Destination Development Montgomery County gets $5,000 grant for study

DDMC board member James Capehart told the commission his group wanted to hire Umbaugh and Associates to do a capacity study to help determine what the city and county could afford and what financing options would be available.

“Umbaugh will give us preliminary options on financing a project,” Capehart said. 

Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton told the commission the study would give DDMC an assessment that will address the capacity that is available between the city and county for financing including bonding.

“We are at the point we need to take a dive in and find out what we can afford,” Barton said.

MCCVC attorney Dave Taylor agreed with Barton and explained what Umbaugh will do in a simpler form.

“It is like going to a bank and applying for a loan,” Taylor said. “The bank will come back and tell you how much you can borrow. Umbaugh will tell us what the city and county can afford and also what the cost of financing will be.”

DDMC member David Rhoads told the commission after nearly nine months of research, his organization was at a point where they needed the financial information the study will generate. DDMC members have been gathering information by visiting other cities with similar complexes that DDMC would like to see in Montgomery County. The group has visited eight 4-H complexes, 12 to 15 event/conference centers, and sports complexes. During each visit, DDMC members interviewed numerous people associated with the sites such as event planners, caterers, and sports promoters.

Commission president Jon Frey said he was in favor of allowing DDMC the grant request and affirmed the group seemed to headed in a direction the commission approved of.

“What you are asking for is exactly the type of thing we want to get on board with,” Frey said. “We will be interested in the information that Umbaugh should provide.”

The commission approved the grant request unanimously.