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[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=54065.42

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.

[Southsider2k12]

http://heraldargus.com/archives/ha/display.php?id=387382

Intermodal proposal expected by January
10/19/2007, 11:20 am
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Donovan Estridge , 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13865 , destridge@heraldargus.com


Friedman reveals discussions between county and ‘large-scale real estate investment trust’ are ongoing

LA PORTE COUNTY -- County officials expect to receive a proposal for a rail intermodal facility in either Union Mills or Kingsbury as early as January.

“I initially thought it would hit by the end of the year,” La Porte County government attorney Shaw Friedman revealed to The La Porte County Herald-Argus Thursday. “We may see it now in January.”

Friedman said the most likely site for an intermodal in the county would be either in Union Mills or at Kingsbury Industrial Park. An intermodal facility in the Pinola area is unlikely, he said.

“As far as I know there isn’t a developer or railroad interested in Pinola at all,” Friedman said.

Friedman’s information comes from communications between the county and what he termed a “large-scale real estate investment trust” that is working on the proposal.

As part of those communications, Friedman said he has suggested to the real estate firm that any proposal include two site options, preferably Kingsbury Industrial Park and Union Mills.

While Friedman would not disclose the name of the real estate firm, he said it wasn’t Mishawaka-based Cressy and Everett, which had reportedly been approaching landowners in Union Mills. Friedman said Cressy and Everett is merely acting as an intermediary between the real estate firm and the county.

“We are respecting the fact that the developer hasn’t filed one shred of paper with us,” Friedman said of the decision not to disclose the developer’s identity. “As I said in (August), once a proposal is made then it will be full disclosure and done in the public eye.”

Friedman said he did not sign a confidentiality agreement with the company, and that once a proposal is made it will be presented to the La Porte County Intermodal Task Force to be evaluated.

However, that isn’t stopping intermodal opposition groups from criticizing Friedman for reneging on what they believed was a promise by the county attorney to fully disclose all intermodal discussions.

“Here is your headline,” Ed Nunn, co-chair of Stop Intermodals/Save Our County, told The Herald-Argus Thursday. "Railroaded.”

“To say (discussions are) fair and open is nothing short of smoke and mirrors,” Nunn said.

Still, Nunn said he was pleased to hear that a proposal could be made soon. Thus far, he said, intermodal discussions have been based on speculation and hearsay.

“So far we have been attacking ghosts,” Nunn said. “Now that we know something, it might be time to make some noise.”