HUNTINGBURG — Tuesday night’s Huntingburg Common Council meeting was again dominated by progress at the former St. Joseph’s Hospital, one of the most visible project’s in the city’s Stellar Communities effort.
The council acted on three items that continue to put the project on track to begin construction very soon.
Huntingburg Planning Director Paul Lake brought to the council a declaratory resolution authoring an economic revitalization area and an economic target area on the site of the former hospital. What that means is that the council has deemed that area in need of assistance in order for an individual or organization to renovate the property on that site.
Seeing as how the building has been vacant since 2007 — with several failed plans now in the weeds — the site met the criteria set forth.
The tax abatement attached to the resolution will be a 10-year abatement not to exceed $250,000.
Pete Schwiegeraht of MIller-Valentine Group, the Cincinnati group renovating the hospital into 45 senior housing units, was present at the meeting to answer any questions and to address the council.
“We are getting very close. We’re hoping we can close here in January and start construction in a few months time. I know this building has been a struggle and challenge for the city for many years. We started this project over two years ago really and it does take some time,” Schwiegeraht said. “We understand the challenges of this building but also the opportunity this building presents.”
Schwiegeraht thanked the mayor and the city for their help with incentives like the abatement which helped land the tax credits. He said the city’s incentives counted for 15 to 20 points in the project’s scoring with state agencies and that they were awarded the credits by just 1/2 a point over another project.
The declaratory resolution was approved by the council. It will be up for final approval at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8 during the council meeting at City Hall, 508 E. Fourth St. There will be a public hearing.
The council also approved on first reading another one of the promised incentives in the form of an economic development project grant. The grant for $50,000 will come from the economic development income tax fund. The EDIT fund currently has $1.5 million. The council will need to appropriate $50,000 from that fund. City Attorney Phil Schneider reminded the council that the EDIT fund is allowed to be used for an enterprise that would bring significant employment or a major business into the city. The senior housing business qualifies as a major business, Schneider said.
The grant will also be up for final approval at the Jan. 8 meeting.
The third and final piece of the St. Joseph’s project to see action Tuesday night was a resolution authorizing infrastructure extensions and improvements to the tune of another $50,000. Water department superintendent Todd Williams and energy superintendent John Reutepohler said they have reviewed the plans and the proposed improvements would likely be done in the future regardless of the proposed project. The resolution was approved 5-0.
“I want to say that we appreciate the work that has been done on both sides of this,” Mayor Denny Spinner said addressing Schwiegeraht. “We appreciate you seeing Huntingburg as an opportunity for your business to come in and meet a need for our community and become a long-term resident of our community.”
Schwiegeraht added that his company has been receiving bids for work and that many local contracting businesses had already submitted.
“I think you’ll be happy to see a lot of local involvement,” he said.
Spinner then continued with even more Stellar Communities news, providing an update on the proposed timelines for the Fourth Street Trail and the Fourth and Market Street Park.
The timelines have been prepared by the Stellar Communities committees and sub-committees in recent weeks.
In order to move forward with design work and concept refinement. The council decided to enter into a master agreement with Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group of Indianapolis, the same firm that helped put together the city’s Stellar application, to coordinate design options and layout with the local businesses and property owners.
Spinner explained that right now every project is at ground zero. Although in the application there were rendering of what the Fourth and Market Street park could look like, it was just a rendering. Nothing has been decided yet, Spinner said, and won’t be until the city receives public input.
That will happen over the next six months as Taylor Siefker Williams updates plans and the city schedules public meetings.
The council approved task agreement contracts with Taylor Siefker Williams for their work through the public input process at a cost of $34,805 for the Fourth Street Trail and $29,625 for the Fourth and Market Street Park conceptual refinement. The funds will possibly come from the EDIT fund, which are already appropriated for the Stellar effort. The Master agreement was also approved.
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