La PORTE — It's a regional plan for sustainable growth and revitalization across Northwestern Indiana.
And its implementation is something La Porte Mayor Blair Milo said she wants to keep transparent as she takes the reins of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.
On Thursday, Milo, the new chairwoman of NIRPC's executive board, said the organization, which includes some 53 elected officials from Lake, Porter and La Porte counties, has been working toward its Pathway to 2040 plan over the past several years by funding various projects geared toward revitalizing and sustaining growth in its coverage area.
"I'd like to improve how those projects are being evaluated by the commission overall," she said, "and be sure we are being as transparent as possible on how the money is distributed."
According to the organization's website, NIRPC addresses issues of regional transportation, environment, community and economic development.
Milo said the three federal grant sources utilized by NIRPC include Surface Transportation, Congestion Mitigation Air Quality and Highway Safety Improvement.
"My goal as the chairperson is to clarify the decision-making process for our projects and how they are funded," she said. "It's a very detailed process because of how the grants have to be administered. It's not inherently easy to understand."
But the organization has been helpful.
For instance, she said the Transit Triangle, which encompasses the efforts and funds of four entities — the city of La Porte, Michigan City, Purdue University-North Central and La Porte County — would have been much more difficult to accomplish without the federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant money obtained through NIRPC to cover 80 percent of the cost.
"I think NIRPC plays a very important function across Northwest Indiana," she said, "and they've done a great job in building the Pathway to 2040, a very innovative vision of what we can build together as a region."
But she said the complexity of the grants mean organizers can get caught up in the individual projects and lose focus on the larger regional plan.
"We want to ensure that all of our funding decisions are aligned with this vision outlined in the Pathway to 2040," she said.
Milo said her goal of transparency is only in the discussion phase, but said flowcharts on how it might be accomplished were being produced.
"It might be a lofty goal given how projects are funded," she said, "but I think it can be done."
Milo became the chairwoman of NIRPC at the beginning of this year.