Purchase OK’d

The county is moving forward with purchasing real estate.

Jay County Council on a 4-3 vote approved an ordinance Wednesday adopting acquisition of just over 68 acres of land on the western edge of Portland city limits for $1.1 million. Hopes are to use the property for new housing and potentially to construct a new multi-faceted public safety building.

Council and commissioners adopted a resolution Feb. 8 in order to move forward with purchasing the land. Council approved an ordinance to the same effect Wednesday, giving commissioners the OK to buy the property.

Council president Jeanne Houchins confirmed a developer is interested — she did not give its name — and reminded council that the county has been planning to create infrastructure for a housing project.

A water and wastewater analysis from engineering consultant RQAW of Fishers is currently in progress for the land. County attorney Wes Schemenaur said RQAW and the City of Portland don’t anticipate issues with the property.

Council members Cindy Bracy, Matt Minnich and Towell expressed concerns with purchasing the land, specifically in relation to their unease with commissioners owning the property.

Commissioners rescinded a five-year plan Feb. 13 for economic development income tax (EDIT) dollars. The plan, created by Jay County Development Corporation in 2020 and approved by the county and all of its municipalities, set priorities of using such funds for spec buildings, developing industrial land, acquiring land for industrial, residential and commercial use, investing in downtown, revolving loans for local businesses, blight eradication and as a match for grants like the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Community Crossings program.

Commissioners also have been withholding JCDC’s funding amid discussion with the organization. (JCDC is considering changes to its bylaws that would assign permanent seats on the executive committee to several local government officials and establish a code of conduct.) Referencing a new requirement for non-government organizations to fill out funding requests, commissioners recently asked JCDC to fill out an application for its budget, which was previously approved by council in November.

Towell asked if officials planned to turn the property over to Jay County Redevelopment Commission. He challenged Houchins, asking why council and commissioners reorganized the redevelopment commission. (Towell was recently taken off the board, along with JCDC executive director Travis Richards.)

Minnich explained he doesn’t currently trust commissioners — they will handle the title, a move that is standard for nearly all county purchases — with buying the land or other financial decisions.

“I do believe there’s a lot of opportunity for growth if we have this land that we can put infrastructure in and try to encourage people to come, the problem is now, I’ve got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that is screaming, ‘no, no, no, no, no,’ despite my logic saying there’s value in this decision. That’s what makes it hard for me to get behind this,” he said.

Minnich asked if the county had more time before it needed to agree to purchase the land. Schemenaur noted the offer expires April 14. If the county did not make a decision Wednesday, he said, it may be difficult to get through proper legal proceedings before that date.

Minnich expressed worries about entrusting the land to the county’s redevelopment commission, an idea council and commissioners discussed at a joint session in February. Parr, a member of the redevelopment commission, questioned what else council members thought the board would do with the land.

Jeff Bailey, vice president at FCC (Indiana) in Portland, referenced tensions between JCDC and commissioners.

“I think that’s the whole issue with the concerns that all these people in this crowd are concerned about and some of the points you guys are talking about,” he said. “Until you can amend that relationship between Jay County Development (Corporation) and the commissioners, there’s going to be a lot of distrust by a lot of people.”

His comments were met with applause from the crowd.

“From me, as a concerned citizen, it does look like there’s a power grab going on,” Bailey said.

Joe Acker, director of bakery operations at Tyson Foods in Portland, advocated for resolving differences between department heads and officials. He pointed out the discussion to add more housing to Jay County has been ongoing for years.

“What we can’t do is nothing,” he said. “Somehow, some way, people have got to get together, put their petty differences behind them. Quit using budgets and denying people, other organizations, their funding because they don’t like something that’s going on … you’ve got to get together and resolve those differences.”

Jack Houck, real estate agent for the property, added that developers need an incentive to come to the community. If the county creates infrastructure for a housing project, it should be able to attract a developer, he said.

“We’ve got to start doing something to make this an economically viable housing (plan) for the community,” he said.

Parr advocated for the purchase. He pointed out that the area is farm land, which he said he doubts will decrease in price if the county decides to sell it later.

“We’ve talked about (housing) for a long time, and we just (haven’t) been able to do it because one, we’ve never had the money, and until this $3 or $4 million falls in our lap, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now,” he said, referencing funding made available via federal coronavirus relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act.

He referenced MakeMyMove, a marketing campaign to bring in 18 new residents to Jay County. In order to do so, there needs to be places for them to move into, he said.

Houchins added that each house built contributes to increasing the county’s assessed value.

Council approved the ordinance 4-3 with Houchins, as president, casting the deciding vote after fellow council members split with Faron Parr, Randy May and Dave Haines in favor and Towell, Minnich and Bracy against.

Also Wednesday, Jay County Development Corporation executive director Travis Richards gave a short presentation highlighting JCDC’s work last year. His presentation skimmed over data, such as the county’s return on investment coming in at 288%. He also mentioned projects and events handled by JCDC, such as Penn Township Library expansion and the Launch Jay business pitch competition.

In response to recent events with commissioners, Richards said his organization has received 170 letters of support from the community. He said JCDC wants to be partners with the county and asked for the county to bring back the EDIT plan as well as fund his organization’s budget.

Minnich referenced statistics shared by commissioner Brian McGalliard during a meeting Feb. 27 about the county ranking among the lowest across the state in areas such as income per capita, income per household and number of residents with a college degree.

“We don’t know what life would be like if we had 30 years without JCDC working toward those goals,” Minnich said.

Alicia Corwin, Pennville Town Council president, said JCDC connects to all Jay municipalities, helping them secure grant funding and get involved in county matters.

“If we hamstring JCDC, and we eliminate the EDIT abilities, you have just hurt small communities,” added Bryant resident John Glassford.

Houchins and Parr both spoke in support of JCDC’s work.

“We need JCDC. We need the East Central Indiana Regional Planning District that we have contracted (with),” Houchins said. “They could work together, and there are millions of dollars out there that together, we could bring a lot of stuff into Jay County. We could do a lot of good things.”

She noted that council does not have power over what commissioners choose to do but advocated for both parties coming to a mutual agreement over their issues. She suggested JCDC fill out a funding application and commissioners allocate at least half the organization’s budget for the year.

“This dissension in the county is not good for anything,” she said.

In other business, council members:

•Approved an amendment to the salary ordinance and made an additional appropriation for wages at Jay County Sheriff’s Office totaling $37,668.80. Officials noted recently there was a clerical error in the sheriff’s office budget, resulting in smaller raises for county employees than intended.

•Received new copies of the strategic investment plan created through the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Project (HELP). Purdue University recently finished designing the document. Richards asked council for any revisions it would like to make before the plan is finalized.

•Learned Jay County Personnel Committee OK’d finding replacements for three outgoing employees and discussed adding a part-time position to Jay Circuit Court.

•Transferred $10,000 from the other compensation fund to the part-time deputies fund in the sheriff’s budget. Houchins noted Jay County Personnel Committee recommended creating a part-time deputy position for Jay County Sheriff’s Office at the request of sheriff Ray Newton, who said it would be an effort to cut down on overtime.

•Made the following additional appropriations: $100,000 for calcium chloride at Jay County Highway Department; $100,000 for medical or hospital costs at Jay County Jail; $5,000 for a court-appointed doctor through Jay Circuit Court; $1,000 for office equipment and $375 for employer health insurance at Jay County Health Department; $520 for pauper counsel through Jay courts; and $5.97 for employer Public Employees’ Retirement Fund at Jay County Community Corrections.