KEDCo Says Kosciusko County Highly Sought
Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission discussed moving forward with plans for a piece of land in Milford, at Thursday’s meeting.
The board discussed the progress of a 220-acre site in Milford being highly sought after for development.
Dan Brown, KEDCo Infrastructure Committee chairman, and George Robertson, KEDC0 president, attended the meeting. Brown, who also serves on the Milford Redevelopment Commission, said the board is in the process of establishing a tax increment financing district for the site.
“It’s not a done deal yet, but it’s a step forward,” said Robertson.
Kosciusko County Area Planning Commission unanimously approved the resolution at its Nov. 7 meeting.
Within two months, the TIF district idea will be presented to the county redevelopment commission, said Robertson, adding, “It’s in the planning stages.”
The 200-plus acre site, located south of the CSX railroad tracks, has already been annexed into the town of Milford.
“We anticipate our site to be one of the mega sites in the area,” Brown stated, adding the town is not interested in annexing any more land.
Robertson said it’s viable land since two railroad crossings intersect in the area being proposed for development.
One of the other steps needed to move forward is for CR 1300 North to be extended to SR 15. Within two years, CR 1300 North will need to be extended to SR 15. The county will take the lead in that project, said Robertson.
Also, two overpasses have been discussed near the site. But only one overpass is needed, taking $1 million out of the cost of the project. Instead, plans are to adjust Main Street to accommodate increased traffic.
Robertson said the Milford site has become a major “hot spot” and any company that buys the land will want town services since the site has been annexed. The types of services will depend on the type of business that uses the land. Brown said Milford is prepared to accommodate a major project, but, he added, “We would need another water tower and a another well field.”
In other news, Brown said there’s been a lot of interest in Kosciusko County overall. At the height of the discussion was the county’s major roads and highways, such as U.S. 30.
“U.S. 30 is important to economic development,” said Robertson, adding, “because U.S. 30 is a major bypass.”
Funding road projects was another hot topic of discussion. Robertson said it takes a lot of federal money to fund local road projects, but he said, “we are staying on top of it.”
More than 200 projects have been completed in the state due to Major Moves road project, Brown said. Indiana Department of Transportation gets most of its funds from federal funding. Western Route Project, west of Warsaw, was used with INDOT’s Local Public Agencies money, using 25 percent of federal money.
Robertson said the state will have to wait to see what the new governor’s priorities are in terms of road projects in the county and in the state.
High speed rail service, not in excess of 110 mph, has been discussed to go through Kosciusko County, but no set plans have been put in place.
The next meeting will be 9 a.m. Dec. 13, at the county courthouse in Warsaw.