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James Mueller, Executive Director of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the <br /> County-City Building, stated, As you all may recall, about a month ago the Council considered <br /> and approved a Non-Compliance Waiver for the Hoffinan Hotel. They recognized their error and <br /> got ahead of us. In fact, we were hoping to group them all together and do them all at one (1) <br /> time. These are the remaining Non-Compliance Waivers for this year. What that means is they <br /> are fully on track to meet what was stated in their tax abatement application with respect to jobs <br /> and investment, but what they didn't do was file their Form 322/RE. The important things for the <br /> Community are happening, it is just the lack of the form that makes them out of compliance. I <br /> know it is the obligation of the recipient of the abatement to stay in compliance but the <br /> Department of Community Investment also bears some responsibility in sending reminders and <br /> following up with the recipients. <br /> Dan Buckenmeyer, Director of Business Development with offices on the 14th floor of the <br /> County-City Building, stated, There are representatives from each organization to answer any <br /> specific questions you may have. CBK Land Development Company has a real property tax <br /> abatement on the land and the land now has a 125,000 square foot distribution facility for Chase <br /> Plastics. Chase Plastics has already surpassed their job and investment goals for both the <br /> abatements. Manufacturing Technology Inc. is a high-friction welding technology company. <br /> They work with SpaceX,NASA and other big companies. Vida Realty is also growing and <br /> investing in South Bend, specifically the Western Avenue Corridor. All of these have just a <br /> single form they missed. <br /> Councilmember Tim Scott stated, My company I work for does buy products from Chase <br /> Plastics but,per consulting with our Attorney, there is no conflict of interest in me taking action <br /> on this matter. I wanted to make that clear. But in my time on the Council,Non-Compliance <br /> waviers have become a trend. Is there something missing in the process? <br /> Mr. Buckenmeyer replied, In our Department,there has been a tremendous amount of turnover. <br /> We recognize this is not something to make habit of. <br /> Committeemember Paul Tipps stated, I can't support any of these four(4) waivers. They need to <br /> be good stewards of taxpayer money. I think awarding these abatements comes with <br /> responsibility. We are seeing too much negligence and the rules are clearly enumerated. <br /> Councilmember John Voorde asked for representatives from the respective companies to give <br /> their explanation as to why this happened. <br /> Tom Walz, 509 W. Washington Street, stated, I represent Vida Realty. They made recent <br /> investments into a new business at a new location. Their business is located on the corner of <br /> Olive Street and Western Avenue. I agree that by getting taxpayer money there is a prudence in <br /> making sure the dollars are being invested in the right place. This is a new business attempting to <br /> grow a food distribution facility. They have put a lot of time and investment into this location <br /> which is a blighted area. Although I certainly recognize the responsibility to file these forms on a <br /> timely basis, I believe there are cases where it is justified to have exceptions. I would like to <br /> thank the Department of Community Investment in helping us through this process. This clerical <br /> error got lost in the process of trying to make our business grow. <br /> 2 <br />