CDC breaks ties with Chamber for time being

The Pulaski County Community Development Commission has broken its ties with the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce for the time being due to a dispute over the "leadership, direction and internal struggles" of the Chamber, according to CDC director Nathan Origer.

The CDC voted at its August meeting to withdraw from its ex-officio seat on the Chamber board. Origer had held that seat.

In its discussion, the CDC questionined the current benefit of engagement with the Chamber. Origer and his assistant Krysten Hinkle shared their observations and concerns about the Chamber and its mission. Board member Dave Zeltwanger also pointed out how few businesses outside of Winamac belong to the countywide Chamber.

Also, according to Origer, at least part of the dispute stems from Origer's efforts to encourage the Chamber to adopt state standardized by-laws.

It was agreed that Origer would resign his Chamber seat, and that the CDC will decline the Chamber offer to have the CDC appoint a member to serve on its board for the present time.

CDC board member Greg Comoglio abstained from the vote, and followed-up by asking  if a long-term benefit was being sacrificed to address short-term concerns. He wondered if a continued relationship would be worthwhile if the Chamber were to function more smoothly. Origer said he believes that rebuilding the relationship with a revived Chamber would not be difficult.

It was decided by consensus that discussion regarding continued financial support of the Chamber will take place at a later date

 

In other business:

Hometown Collaboration Initiative: The committee has re-grouped with Ball State’s Sharon Canaday, who will guide members through the project-development stage of the process. Meetings wwill take place bi-weekly beginning Aug. 18. Origer noted that undertaking this project at the county, rather than town level presents both challenges and obstacles. Noting that the final project would be some sort of long-term sustainable improvement to quality of life in Pulaski County, he explained that, upon project approval, the state will return the county’s front-end investment and provide additional capital for implementation.

RLF financial administration: The financial-services agreement with the Regional Development having been fully executed, the Revolving Loan Fund has been reactivated. Origer provided a quick explanation of the loan process for borrowing at different principal amounts. He  further noted that Adaptasoft has paid off its loan, and that Winamac Lumber Yard is expected to pay off its loan about a year early.

CAGIT-rate issue: Origer met with county commissioner Terry Young regarding this matter, and the commissioner has been receptive. Origer will continue to meet with other elected officials individually prior to making any public presentations or requests.

Establishment of a Redevelopment Commission: The director had no updates. Origer requested that discussion of the CAGIT-rate issue and the establishment of a redevelopment commission be tabled; the members consented.

PC-CARE: Origer reported he recently met with CDC vice-president Lawrence Loehmer and board members Andrew Fritz and Dave Zeltwanger, who comprise the PC-CARE committee, to review the studies of the three properties and to discuss next steps. For the benefit of newer board members, a review was given of the location sites and the feasibility-study process that had been undertaken. The committee, by a two-to-one vote, had prioritized the sites from most to least desirable from north to south, the site near the North Central Co-op in Medaryville ranking above a site near the West Central Schools campus and a site near the quarries. No objections were made to this ordering.

Further discussion ensued regarding future consideration of constructing a speculative building, the strengths and challenges of speculative industrial-infrastructure development in Pulaski County (with CDC president Bill Champion offering observations from his past experiences), the preferred process of optioning land and then seeking federal-grant assistance for acquisition and development costs, and the director’s plan for approaching landowners.

Career and Technical Education curriculum grant: Origer reported that he had met with West Central High School faculty on a couple of occasions recently and will be ordering the equipment for the repair-and-maintenance program soon. Answering a query from a board member, Origer said he will most likely be directly involved in the project for about another year.

Origer further noted that, either locally or in partnership with Starke and other counties, he had been considering applying for a new state grant program to fund workforce-development programming for adults. Gov. Pence presumably soon will be appointing Origer to serve on the Region 1 Works Council.

Unified Development Ordinance (zoning): The first draft of the ordinance has been reviewed locally and is currently under legal review as well; the Advisory Plan Commission will hold a public hearing in late September prior to recommending adoption of the new ordinance, after having allowed sufficient time for public review, and it will be presented to the commissioners for adoption in early October.

 

Other Business:

Grant projects: Commissioner Brady reported that on behalf of Star City, the county will apply to the state for a planning grant to pay for an engineering study to address drainage concerns. The Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission recently has been awarded an eight-county brownfield-assessment grant worth $500,000.

Membership issue: Discussion was held regarding the frequent absence of one board member; she will be approached by a fellow board member for a status update. It was also noted that a new board representative needs to appointed from Medaryville to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Derrick Stalbaum who has moved outside the community.