at the beginning of this internship to spend a few hours with them. It is amazing <br />the ideas they have and are some of the best and brightest of our educational institutions. Mr. <br />Perri detailed his idea for a fundraiser project for the Indiana Bi- Centennial. He stated South <br />Bend has not done anything to celebrate the Bi- Centennial. He stated let's create at Bowman <br />Creek a bison bio zone at the park. Let's install a native bio zone with natural flowers to further <br />this rain garden idea. With this bison looking over the creek with the wildflowers around it, it <br />would be a snapshot of the Hoosier prairie in 1860. The bison statue would only cost $1,500. <br />That is not a lot in the long -term. He also recommended getting one (1) for the Potawatomi Tribe <br />to thank them for their contributions to our City. South Bend should do something to help honor <br />the tribe and help build civic activeness. <br />Councilmember Broden asked if it is possible to get more on the lot optimization for the Council <br />and also how do we keep the momentum going. <br />0 <br />