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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]

This one ought to get some angry letters rolling in from the southlands...

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=53798.54

Farmers To Get Rich Off Intermodal
Rick Richards
City Editor, The News-Dispatch


With La Porte County farmland assessed at $880 an acre, it appears that some of those all lathered up about the proposed intermodal in south county would be getting a pretty good deal if they sold their land for the $12,500 an acre that's been offered them.

Say a farmer owns 500 acres. That offer would be worth $6.275 million, but about half that would go to pay local, state and federal taxes. Even so, that leaves a bit over $3.1 million in the farmer's pocket, a nice nest egg by anyone's calculation.

But with corn prices approaching $4 a bushel and farmers easily able to harvest 200 bushels an acre, that same farmer stands to bring in a corn crop of $400,000 each year. In a decade, that $4 million - more than what he would net if he sold his land - and he would still own it.

That's the argument developers of the proposed intermodal have to overcome. Ultimately, I think they will, but they've got a lot of work to do.

One thing developers aren't going to be able to do is get farmers to remove emotion from the equation. Many of them have farmed their land for generations. It's land their fathers and grandfathers tilled. It's where they grew up and it's where they're raising their children.

Asking them to ignore all that and take the money and go away isn't an easy sell.

But for those who don't live on the farm and see thousands of jobs being dangled in front of them, it's hard to understand that emotional attachment. Their connection to the land extends from the front sidewalk to the backyard fence, if they even happen to own a home. It's hard for those who don't live on the farm to feel sorry for people who stand to gain millions of dollars by signing on the dotted line.

Despite the angst, the intermodal is going to happen. The developers and county officials who want to see it happen will prevail because they aren't concerned in the least about emotion. They see jobs and dollar signs and tax revenue. Emotion is not a part of their equation.

The reason I know that is because Blue Chip Casino exists. Remember the emotional give and take of that battle a decade ago?

Michigan City stood virtually alone against the rest of La Porte County in fighting to bring the casino here. When the votes were counted, it was Michigan City and the surrounding townships that voted for it. La Porte and the south county townships said no.

The difference in that battle is that the people who wanted it focused on jobs, economic development and the bottom line.

The emotional arguments against gambling - increased violent crime and prostitution - didn't work (and neither has happened) and that scenario will repeat itself in the intermodal fight.

People against the intermodal have asked us in Michigan City to feel their pain. We don't. Why? Because 10 years ago they didn't feel our pain. And now, a decade after the fact, many of the same people want us to help them keep the intermodal away from their homes.

An intermodal is going to happen. It will transform La Porte County. It will create jobs and encourage new business. Asking someone in Michigan City who needs a job to say no to an offer like that is hard, especially when he knows the people who want him to say no merely have to sign on the dotted line to become rich, while he has to go to the casino for that chance - and there the odds are stacked against him.