Silver Lake Wesleyan Church has been trying to sell its land at the northwest corner of Dixie Drive and SR 15. InkFreeNews file photo.

By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

SILVER LAKE – A looming decision on the future use of five acres on the north side of Silver Lake is now shifting back to the  Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals.

On Wednesday night, March 9, Town Council voted unanimously to annex five acres along SR 15 that has been eyed by a firm interested in opening a retail store that would sell fresh groceries and produce.

Wednesday’s public hearing and vote ended within minutes without any opposition.

The idea of a store – widely believed to be a Dollar General – has upset residents along Dixie Drive near the highway, but others claim the store is needed and could spur more growth.

The Town Council will now wait and see what owners of the church, Silver Lake Wesleyan Church, choose to do.

Representatives of the church did not speak at the meeting.

The church at one point looked at the land as a future home but is now prepared to sell it.

Last year, the church attempted to rezone the property, but the county BZA denied the request in part because town council members offered no recommendation on the matter.

The three council members have been somewhat divided on whether they’d like to see a store at Dixie and SR 25.

If the church would succeed in rezoning it to commercial, that would be the final major hurdle needed to construct a store.

Town Attorney Austin Rovenstine said he believes the BZA would seek the council’s opinion on the issue before a decision.

Some people speaking at recent town meetings have said they would like to see the land developed for residential.

No petition for rezoning for the land has been filed as of Thursday morning, a spokesman for the county plan office said.

In other matters, the town received a large number of bids seeking to demolish the old elementary.

Representatives of SRKM Architecture opened nine bids with a wide range of proposals. Those include:

Bunn Inc, Fort Wayne, $247,036

Indiana Earth Inc, Osceola, $575,000

Tatlan Group, Kalamazoo Mich, $1,076,490

Door and Associates, Bay City Mich., $268,3000

Spangle Construction, Silver Lake, $320,320

Handy Excavating, Quincy, Mich., $208,000,

Chuck Shane Excavating, Akron, $265,000

Green Demolition Contractors, Chicago, $408,000

Advanced Demolition Services, McComb, Ohio, $174,750

Council took the bids under consideration.

The town has lined up state funding to cover 80 percent of the demolition project.

The next town council meeting will be on April 13.