The Ohio River Bridges Project of Kentucky and Indiana

Speaker Bios

National Speakers

Randall Arendt is an internationally-recognized author, lecturer, and site designer specializing in conserving interconnected networks of open space through conservation subdivision design and green hybrids of the New Urbanism. He assists landowners, developers, and local governments across the country in blending their conservation goals and development objectives. In 2004 he was named an Honorary Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and in 2005 he received the American Institute of Architects' Award for Collaborative Achievement.

Walter M. Kulash, P.E. is a principal and Senior Traffic Engineer with the Orlando-based community-planning firm of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart, Inc. A licensed professional engineer with an academic background in engineering at North Carolina State University and Northwestern University, Mr. Kulash has worked on traffic and transit planning projects throughout the U.S. and Canada, specializing in the area of "livable traffic" design as it relates to Smart Growth. Clients include private developers, local and state governments and non-governmental agencies. His projects have included resort villages, city-wide mobility plans and "park once" districts. He has worked to help communities re-introduce on-street parking in shopping environments and implemented walking programs to formerly automobile-blighted areas. He is currently involved with DOT projects in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and serves as a consultant to resolve road project issues at several locations.

Donovan D. Rypkema is principal of PlaceEconomics, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic development-consulting firm, specializing in services to public and non-profit sector clients dealing with downtown and neighborhood commercial district revitalization and the reuse of historic structures. In 2004, he established Heritage Strategies International to provide those services to clients beyond North America. Rypkema has worked with communities in 49 States and 19 countries. He is the author of numerous articles and publications as well as a book, The Economics of Historic Preservation: A Community Leader's Guide.

Regional Speakers

The list of regional speakers is organized chronologically based on the Concurrent Session number and the session topic in which he or she spoke.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1
Tuesday, Sept. 19

Urban Planning/Housing Strategy

Kentucky Ballroom
Moderated by Brent Sweger

Charles Cash has served as Louisville Metro's Director of Planning and Design Services since 2003 when Mayor Jerry Abramson appointed him to the position. He has served as Administrator of Urban Design for the Louisville Development Authority and as Assistant Director of Planning and Urban Design. Cash has also served as architect to the city's Landmarks Commission, providing design assistance for over 2,000 projects. He is currently serving as chair of design for HOPE VI, a $250 million Liberty Green project.

Melissa Barry directs the Housing and Community Development Department of Louisville Metro government. Her office led the creation of the first comprehensive housing strategy in Louisville and administers all HUD Federal Entitlement with a budget totaling over $22 million. Barry is the president and chairwoman of the Louisville Landmark Authority, the chairwoman of the Mayor's Affordable Housing Trust Fund Task Force, and she oversees the Urban Renewal Commission, Vacant Property Commission and Blight Buster Team.

Carl Malysz serves the Louisville Metro Government as deputy director of the Housing and Community Development department. He was the lead planner in developing the Louisville Metro Comprehensive Housing Strategy and has also been part of an educational circuit to explain and promote the Louisville Metro Land Bank and the Louisville Metro Vacant Property Review Commission. Malysz is formerly the director of the New Albany, Ind., City Plan Commission and New Albany Redevelopment Commission. He has a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree from the University of Louisville.

Integrating Land Use & Transportation Decision-Making

Session Room A
Moderated by Aida Copic

Jim Thorne is a member of the FHWA Resource Center's Planning Technical Service Team which provides technical assistance and training on a wide range of planning topics. His recent projects have included land use and transportation coordination, scenario planning and transportation safety planning. Prior to joining the FHWA, Thorne worked with two metropolitan planning organizations as a planner, modeler and transportation planning director. He also worked with the American Public Works Association as its director of research where he produced a number of technical publications.

Historic Preservation in Local Context

Session Room B
Moderated by Dave Kroll

Richard Jett serves the Louisville Metro Government as the historic preservation officer after directing the Jefferson County Office of Historic Preservation and Archives prior to the 2003 city-county merger. Before coming to county government in 2000, he managed the Kentucky Heritage Council's survey, national register and planning division and served as executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Louisville. In addition to numerous civic and volunteer commitments, Jett has served several terms as president of the Crescent Hill Neighborhood Association in the neighborhood he has called home for 21 years.

Joanne Weeter recently began a second career as a historic preservation consultant when she retired in July of this year after 23 years of service to the Louisville Metro Government. Her most recent position there was as a historic preservation officer. Weeter was Mayor Abramson's point person for the 2004 National Trust Conference as well as a historic preservation liaison for the U.S. Marine Hospital, a National Historic Landmark. Weeter authored the book Louisville Landmarks: A Viewbook of Architectural and Historic Landmarks in Louisville, KY which is now in its second printing. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's from Goucher College.

Context-Sensitive Solutions in Transportation Design

Session Room C
Moderated by Jim Hilton

William Gulick is a nationally recognized expert in context-sensitive solutions (CSS) and geometric design who has been at the cutting edge of CSS and design flexibility throughout his professional career in theory, practice and teaching. Gulick has presented numerous seminars and presentations on CSS throughout the country, including those for the Departments of Transportation in 10 different states. He also served as the chair of the AASHTO Task Force on Development and Implementation of CSS Training Programs.

Don Hartman serves as the deputy director of the Kentucky Transportation Center and is currently involved in Context-Sensitive Design and Solutions research, education and training. He is a member of Kentucky's CSD training team and is involved in the delivery of Kentucky's nationally-recognized CSD&S training program to other states. Some of his recent research work includes NCHRP studies relating to the determination of the safety consequences of design flexibility and design exceptions. Also an adjunct professor of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky, Hartman has a master's degree from the University of Tennessee.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Applications

Session Room D

Curt Bynum has served as the GIS Coordinator for the Louisville/Jefferson County Information Consortium since its inception in 1986. He has served as a project manager for GIS data conversion projects, including aerial photography, digital orthoimagery, photogrammetric base mapping and property mapping. His previous experience includes 13 years working with various consulting firms in photogrammetry, surveying, highway design and land development. Bynum holds a bachelor's degree in geography and a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Louisville.

LUNCH SESSION

Tuesday, Sept. 19

Visualization Tools for Transportation Planning & Smart Growth

Kentucky Ballroom Moderated by Pete Fritz

Jerry Bridges has spent the last 17 years as executive director of the Madison County, Ind., Council of Governments, a countywide, multijurisdictional planning agency and regional metropolitan planning organization in Anderson, Ind. His 23 years of planning experience in both the public and private sectors has produced numerous regional speaking engagements and several publications on topics such as housing rehabilitation, defining regionalism, alternative growth and transportation. Bridges is a graduate of both Anderson College and the University of Notre Dame.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2

Tuesday, Sept. 19

Charrettes, Land Use and Transportation

Session Room A Moderated by Harold Tull

Stacey Clark, a graduate from the University of Louisville, joined KIPDA in 2000. She works with planning for long-range transportation, bicycle and pedestrian transit, and general transit. Clark is also involved in updating Horizon 2030, the Louisville Metropolitan Planning Organization's long-range transportation plan. Clark is a member of the American Planning Association and has worked with the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, bringing Walkable Community workshops to the Louisville area in 2004.

David Burton became a transportation planner with KIPDA over 10 years ago after earning a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration with an emphasis in regional planning from the University of Louisville. He currently works on long-range plan development and federal regulation interpretation and compliance. Burton is also involved in updating Horizon 2030, the Louisville Metropolitan Planning Organization's long-range transportation plan.

Tom Gallagher is an urban designer for Ratio Architects in Indianapolis, Ind., where he currently brings his passion for the public process and high-quality urban design to projects including the Ohio River Bridges Project, the Indianapolis Regional Center 2020 Plan, Shelbourne Market in Lexington, Ky., the Simon Headquarters Plaza in Indianapolis and the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University. Gallagher's philosophy centers on community-based design workshops as the primary means of building lasting support and ownership in public projects. He has taught in the College of Architecture and Planning at his alma mater, Ball State University, and was the first director of the college's Indianapolis Center.

Hands-On Design Exercise

Kentucky Ballroom
Randall Arendt, Keynote Speaker

Randall Arendt is an internationally recognized author, lecturer, and site designer specializing in conserving interconnected networks of open space through conservation subdivision design and green hybrids of the New Urbanism. He assists landowners, developers, and local governments across the country in blending their conservation goals and development objectives. Arendt is one of three national speakers presenting at the Bridging Boundaries: Building Better Communities Regional Smart Growth Conference.

Historic Preservation Plans and Neighborhood Plans

Session Room B Moderated by Dave Kroll

Charles Cash has served as Louisville Metro's Director of Planning and Design Services since 2003 when Mayor Jerry Abramson appointed him to the position. He has served as Administrator of Urban Design for the Louisville Development Authority and as Assistant Director of Planning and Urban Design. Cash has also served as architect to the city's Landmarks Commission, providing design assistance for over 2,000 projects. He is currently serving as chair of design for HOPE VI, a $250 million Liberty Green project.

Chris French has been a planner for Louisville Metro government since 1997. His current work duties include coordination of the Land Development Code regulation, long-range planning projects and neighborhood plans. His expertise has afforded him the opportunity to present at both the National Conference of the American Planning Association and the National Trust's Historic Preservation Conference. French has a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree from Southern Illinois University.

Kevin Senninger is in his seventh year in the planning and design services division of Ratio Architects. In that time, he has worked with clients to create attractive and healthy habitats in which citizens can live, work and play. With experience in the architectural, preservation and urban planning professions, Senninger brings a unique perspective to the overall planning process. His responsibilities at Ratio include project design and document production and management. Some of his work includes historic preservation plans for the Ohio River Bridges Project and comprehensive plans for Shelbyville and Greencastle in Indiana. Senninger has both a bachelor's and master's degree from Ball State University.

Smart Growth, Urban Renewal and Infill

Session Room C
Moderated by Aida Copic

Lauren Heberle is the associate director for the Center for Environmental Policy and Management and co-director of the EPA Region Four Environmental Finance Center. Her work focuses on brownfields, Smart Growth, social theory and research methodology. She is currently working with Metro Louisville and the Louisville Community Design Center to develop a community participation model about brownfields redevelopment in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.

Carol Norton is a research coordinator with the EPA's Region Four Environmental Finance Center and works in the Center for Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Louisville. She has served as a public sector intern in town and country planning in England and previously held the position of planning commissioner in Corydon, Ind., as well as Louisville, Ky. Norton has a bachelor's degree in general studies from Indiana University-Southeast and a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Louisville.

Urban Context-Sensitive Solutions, Urban Planning and Housing

Session Room D Moderated by Chester Hicks

David Wenzel is a vice president and manager of the urban planning department of the Indianapolis, Ind., office of HNTB Corporation. He has more than 25 years of professional experience, including eight spent in the public sector. Wenzel's experience includes serving as the Community Development Director for Thornton, Colo., and Assistant Director of Planning for the city of Dallas, Texas. Wenzel holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree from Indiana University.

Ron Taylor brings creative and innovative problem solving and 11 years of design experience to the table as a senior landscape architect at HNTB's Indianapolis office. His diverse range of work experience includes specialties in greenway and recreation planning, corridor planning, urban design and large-scale site development. He is a past president of the Indiana ASLA Chapter and is a current ASLA Board of Trustees representative. Taylor has written extensively on several landscape architecture issues and has been published in several professional publications. He is a graduate of Ball State University.

Cathy Hinko serves as the executive director of the Louisville-based Metropolitan Housing Coalition, a regional advocacy organization for fair and affordable housing. She formerly operated award-winning programs providing almost 9,000 households with assistance as executive director of the Housing Authority of Jefferson County. Hinko created the partnership for the first program in the nation to allow households to use a Section 8 voucher payment to help purchase a home. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS 3

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Rural Land Preservation and Growth

Kentucky Ballroom Moderated by Brent Sweger

Timothy DeWitt, the current Executive Director of the Bluegrass Conservancy, oversees the day-to-day operations of the regional land trust in Lexington, Ky. He has over 30 years of public and private sector experience in planning and community development, having directed planning functions at the regional, county and municipal levels of government in Colorado and Ohio. He oversaw the implementation of county Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and developed the first – and award-winning – GIS-based Land Evaluation Site Assessment (LESA) Master Plan in Ohio. DeWitt is a graduate of both Kent State University and the University of Colorado at Denver.

Louise Allen currently serves as the director of planning for Oldham County, Ky., a rapidly growing community in the Louisville metropolitan area. Allen has 21 years of planning experience in the Louisville area, including managing the transportation element of Jefferson County's comprehensive plan, Cornerstone 2020. She also served as the principal project planner for the 1993 Development Review Overlay district for the Floyd's Fork stream corridor and is an experienced neighborhood planner. Prior to her current role, Allen worked for three years as senior planner in charge of Oldham County's 2002 Comprehensive Plan, Outlook 2020.

Smart Growth Virtual Tours of Successful Communities

Session Room A Moderated by Aida Copic

Steve Austin serves as president and CEO of Bluegrass Tomorrow, a regional coalition dedicated to promoting coordinated growth and preservation planning for the central Bluegrass region of in Kentucky. He is the former director of planning for the Georgetown-Scott County, Ky., Planning Commission. He has been involved with over $100 million in development projects as an urban planning consultant and has been honored for his design work on numerous parks, greenways and private gardens. Austin has a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and is also an attorney.

Historic Preservation in Regional Context

Session Room B

Joanna Hinton has been the executive director of Preservation Kentucky, Inc., since 2003. In that time, she has played an instrumental role in doubling the number of organization members, passing an historic preservation tax credit for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the selection of the central Kentucky region for a national pilot program. Prior to joining Preservation Kentucky, Hinton held various positions in the museum industry including service as the associate director at Farmington Historic Home. She is involved in her hometown community of Hodgenville as a member of the board of directors of the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce, the Hodgenville Main Street Association and the LaRue County Farm Bureau.

Dr. Henry McKelway is a senior archaeologist and cultural resources unit manager with AMEC Earth & Environmental in Louisville. He has over 20 years experience in design, fieldwork and report production of archaeological research projects. His archaeological experience spans several projects across the Southeast and includes historic, industrial and homestead sites. An important use of McKelway's archaeological research has been the public education projects resulting from his work in conjunction with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Currently the president of the Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists, McKelway has a master's degree from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Tennessee.

Roger Stapleton is the Kentucky Main Street Program State Coordinator and has worked for the Kentucky Heritage Council since 1994. Prior to working at KHC he was the Local History Program Director at the Kentucky Historical Society and has worked in news, advertising and local retail for numerous years. Currently the Chairman of the Frankfort, Ky., Architectural Review Board and a sitting member on the National Main Street Center's National/State Program Liaison Committee, Stapleton remains excited about the opportunity to advance the level of reinvestment in Kentucky's downtowns through historic preservation.

Bicycle-Friendly Communities and Smart Growth Pre-Planning

Session Room C
Moderated by Harold Tull

Mohammad Nouri has more than 20 years experience in transportation engineering with a strong emphasis on urban transportation planning and design. He joined Louisville Metro Government in 2004 and provides policy direction on transportation and mobility issues. His current project management assignments include the Ohio River Bridges Project and a mayoral directive to make Louisville a bicycle-friendly community. The League of American Bicyclists invited Nouri to present the “Bicycle-Friendly Louisville Plan” to national bike summit delegates each of the last two years.

Karen Mohammadi is the head of the transportation planning department for the HNTB Corporation's Louisville office. Prior to her tenure there, Mohammadi worked for the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency. She has also served as an adjunct professor of traffic engineering and transportation planning at the University of Louisville where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees.

David Wenzel is a vice president and manager of the urban planning department of the Indianapolis, Ind., office of HNTB Corporation. He has more than 25 years of professional experience, including eight spent in the public sector. Wenzel's experience includes serving as the Community Development Director for Thornton, Colo., and Assistant Director of Planning for the city of Dallas, Texas. Wenzel holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree from Indiana University.

Streetscapes and Design Principles

Session Room D Moderated by Chester Hicks

Mark Dennen has served as a staff architect for the Kentucky Heritage Council since the fall of 2000. His responsibilities include any architecturally related work with historic buildings and center around work for the Kentucky Main Street and Renaissance on Main programs. Dennen was a design architect for Yum Brands Restaurants from 1984 to 2000 during which time he also worked on a number of freelance projects that involved the rehabilitation of historic buildings. The Boston, Mass., native is a graduate of both Northeastern University and the University of Kentucky.

Ellen Harper is the director of Indiana Main Street within the Office of Community and Rural Affairs for the State of Indiana. She previously served as the executive director of the Vincennes/Knox County, Ind., Convention & Visitors Bureau from 1998-2005. In that capacity, she introduced an increase in the Innkeeper's Tax from three percent to five percent, the first line of funding for the Vincennes Riverwalk project and new directional signage, including two welcome billboards promoting Vincennes/Knox County erected on land donated from local residents. Harper has a diverse background from being a licensed insurance agent to working with youth in drug prevention programs to tourism.

Tom Gallagher is an urban designer for Ratio Architects in Indianapolis, Ind., where he currently brings his passion for the public process and high-quality urban design to projects including the Ohio River Bridges Project, the Indianapolis Regional Center 2020 Plan, Shelbourne Market in Lexington, Ky., the Simon Headquarters Plaza in Indianapolis and the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University. Gallagher's philosophy centers on community-based design workshops as the primary means of building lasting support and ownership in public projects. He has taught in the College of Architecture and Planning at his alma mater, Ball State University, and was the first director of the college's Indianapolis Center.

CLOSING SESSION

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Structured Public Involvement with Electronic Polling

Kentucky Ballroom
Moderated by Pete Fritz

Dr. Ted Grossardt is the program manager of the Community Transportation Innovation Academy, a research and education initiative of the University of Kentucky Transportation Center and the University of Louisville. The organization works to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transportation decision making. Grossardt is also the director of the transportation systems management graduate certificate program at the University of Kentucky. Grossardt has collaborated on projects ranging from historic preservation to complex public infrastructure planning and design.

John Ripy is the GIS Manager at the Kentucky Transportation Center. His research projects include geo-visualization techniques, virtual reality simulations, internet mapping services, audience response systems, and decision support. He is currently working to attain a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. Prior to his employment with the University of Kentucky, he was a systems analyst in the transportation industry for ten years.

Keiron Bailey is an assistant professor of geography and regional development at the University of Arizona. He holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kentucky as well as degrees from the University of Birmingham (England) and the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Bailey codeveloped the Structured Public Involvement protocol and associated geovisual and geospatial analytic methods, such as Casewise Visual Evaluation and Analytic Minimum Impedance Surface. His research has been published in several respected academic journals and trade publications. He also codirects Community Decisions with Dr. Ted Grossardt.