Bryant grant moves forward

The Jay County Economic Development Income Tax Advisory Committee agreed to send a recommendation for a $60,000 grant to help the town of Bryant make sewer improvements.
Bryant is seeking help from the county to put together a required $150,000 in matching funds in order to secure a $600,000 grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. OCRA announced Dec. 31 that Bryant was selected to be funded in the latest round of grant awards.
Bryant Town Board president Jason Meinerding informed the EDIT Advisory Committee this morning that the town’s sewer system provides service to 107 residences, 13 businesses and Bloomfield Elementary School, along with 26 empty units.
“We’re going to have opportunity for growth and allow businesses to come into Bryant,” Meinerding said of the effect of the sewer project.
“Unless we come together to fix this problem, Bryant will continue to decline,” he said.
The grant request must be approved by Jay County Council.
Meinerding, after making his short presentation, requested that the county provide $100,000 in EDIT money as a grant to help with the match, while the town would finance the remaining $50,000 on its own. At that amount spread over 10 years, the town would be responsible for monthly debt service of about $550.
“Taking on debt more than $50,000 doesn’t seem feasible,” Meinerding said.
Jay County Auditor Nancy Culy informed the board that the county’s EDIT fund has about $500,000 in it, potentially minus another $100,000 that the committee recommended for a different project prior to discussing the Bryant request.
Committee chairman and Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley made sure to note the EDIT balance as well as reminded the committee that similar requests from municipalities may be on the horizon.
“Dunkirk is facing a similar situation (with sewer replacement),” he said. “Redkey is facing a similar situation.
“We need to keep some powder dry for future projects,” Bradley also noted, stating he wanted to keep about $250,000 in reserves for the EDIT fund for that case.
The committee acknowledged that this project would likely set a precedent for how similar requests are handled in the future, paying additional consideration to make a prudent decision as not to drain the county’s EDIT balance.
Bradley mentioned that in the past, the county used to distribute about $30,000 annually to each municipality in the county until the Indiana State Board of Accounts stated that it didn’t approve of the process. Bradley therefore suggested that the county should fund $60,000 to Bryant, which would be what the town would have received prior to the board of accounts’ intervention.
Citing that reason, Bradley said he thought it would set a fair precedent for other towns to follow in the future as well.
With $60,000 from the county and a $15,000 commitment from the Bryant Economic Development Corporation, the town would need to finance the remaining $75,000. With a $75,000 loan over 10 years, the town would be paying around $815 per month in debt service.
County engineer Dan Watson reviewed the town’s current sewer rate structure and stated that, in his opinion, the town will need to raise its rates.
“These sewer rates have to be brought up at least comparable to the rest of the county,” he said.
The town’s rate averages about $25 per residence and $60 per business per month. Meinerding said if the town has to finance $75,000, sewer rates will likely increase around $4.50 per month.
Committee member Jim Zimmerman made a motion to recommend the county fund the $60,000 in EDIT money. A secret paper ballot vote was taken and the measure passed 10 to 1.
The request will be taken to the Jay County Council at its next meeting Feb. 9.
In other business this morning, the committee:
•Sent a recommendation to the county council to provide a $100,000 loan to IOM Grain, rural Portland, two help purchase equipment.
The agri-business, owned by rural Portland resident Ramon Loucks, will purchase new equipment costing around $275,000 that will create two to three new jobs.
The original request was for $137,500 but due to the EDIT fund’s balance, the committee knocked the total back to $100,000. The loan will be a five-year term with an interest rate of prime plus one.[[In-content Ad]]