04-25-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING APRIL 25,2005 are opposed to the rezoning of the 274 acre parcel to mixed use or planned unit development which includes light industry and commercial, along with any other portion of the 400 acre farm. There are far too many undeveloped parcels of land still available in both the Blackthorn and the present industrial park. These parcels should be developed before any consideration is given to further industrial expansion outside of the present City boundaries. If the Holladay Corporation truly wants to be a good neighbor, they should be willing to locate his projected industrial sites in the present industrial park and keep them away from the residential neighborhoods. Mr. Moritz stated that he likes to ride his bike on the county roads, however, lately if you try to ride on Portage Avenue, its like playing Russian roulette. The traffic has increased on the narrow two lane Adams Road since the construction of Wal-Mart and Meijer. There are days when he has to wait several minutes before he can cross the road to get to his mailbox and newspaper tube. One can only image the traffic if this development occurs, all the people on Adams Road, Mayflower Road, Orange Road will be playing dodge’em everyday trying to get to their mail and newspapers. Holladay Properties stated that in one of their presentations that this development would be named in honor of the late Chet Waggoner. Chet Waggoner was very instrumental in the creation of the Chet Waggoner Little League located on Riverside Drive back in the early 1970’s. Apparently Chet was very concerned that the boys and girls in his community should have a safe place to burn off all the energy that young people have along with honing their skills in playing ball. This league is still thriving today because of Chet and the strong dedication of people like Ray Snyder and a host of parents who children including his have passed through this park over the past thirty (30) years. Chet also helped start up the German Township Fire Department with his financial help in purchasing the very first fire truck. Knowing how Chet Waggoner cared for the people in his community, and watching personally for over 56 years how he nurtured his Portage Prairie Dairy Farm with the able assistance of local farmers like John Gillis and his son John Jr. Chet would surely rather see soccer fields, baseball, softball diamonds, bicycle paths, horseback riding trails and even beef cattle still roaming the grasses field he loved so much. This development does not fit the intentions that Chet Waggoner had in mind. Mr. Moritz urged the Council to oppose the rezoning of this property. Ms. Kathleen Petitjean, 901 W. Bryan Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is co- coordinator of the St. Joe Valley Greens. Ms. Petitjean stated that one of the values of the Greens is Community Based Economics. Economic Development must assure protection of the environment, workers rights, broad citizen participation, planning and the enhancement of the quality of life for all. Everyone knows that the Portage Prairie Project is an attempt to lure tax dollars to the City coffers. Forty-Six (46) percent of Portage Township, the civil city of South Bend, real estate is tax-exempt. That includes churches, non-profit organizations and companies with tax abatements. The churches and non-profits are what they are, but the biggest problem is the companies receiving tax abatement. The tax abatements are going to companies that are the biggest polluters with the lowest employers and the biggest tax breaks. Honeywell for example promised 28 new jobs, produced none, eliminated 199 positions and the City did not revoked Honeywell’s ten (10) year, 6.1 million dollar tax abatement. Inter-Plastic, Lock-Joint Tube, Steel Warehouse, AM General, all these companies are the biggest polluters, yet