Intermodal facility being explored |
Intermodal facility being explored |
Aug 20 2007, 01:01 PM
Post
#1
|
|
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. |
Sep 5 2007, 11:36 AM
Post
#2
|
|
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=48991.88
QUOTE Intermodal Group OK'd 21-member task force includes ‘diverse’ crew. Stan Maddux For The News-Dispatch LA PORTE - A 21-member citizen task force has been created to help oversee the siting of a potential intermodal facility in La Porte County. The La Porte County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the names Tuesday night. "The goal was to design a process that is as open and fair and inclusive a process as possible," La Porte County Attorney Shaw Friedman said Tuesday. Commission President Barb Huston said the list needed paring down from a tremendous number of applicants, who could be called upon to serve in the event of a future opening. "It drew an overwhelming response," she said. Applications were submitted to each of the county's commissioners, who contacted certain individuals during the selection process to gauge their interest in serving. Task-force members include area farmers and members from the United Steelworkers Union and other labor organizations, along with local industry such as NIPSCO, Tonn & Blank in Michigan City and New York Blower in La Porte. Purdue University-North Central, La Porte Hospital and the La Porte County Convention & Visitors Bureau also have members on the group, which could meet for the first time next week. "It's a good cross section and should be very helpful as we move forward," Friedman said. "The commissioners worked hard during the last couple of weeks for a diverse group." According to a University of Illinois study, Friedman said task forces are a key ingredient to finding sites for intermodal facilities like the one in Joliet, Ill., which has been visited by some local officials. Task-force members sit down with railroads and real-estate developers to consider positives and negatives of each prospective site before agreeing on a location, he said. Friedman also expects the task force to view the projected job creation from a railyard and other economic-development benefits, along with potential drawbacks on the environment, noise, traffic and other quality-of-life concerns. Jody Warner, a resident of the KOP Circle, a subdivision inside the former Kingsbury Ordinance Plant, said Tuesday she's looking forward to participating in discussions. "It's definitely got my interest at this stage of the game," said Warner, who attended a community intermodal meeting last week she said "opened (her) eyes. "I think I'm getting a good insight into what the county's going through. There's so much unknown right now, though. I don't really have an opinion formed yet." Despite agreements to acquire several thousand acres of land, Friedman said no formal proposals for an facility have yet surfaced. "Even the proposal that is pending in Union Mills doesn't have a railroad attached to it," he said. "It's a real-estate development firm that has some property under option." "It's like a three legged stool. You got to have the real-estate development folks. You got to have a railroad that's certainly committed to it and you got to have public support of it. "That's what it's going to take if ultimately the project is going to come together," Friedman said. Intermodal Advisory Task Force • David Christian, president of AMPCOR, La Porte, and Indiana Manufacturers' Association chairman. • Hugh Glasgow, Union Mills farmer. • Don Babcock, NIPSCO economic development director. • Marie Gilliland, La Porte Hospital. • Henry Lampe, SouthShore Freight chief executive director. • Gary Husky, Building Trades unions. • Sharron Jenkins, Purdue University-North Central professor. • David Decker, La Porte County Convention & Visitors Bureau vice-chairman. • Bill Turner, Teamsters Local 135 representative. • Ken Purze, Michiana Shores, businessman. • Al Walus, Michigan City Sanitary District director. • Gerry Jones, Stepping Stone shelter director. • Ruth Minich, Kingsbury, former La Porte Community Schools board member. • Jodi Warner, KOP Circle resident. • Pat Cicero, La Porte County Sheriff's Department detective. • Joe Coar, Tonn & Blank Construction. • Doug Biege, La Porte, attorney. • Scott Hamilton, New York Blower production manager. • Robert Boklund, environmentalist and former La Porte County Health Department administrator. • Marie Schwieter, El Puente Community Center executive director. • David Chlebek, United Steelworkers. Reporter Jason Miller and News Editor Scott M. Lawson contributed to this report. |
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 29th April 2024 - 12:26 AM |
Skin Designed By: neo at www.neonetweb.com