July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
County commission changes priority (01/16/07)
Jay County Redevelopment Commission
By By MARY ANN LEWIS-
The top priority for funds generated through the county's recently created Tax Increment Fund (TIF) should be the construction of a sewer line, a county entity agreed Monday.
Jay County's Redevelopment Commission met Monday afternoon and reviewed - and revised - a priority list presented by Sue Beesley, attorney with Bingham-McHale, Indianapolis, who is serving as bond counsel to the commission.
Commission members decided that using tax increment financing (TIF) funds for building a sanitary sewer line along county road 150 East to Portland's wastewater treatment plant near Blaine Pike, should be a top priority.
After Premier Ethanol officials requested the creation of the TIF District in 2006 to help with infrastructure installation costs at the production site southwest of Portland, it was agreed by commissioners that the funding tool could also help with installation costs of a sewer line they had proposed in that area about a year earlier.
The list the commission reviewed Monday afternoon initially put Premier's main sanitary sewer line construction as the number one priority, but commission members agreed the county's portion of the construction was at the top of their list.
Company officials said Monday that they would like to have the sewer line installed and running by June, in preparation for the start of production in September.
Premier will be taking a sanitary sewer line to a point across the Salamonie River near county road 150 South. The county will then be picking up the rest of the nearly one mile line, building a forced gravity main line east to the sewage treatment plant.
The county was ordered by the state in 2004 to address a problem in the Foxfire home addition along county road 125 South after it was discovered that treated sewage was flowing into a creek on the west side of the addition that then flows into the Salamonia River. It was determined the discharge was apparently from an failing septic system.
Since that time the county has worked to abide by the state's mandate to correct the problem, including the proposed installation of the sanitary sewer line and the creation of a regional sewer district.
Because the county has not yet received an engineer's estimate on the construction costs, a total needed from the TIF funds cannot be calculated. But Greg Guerrettaz, of Financial Solutions Group, Indianapolis, financial adviser to the commission, said, it looks like no less than $4.5 million will be needed for the sewage project and Premier's needs.
A timeline for the TIF District and how much can be generated annually cannot be calculated until an economic development plan is finalized, Guerrettaz added.
Bob Berens, director of Premier's site development, explained to the commission Monday afternoon that as the project has progressed, construction costs at the site have increased by as much as 15 percent.
"There's such a demand for the equipment now (because of the construction of such plants nationwide) and there's a longer wait time" thus increasing construction costs, he explained.
Additionally Berens explained that Premier is asking the commission to capture the increase in taxes on both real and personal property and will not be seeking a tax abatement on any part of the project. However, if personal property is not included, then an abatement would be sought, he said.
He also said that sewer lines need to be completed by the end of June.
"We plan to have the plant turn key in September," he said about the plant's start-up target.
However, if that is going to happen, the county will have to step up its plans as well.
County engineer, Dan Watson, who also holds a seat on the commission, explained that Commonwealth Engineers is currently getting estimates on the project. It will then have to be put out for bids, all taking time in the process, Watson said.
"You need to keep pushing Commonwealth to get it done," Beesley encouraged.
"We'd like to get the project started in May," commissioner Milo Miller Jr. told commission members.[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County's Redevelopment Commission met Monday afternoon and reviewed - and revised - a priority list presented by Sue Beesley, attorney with Bingham-McHale, Indianapolis, who is serving as bond counsel to the commission.
Commission members decided that using tax increment financing (TIF) funds for building a sanitary sewer line along county road 150 East to Portland's wastewater treatment plant near Blaine Pike, should be a top priority.
After Premier Ethanol officials requested the creation of the TIF District in 2006 to help with infrastructure installation costs at the production site southwest of Portland, it was agreed by commissioners that the funding tool could also help with installation costs of a sewer line they had proposed in that area about a year earlier.
The list the commission reviewed Monday afternoon initially put Premier's main sanitary sewer line construction as the number one priority, but commission members agreed the county's portion of the construction was at the top of their list.
Company officials said Monday that they would like to have the sewer line installed and running by June, in preparation for the start of production in September.
Premier will be taking a sanitary sewer line to a point across the Salamonie River near county road 150 South. The county will then be picking up the rest of the nearly one mile line, building a forced gravity main line east to the sewage treatment plant.
The county was ordered by the state in 2004 to address a problem in the Foxfire home addition along county road 125 South after it was discovered that treated sewage was flowing into a creek on the west side of the addition that then flows into the Salamonia River. It was determined the discharge was apparently from an failing septic system.
Since that time the county has worked to abide by the state's mandate to correct the problem, including the proposed installation of the sanitary sewer line and the creation of a regional sewer district.
Because the county has not yet received an engineer's estimate on the construction costs, a total needed from the TIF funds cannot be calculated. But Greg Guerrettaz, of Financial Solutions Group, Indianapolis, financial adviser to the commission, said, it looks like no less than $4.5 million will be needed for the sewage project and Premier's needs.
A timeline for the TIF District and how much can be generated annually cannot be calculated until an economic development plan is finalized, Guerrettaz added.
Bob Berens, director of Premier's site development, explained to the commission Monday afternoon that as the project has progressed, construction costs at the site have increased by as much as 15 percent.
"There's such a demand for the equipment now (because of the construction of such plants nationwide) and there's a longer wait time" thus increasing construction costs, he explained.
Additionally Berens explained that Premier is asking the commission to capture the increase in taxes on both real and personal property and will not be seeking a tax abatement on any part of the project. However, if personal property is not included, then an abatement would be sought, he said.
He also said that sewer lines need to be completed by the end of June.
"We plan to have the plant turn key in September," he said about the plant's start-up target.
However, if that is going to happen, the county will have to step up its plans as well.
County engineer, Dan Watson, who also holds a seat on the commission, explained that Commonwealth Engineers is currently getting estimates on the project. It will then have to be put out for bids, all taking time in the process, Watson said.
"You need to keep pushing Commonwealth to get it done," Beesley encouraged.
"We'd like to get the project started in May," commissioner Milo Miller Jr. told commission members.[[In-content Ad]]
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