[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=42196.77

Oberlie: Progress On City Projects
Priorities are seeing ‘significant’ movement in 2008, mayor believes.

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - The city has made "significant progress" in the first half of 2008 on priority redevelopment projects, Mayor Chuck Oberlie told the Common Council on Tuesday night.

"There are projects we're behind on, but not to the point where they compromise our ability to achieve them," Oberlie said.

The mayor highlighted progress on projects seen as key to North End redevelopment. In his State of the City presentation in January, Oberlie declared 2008 as the year the North End's potential would start to become a reality.

Acquiring property in the Trail Creek Corridor is still a sticking point, however. Negotiations for the Blocksom property have been ongoing. And the city is locked in a legal battle with property owners to acquire two Eighth Street parcels by eminent domain. The Indiana Supreme Court recently named a new judge to hear the case.

Several other planned projects depend on acquiring the Eighth Street properties, including a Lafayette Street storm sewer and a streetscape redesign for the Elston Grove Historic District.

Oberlie said the Lohan Anderson plan for Trail Creek has been given to potential investors and developers and bids will be sought after a market analysis is completed. On Monday, the Redevelopment Commission approved hiring the firm Tracy Cross to do the study for $54,000.

Plans to convert Franklin Street to two-way traffic and a splash pad for Washington Park have been shelved for lack of funding. Bids for Franklin Street came in at more than $600,000 this week, and the splash pad came in at $400,000. To save money, the Park Department may do the bulk of the work on upgrading the Washington Park rock garden.

Some transportation issues with the Indiana Department of Transportation in the North End are progressing toward a resolution, according to Oberlie. He expects to have a proposed contract laying out the transfer of control of Michigan Boulevard from INDOT within a month.

Also under review with Amtrak are alternatives for adding a rail crossing to Lake Avenue and closing the Center Street crossing. This is a step in eventually extending Lake Street to U.S. 12, just east of the new entrance to Blue Chip Casino.

Space studies on new police and park department offices are also progressing, Oberlie said.



Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Dave]

Several other planned projects depend on acquiring the Eighth Street properties, including a Lafayette Street storm sewer and a streetscape redesign for the Elston Grove Historic District.

What a crock.

Oberlie et al appear to have no intention of doing the Elston Grove streetscape, because they're going to blow all the TIF funds on sewers. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the idea that the TIF funds, paid for by property taxes on properties in the area needing redevelopment, can be used for "improvements" which don't benefit the TIF area, seeing as the sewers being improved are serving areas south of the TIF zone, and don't have anything to do with the TIF zone, other than running 16 feet under it. I'm planning on doing some legal research on this, because it very well could be a violation of the statute establishing the TIF zone.

At some point when I have more time, I'm going to start a thread on here about that list of goals -- were there 26 of them? -- that Oberlie claimed he would have completed by the end of this year. I'd love to recap the scorecard on those. Did we have an earlier thread on that?

This post has been edited by Dave: Jul 18 2008, 09:55 PM

[Roger Kaputnik]

Much enk on all of them, but not a scorecard like you suggest. Go for it!

[Southsider2k12]

Here is the thread on the first quarter report card

http://www.citybythelake.org/forums/index....ic=1234&hl=

And the thread about the State of the City address.

http://www.citybythelake.org/forums/index....ic=1038&hl=