County Redevelopment Sets Residential TIF Hearing Dates
Posted
Jackie Gorski-jgorski@timesuniononline.com
Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission is moving foward with the residential Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district process.
During its Thursday meeting, public hearings for the TIF districts in Etna Green and Southshore Villages were set for Jan. 3 at 1:30 and 2 p.m.
The Etna Green proposed TIF residential district is an 18.8-acre project immediately adjacent to Heritage Park.
The Southshore Villages TIF is planned to be made up of 160 single-family homes, about 15 townhomes and 50 rental apartments and a multi-use building. The development is about 2 miles south of Syracuse on the north part of Lake Wawasee where South Shore Golf Course.
Representatives from Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation met with the Wawasee School Board earlier in the week and presented the Southshore Villages TIF district to the Board. As some members of the School Board did not seek re-election in Tuesday’s election, KEDCO will re-present the information to the Board once the new members are on the Board.
As far as the Etna Green TIF district, Fitzloff said documents regarding the TIF district were sent to the superintendent and representatives will be at the Triton School Board meeting Monday.
Commission member Doug Hanes asked if Fitzloff is finding school board members are informed on TIF districts. Fitzloff said it varies on the board member as TIF districts are not something every school district deals with all the time.
Hanes asked if schools outside of Warsaw are at capacity. Fitzloff said it depends on the school, even if you look at schools within Warsaw Community School Corporation. Some schools have a capacity for more students than others. He said he hopes to come back to the Commission at some point and say schools do have capacity issues.
In other business, the Commission heard about the Trimble Creek Energy project.
Aaron Sponseller, a Mentone resident involved in the project, gave the Commission an overview of it.
He said the project is to use manure from his Mentone farm and other area farms within a 5- or 6-mile area around his farm and it’ll make natural gas, which will be pumped into a pipeline and potentially sold to California. He said in California, to offset diesel fuel sales, there has to be a certain number low-carbon fuel credits. It’s a carbon offset for petroleum products in California.
Nutrients will be taken out of the manure and they will have nutrients they can sell.
Commission President Jodi Truex said state representatives are getting involved like Rep. Craig Snow because Sponseller is trying to work out an agreement with NIPSCO.
Sponseller said, at the moment, NIPSCO wants him to pay for the maintenance of the gasoline once he sells it to NIPSCO and it will cost $10 million to bring the pipeline to Mentone from Warsaw, which Sponseller is being asked to pay for. Truex said state representatives are working to see if there’s any other options and for any other funding options.
Truex said Sponseller will eventually come to the Commission to talk about a TIF district to cover the cost for the pipeline, although he was not asking for any action Thursday.
