CHARLESTOWN, Ind. — A battle has been going on for about five years between Pleasant Ridge residents and the city of Charlestown.
Now, residents are continuing that fight by creating a strategic plan. It's the latest move by the Pleasant Ridge Neighborhood Association to bring the residents together.
The plan is called "five for five," meaning five core goals the neighborhood associations wants to work on in the next five years.
Pleasant Ridge Neighborhood Association president Josh Craven said it's time to boost the morale of residents.
"I think the morale is a bumpy road. It's a roller coaster. One week it's up, one week it's down and that's been the trend for five years," Craven said.
That is why two months ago the PRNA sent out letters to residents asking for input on what they wanted to see done in the neighborhood. From there, the "five for five" plan was born.
"I think we never had an end goal. We never had some kind of plan. We always just said let's keep our houses and I always told everybody 'well that's fine, but what happens once you save your home?' and nobody ever had an answer. So this gives people something to hold on to," Craven said.
The five goals include improving the quality of homes by helping elderly or disabled residents clean their gutters.
Craven said they also plan to fund raise and hold events with other Charlestown organizations. He said they hope to even build a community center for neighborhood residents to use.
"It would be a place where they'll be able to meet. They'll be able to have family BBQ's and things of that nature, but also have a place to do their gardening," he said.
The plan isn't just about residents, Craven said. It's also about building up community perception.
"We wanted the people of Charlestown, just the citizens in general, to stop thinking that we're just people that are on a hill and that we're just delaying the inevitable and start to realize no, we really do care about Charlestown, we really do care about our neighborhood and regardless and contrary to what people believe, we've got a plan and we're going to move forward with it," Craven said.
The efforts come not long before residents will get their day in court. In 2017 a group of homeowners filed a lawsuit against the city and a private developer.
They claim they were trying to extort owners out of their homes through code violations and large fines.
The trial is set to start November 12th.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.