Redevelopment Commission Hears KEDCo Update
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — The Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. is working on more and more business and housing projects in the county.
At its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 10, the Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission heard information on that from KEDCo Business Development Partner Greg Fitzloff.
“We’ve got 31 housing projects throughout the county that we’re dealing with, in one fashion or another tracking,” he said as part of KEDCo’s regular report to the commission. “We’ve got 58 existing industry company projects that are in that pipeline that we’re dealing with and 38 attraction projects.”
Thus, KEDCo is aiming to work at a faster pace than it was previously used to, he said.
“We probably had a vehicle as an organization that was used to going 20 or 30 miles an hour,” said Fitzloff. “As we’ve added capacity … we’ve been able to increase the speed at which we can deal with those projects. Maybe now we’re up to a vehicle that can go 60 miles an hour. What we really need to do is get that vehicle to the ability to get through 75, maybe 90 … maybe it will go 100 miles an hour at some point.”
“What that really means is that we’re looking not only at projects today, but a project next year and the year after and the year after, and in that pipeline we can identify a significant amount of projects that we’re dealing with right now,” he said.
He noted one of the things KEDCo was working on was “an expansion project of a local company and that will turn also into a housing project at some point.”
He said there should also be an announcement made soon regarding a project “in the northern part of the county, a new manufacturing firm that employs roughly a hundred new people.”
He thanked the commission for being helpful regarding KEDCo’s projects.
“I think it also sends a strong message to the developers, ones that are here and hopefully the ones that are listening that the county is willing to work with them,” said Fitzloff.
Some of the projects KEDCo’s been working on include developing tax increment financing districts at Etna Green and at the site of the former South Shore Golf Course at Syracuse. TIF districts allow tax revenues within those areas to be captured and used for a specific purpose.
Leaders hope that both those sites will have housing put in, with business to also be put in at South Shore.
Commission Member Dan Thystrup shared some details regarding a meeting he had with the developers of the former golf course project, Jeff Dyson and Nathan Scherer of the company South Shore Ventures LLC.
“They want to start with 100 lots to put housing on it and then a small area where they are talking to Lakeland Youth Center and such organizations, so they can have activities at the same time there,” he said.
Both Dyson and Scherer were present at the meeting, with Scherer speaking.
“As Dan said, we’re really working hard at creating something that can be transformational for the community, not only on the housing front, but also on the commercial front. We have a strong desire to help create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and startup community in that area,” he said.
“The end goal is to build a community within the community,” added Commission President Joni Truex regarding South Shore.
Dyson and Scherer are working now with Schrock Homes for the housing part of the project.
The commission also agreed to set public hearing dates for creating the two TIF districts. Those will be at 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the Kosciusko County Courthouse’s Old Courtroom.
Fitzloff also mentioned he will meet soon with Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. Superintendent Blaine Conley regarding trying to bring housing to the school district area.
Trimble Creek
The commission also heard a presentation regarding the Trimble Creek Energy Project to be located at the former Kralis Brothers site outside of Mentone.
It involves Aaron Sponseller planning to put an anaerobic digester on his property to process animal waste from local farms into natural gas and other products.
The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. will be involved and is asking for Sponseller to use a certain pipe, which is quite expensive. State Rep. Craig Snow and State Sen. Stacey Donato are assisting with the project by trying to help find funding for the pipe’s cost.
The project is a benefit locally in that Californian companies can purchase credits from the project to offset their own carbon use as per their state’s requirement.
Though the commission didn’t take any sort of action regarding the project Thursday, Truex clarified that she wouldn’t be able to vote in connection with the project as Sponseller is her nephew.
In other business, the commission:
- Set its meeting dates for 2023. Other than its first meeting, which will be on Jan. 3, the first Tuesday of that month, all meetings will be bimonthly on the second Thursday of those months: March 9; May 11; July 13; Sept. 14; and Nov. 9. All begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Old Courtroom.