Boundaries growing

Portland's boundaries are growing.

Members of the Portland City Council have voted to grow the city's boundaries to the north and to the west. The annexation is for 190 acres, and includes Portland Municipal Airport.

The land is located south of county road 100 North, northwest of Industrial Park Drive and north of West Votaw Street. The purpose of the annexation, initiated by city officials, is to make way for new development.

The next step for the annexation is a 90-day remonstrance period, which will end in September. The annexation would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2011. Part of the property included in the annexation is Holiday Inn Express.

The city has an agreement with developer Scott Daniels to not remonstrate against the annexation if the city waited at least three years to annex. The agreement was signed on Dec. 20, 2007.

The western border of the area being proposed for annexation is located near Ja-mar TV and Appliance.

The border runs north to south of county road 100 South, then east to pick up the airport property.

Also Monday, council members approved tax abatement compliances for several companies granted five-year and 10-year tax abatements.

The companies have to fill out forms each year, explaining how they are complying with the guidelines for tax abatements.

Among the companies with tax abatements is International Paper, which was scheduled to close at the end of May. Bill Bradley, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, said Monday that he did not know if the company has closed yet.

Bradley said it did not matter if the council approved International Paper's compliance form, since the factory likely has ceased operations.

Missing from the list is Mars Petcare, which has a 10-year tax abatement on a plant expansion. This plant is scheduled to close at the end of this month.

Bradley said Mars was not among the list to be reviewed by the council because the pet food maker did not file a compliance form by the May deadline.

Also on the list of 15 to be approved were W&M Manufacturing, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Createc Corporation, FCC (Indiana) Manufacturing Inc., Fortco/Priority Plastics, Fullenkamp Machine and Patriot Paint.

In other business, council members:

•Heard Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, report that the first layer of the river path is expected to be paved today.

A stone parking lot also has been created and work on the restroom facility is expected to be completed soon.

The trail begins at Meridian Street, near Freedom Park, then goes southeast along the Salamonie River. It then crosses Wayne Street and goes over the iron bridge at Weiler-Wilson Park to Hudson Family Park. The trail ends at the restroom. Several other trails are planned throughout the park.

The project is largely being funded through a grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation.

•Heard an update from Hosier on the Boundary Pike/Wayne Street project.

The mayor said work on Wayne Street is expected to begin near East Jay Middle School in the next week.

Also, all of the new streetlights have been erected. Electricity will be connected to the lights soon, he said.[[In-content Ad]]