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REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 23, 2017
<br />Tom Foresting, 4581 Lake Shore Drive, Niles, MI, stated that he is a deacon at the church that
<br />abuts Cobb Funeral Home, clarifying that he is not an employee of the church. Mr. Foresting
<br />stated that he had not been informed by his pastor that he had made the phone call to Cobb
<br />Funeral Home that Mr. McGee had referenced. He stated, I would have to doubt that, because I
<br />was told to come to the meeting in opposition. My question is: will there be an egress for me to
<br />come out of that existing alley after you open it up? We need the egress. Half of our egress at the
<br />church was taken away. I want to know if we will still be able to use that alley with no
<br />restrictions, or not.
<br />Mr. McGee approached the projector screen, which depicted the general area that Cobb Funeral
<br />Home occupied. He pointed out where the church was located in relation to the funeral home. He
<br />stated, The church is here. I can't even imagine how many places to the parking lot they have,
<br />with an exit onto Sherwood and an exit onto South Main. This is our building. Our line abuts this
<br />alley. At some point, whether it was a church or the previous owners, they had this part of the
<br />alley already vacated. They have an exit that goes to Michigan Street, so there is no problem
<br />going north or south. In addition to that, across the street from this is a school. This house that is
<br />sitting up on this hill, that is separate from the church, has been abandoned for ten (10) years.
<br />There hasn't been anyone coming down from this house, down this alley. From Sherwood, the
<br />only people that use this alley are people attending our funeral services, because they believe it's
<br />part of our property.
<br />Roosevelt Cobb, 3525 South Michigan Street, South Bend, IN, stated that they had no desire to
<br />block this property. Mr. Cobb stated, This is essentially a driveway that gets us access to and
<br />from the west side of our parking lot. Once we get the garage constructed, that alley will still be
<br />every inch as wide as it is today. We are not putting barriers anywhere. Given that the house is
<br />right next to us, I suppose they have the right to block that off to keep me from going through
<br />there, but I would have no reason to block my own driveway to get in and out of the building.
<br />This is church property, but it is not the church proper. It is just a house that the church
<br />purchased about fifteen (15) years ago. They used it for a seminary for a while, then they let it
<br />go. As far as what they have lost as a result of Smart Streets —that has nothing to do with this.
<br />Councilmember Randy Kelly made a motion to send Bill No. 01 -17 to the full Council favorably.
<br />Councilmember Oliver Davis seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of eight (8)
<br />ayes.
<br />05 -17 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE OF THE
<br />COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH
<br />BEND, INDIANA AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF
<br />SOUTH BEND, INDIANA TO ISSUE ITS
<br />TAXABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
<br />REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2017 (EDDY ST.
<br />PHASE II) IN THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT NOT TO
<br />EXCEED TWENTY -FIVE MILLION DOLLARS
<br />($25,000,000) AND APPROVING OTHER
<br />ACTIONS IN RESPECT THERETO
<br />Councilmember Gavin Ferlic, Chairperson of the Community Investment Committee, reported
<br />that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward favorably.
<br />Brian Pawlowski, Department of Community Investment, with offices on the 14th Floor of the
<br />County -City Building, served as presenter of this bill. Mr. Pawlowski stated that there had been
<br />no changes since the Committee discussion. He stated, I know that the developer has been
<br />working very diligently with APC staff to make sure that everything is in the right ballpark.
<br />Overall, this is a $150,000,000 investment. There are no upfront City tax dollars involved, and
<br />no tax backup as there was in the first version. This is a project that really pays for itself. As the
<br />project gets built and then it gets assessed, we will pay for the debt service that is required for
<br />these bonds. The moneys don't exist now —they will upon successful completion of the buildings
<br />and the assessment. The numbers that we have ballparked for the assessment —done by Crowe,
<br />in partnership with the City tell us a pretty good story about debt coverage and some other
<br />things that we were very happy to see. Four - hundred and thirty -one (43 1) new apartment units,
<br />overall, in the entirety of the plan. Sixteen (16) Residential and Flex. That is kind of a [? 41:12]
<br />no
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