04-25-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING APRIL 25,2005 Ms. Bieschke stated that another constituent will present information on the Portage, Indiana location. Ms. Susan Alexander, 26670 Brush Trail, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is a resident of German Township. Ms. Alexander thanked the Council for allowing her this time to express her concerns with the annexation of Waggoner Dairy Farm Property on the Northwest edge of the City of South Bend. She moved to her property because is was located in a rural setting. She loves the wildlife that she encounters on a daily basis as due many of the neighbors. When she drives by the Waggoner Farm property, she regularly see pheasant, red fox, and a multitude of migrating birds, including the endangered species of Sand Hill Cranes that are now nesting in Northern Indiana. This is the “WOW” factor that Holladay will have disappear from lives when they put that industrial complex in. The annexation of this property will clearly and negatively effect a lifestyle she chose and it will be unlikely in the future that she could find another property like the one she currently has. She appreciates the City’s desire to attract new jobs to the area, she questions the assumptions as presented by Holladay. The City of South Bend wishes to grow in order to attract new business, new jobs, new tax dollars, but disrupting the natural environment in the rural community is not the only option that this Council has. Cities that wish to grow or create smart growth, they learn to grow in responsible ways that look at all the options without the back door influence of developers and consultants who have a personal financial interest in the particular outcome of the proceedings. One way the Council can be responsible is to consider what other cities have done to attract investment and tourism. Light industry and new shopping areas will not make the City of South Bend any more interesting than any of the other cities in our region. So what makes a city unique? What can bring jobs? The downtown while much improved during the time that she has been in South Bend, notably the areas along the river, highlight one of the key attractions in the City. Suburban sprawl however, does nothing to add the characteristics that would attract professionals to our community. She informed that she is a secretary to a regional professional association and for years she has lobbied to get her organization to bring its annual meeting to the City of South Bend. The organization continues to resist, by asking what is there is South Bend? South Bend has no identity that separates itself from the hosts of other Midwestern cities. A city’s identity is not light industry or shopping malls. That’s not what’s going to bring people here. The City could attract organizations and groups to the area only if we grow the town in ways that emphasize our strengths and values, with the beauty of the St. Joseph River and the rural landscape that we in Indiana hold so dearly to out identity. Ms. Margaret A. Jentz, 51312 Mayflower Road, South Bend, Indiana, advised that she has lived at this address for more than twenty years and her property is directly across the street from the Waggoner Farm. Ms. Jentz stated that she works full time in the medical field she also raises champion show horses on her property. This development will destroy her property value and her quality of life. This area of the County is home to the abundant wildlife and two species endangered butterflies the Mitchell Sader and the