By Bobbie Washburn Ruhnow Correspondent
At the noon meeting of Culver’s Second Century Committee recently, Chairman Dick Brantingham introduced Michael Doss, Culver’s town manager, as the main speaker. Doss updated the group on proposed and ongoing community projects.
Referencing the Garden Court facility, a 14-unit HUD low housing complex, anticipated for Culver, Doss said the town would proceed with annexation of approximately 100 acres bordering South Main Street. It is anticipated that the zoning will allow multi-residential and light commercial areas.

Along with this possible development, the TIF area on W. Jefferson Street will be marketed for light industrial and commercial development. With the town’s anticipated grant for sewer infrastructure upgrades, the area will have the potential for controlled growth. The grant will also allow drainage problems for the area near the Culver Elementary School gym that consistently floods in heavy rainfall to be corrected.
A government firefighters’ grant is in the works totaling $750,000. If received, the old part of the existing fire station would be demolished and a new two-story addition would be erected. The fire department has raised $100,000 in donations, which will be used as matching funds.
Additional projects anticipated are the repair of the outlet culvert on W. Shore Drive, a $1.6 million expansion of the sewer plant and downtown and uptown revitalization. Doss said the town is looking for partners to participate in planning the revitalization. Curbs, new sidewalks, street milling, facade improvements to help encourage filling empty storefronts would all be part of the plan. Community Development grants may be available and the Culver town council is pro-active in the plans and has requested Doss to explore any available state and federal grant money.
Ralph Winters told the group that the new Community Resource Center of Marshall County will be located on the old Farm Bureau property in Plymouth. The Resource Center will be a central location for many agencies including Dept. of Family Resources, WIC, Habitat for Humanity, Housing Authority and the Neighborhood Center among others. A Marshall County Community Fund grant of $250,000 along with donations of $47,000 from Plymouth and Marshall County, $10,000 from Culver and a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is helping to fund the center. Donations are still needed, Winters continued.
Patty Stallings, SCC Steering Committee member, said that she and Ginny Bess Munroe, as members of the Government Growth Initiative Committee, are still looking for volunteers to serve on this committee, which will be made of interested parties to examine the consequences and impact of further development on Lake Maxinkuckee and be prepared to make suggestions and recommendations to Culver’s zoning boards.
The next meeting will be September 8, noon, at the Culver Public Library. The public is welcome to attend.