Intermodal facility being explored |
Intermodal facility being explored |
Aug 20 2007, 01:01 PM
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,425 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=54065.42
QUOTE Co. Committee To Look At Intermodal Officials to start advisory task force to ensure ‘transparent’ process in development. Laurie Wink The News-Dispatch LA PORTE - An advisory task force is being created to help county officials evaluate prospective developers and sites for an intermodal freight terminal in La Porte County. County Commission President Barbara Huston said in a press release Friday the commissioners are developing an "orderly and fair process" that would involve public input. The task force will have 15 to 20 members. The convergence of rail lines, coupled with closeness to major interstate highways, has positioned La Porte County as a prime location for a facility that could create jobs and boost economic development. It would serve as a place where cargo is transferred between trucks and trains. Two railroad companies are said to be eying locations here, but are saying little publicly about their plans. Some property owners have said they have been approached by a real estate company that has been buying options on farmland in southern La Porte County. "We will put a very public, transparent process in place to evaluate developers and sites before we ever give approvals to anyone," Huston said. Huston said the county has received multiple inquiries from real estate firms, venture capital groups, railroads and real estate investment trusts interested in prospective county locations. She said county attorney Shaw Friedman and county economic development coordinator Matt Reardon will coordinate contacts and issue a request of interest to identify serious proposals. Her own preference is to use the Kingsbury Industrial Park as the site of the intermodal facility, but she and the other commissioners are open to all possibilities, she said. |
Aug 29 2007, 10:04 AM
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Really Comfortable Group: Moderator Posts: 2,315 Joined: 10-February 07 From: Michigan City Member No.: 43 |
http://heraldargus.com/hanews/archives/ha/...y.php?id=384367
QUOTE Posted Online: 8-29-2007 Intermodal confidential Comment on this story Donovan Estridge, 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13865, destridge@heraldargus.com Some officials signed confidentiality agreements on intermodal negotiations, others refused LA PORTE COUNTY -- With the disclosure in June that real estate development firm Cressy & Everett had secured the necessary land to move forward with a rail intermodal facility near Union Mills, La Porte County Attorney Shaw Friedman last week requested that the firm release county officials from any previously signed confidentiality agreements. In a letter addressed to Roy Roelke, vice president of municipal development for Mishawaka-based Cressy and Everett, Friedman requested that all confidentiality agreements signed by county officials be voided due to the decision by Chris Davey, the firm’s president, to go public with news of the land acquisitions in a story published in The La Porte County Herald-Argus in June. “It is our belief that with Mr. Davey’s public statements, your firm has waived any reasonable expectation of privacy or confidentiality regarding the land options/siting process,” Friedman wrote. Friedman told The Herald-Argus Tuesday that he sees the action to release county officials from agreements as consistent with the county’s desire for transparency in all intermodal discussions and negotiations. “The public deserves the facts,” Friedman said. “I am pleased the county can be free to comment.” Regardless of whether Cressy & Everett responds to the request, Friedman said he would advise county officials to disregard any previous agreements. Contacted Tuesday by The Herald-Argus, Roelke said the firm had received Friedman’s request but did not wish to comment on it. He said the firm would make a statement in the near future. Several officeholders at all levels of government had been approached over the past two years by Cressy & Everett to enter into confidentiality agreements, and several signed. Now that county officials have effectively been released from those agreements, the possibility exists that details of any closed-door meetings held with Cressy & Everett officials over the past two years will now be disclosed. What information that exposes, however, could be less than tantalizing. La Porte County Commissioner Bill Hager said the confidentiality agreements officials were asked to enter into with Cressy & Everett involved only the disclosure of land-acquisition details. To his knowledge, he said, the firm never disclosed to public officials who they were working on behalf of. “We initially entered into agreements where we couldn’t disclose what company we were talking to,” he said. Other officials confirmed Hager’s statements. ‘A necessary step’ Although confidentiality agreements are often considered a necessary part of the development process, the agreements have from the outset raised suspicions among many county residents that intermodal dealings have been going on behind their backs. However, Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie, who signed a confidentiality agreement regarding intermodal talks, told The Herald-Argus Tuesday that in the absence of such agreements negotiations often die. “It’s just a necessary step that is often done,” he said. “A lot of times they approach you during the exploratory phase before a corporation has met with their board of directors.” La Porte County Council President Jerry Cooley, who also signed a confidentiality agreement, explained that the agreements promote necessary trust between developers and county officials, and also give officials insight into the development process that often can’t be gained otherwise. “They are putting a little trust in you,” he told The Herald-Argus last week. However, he said, if entering into an agreement “would be a detriment to the county, we as elected officials aren’t stupid, we want to see what it is before we agree or disagree.” Cooley said confidentiality agreements were integral to the county’s efforts to persuade Vanair Manufacturing to relocate from New Buffalo to La Porte County. In the case of intermodal discussions, Cooley said he entered into an agreement because he heard about land being acquired and wanted to know more. It was “strictly informational,” he said. |
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