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: 16,426 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 17 2007, 11:51 AM
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,426 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
Also here is a great editorial from the ND
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...&TM=49827.5 QUOTE Progress In County Some Fear Change, But Change Is Coming Editorial Maybe it's nothing more than the "not in my back yard" syndrome, but the growing protest in La Porte County over proposed development is alarming. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a condominium project in Michigan City, a commercial development in downtown La Porte or a transportation hub near Union Mills, there seems to be opposition to almost anything new. Change is always difficult, but the attitude that seems to be imbedded in La Porte County that any change is bad is becoming a roadblock for progress. One of the members of the anti-intermodal group Stop Intermodals - Save Our County summed up that attitude perfectly: "I'm not in favor of it because the emphasis is on jobs. In La Porte County, we need more than jobs. We need a safe, quiet place to live more than we need jobs. La Porte County has always been a nice place to live. People have gone other places to work." And that is the reason La Porte County finds itself in the position it is in today. New, high-paying jobs aren't being created for our young people to encourage them to stay in La Porte County. And because many La Porte County residents go elsewhere to work, the county doesn't get the benefit of the taxes those businesses pay to support the vital services we all need. The fact is change is coming to La Porte County. Our location in Northwest Indiana makes the area a prime target for developers. Because of that inevitability, La Porte County officials are trying to plan for the future. At a meeting Thursday night at Purdue University-North Central, details of a 75-page development plan for the county from Duncan Associates of Muncie, Ind., were discussed. It is the first step on a new master plan for the county. The proposal is a common sense approach to development, including the idea that residential development should be near communities with water and sewer, and not out in the county where those developments would need septic systems. Large development in the county, like the proposed intermodal, would be able to install their own sewer system, something that nearby homes could tie into so they wouldn't have to remain on a septic system. Right now, much of the talk about development is just that. Much planning needs to take place before work starts on any development, but development proposals should not be dismissed merely because things will be different than they are now. |
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