A drastic decrease in drug overdoses from a year ago, new privately developed IUK student housing, expansion of a local factory and an update on local developments.
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Let's talk about the drastic decrease in drug overdoses in Howard Co. this year. It's just first quarter data, so not to get too complacent, is there anything in particular that you can point to in the sudden change this year?
Goodnight: We didn't get here overnight and we're not going to get out of this situation as a country overnight, but it's a step in the right direction. We have an existing problem and one of the most important things we can do is stop making that problem worse. There's a number that came out that the number of prescribed pain-killers has actually went down. So I think that's a big part of it too.
We have an existing (drug abuse) problem and one of the most important things we can do is stop making that problem worse.
We're one of the major funders for Turning Point, this is something led by one of our county commissioners. It's to give people an avenue, a place to start ... where do I call for help? What do I need? Someone to facilitate the local community as we tackle this problem.
Hren: You just announced new privately developed student housing for IU Kokomo. I assume this is good news because it illustrates a growing campus shifting from a commuter type campus to a place to come live and get a degree.
Goodnight: Yes, over the last decade Indiana University Kokomo has become more of a traditional campus with more of a young, the demographics have changed and now it's more of a destination type of campus. Adding athletic teams to the campus, a lot of the investments they made to the campus, the type of classes they offer... it's been the fastest growing campus in the last three years in the Indiana University network.
There are no school dorms, we do have one private student housing and this will be the second. The other one has been at capacity the last few years. It's about 125 beds, three story beautiful building that will be directly right next to campus across the street and hope to have them open in August of 2019.
Hren: Just announced this week as well, Green Cubes Technology announced plans to expand in Howard Co. What do they do and did the city offer any incentives to keep them here?
Goodnight: They make batteries for all kinds of applications. They've been in Kokomo for quite a long time. They're going to add 70 jobs or more over the next few years and they've outgrown their current facility and they're going to build a new building on the south side of Kokomo. They were originally looking to expand in their current location, but they were landlocked there.
We did a slight abatement on the new building and new investment in equipment and waived some fees.
Hren: I drove by and noticed the Markland Mall construction as well as Meridian Park housing project almost complete, any updates on area developments?
Goodnight: I saw a report that 25 percent of all the malls in the United States will close in the next five years. In our mall, there's substantial improvements being made, which is the opposite direction of many malls in the country.
The Meridian Park housing is something we partnered with the state. This will be quality housing for disabled adults - 13 units. I believe we're cutting the ribbon next week. We're doing a complete renovation to the park that's adjacent to it. We're doing a complete renovation to that park, we're putting up brick pillars and wrought iron fences and new equipment and if it's not the nicest pocket park in the city, it will be one of.
