No Decision by Porter

Well, to say that the Plan Commission meeting tonight was interesting would be an understatement.  This was my first one and it was...well...interesting.

Ultimately, Porter has not made a decision just yet on their utility provider.  Damon Run or Chesterton - which is not what was reported in the newspapers...so much for truth in the media...but we already knew that if you watch MSNBC...

What was really interesting was the complete polar opposites of some of the board members.  I didn't write down every word that was said during the 2 1/2 hour meeting...and since this is a blog with about 2 or 3 readers...I'll just paraphrase from my perspective.

Kevin Breitzke - pretty much said..."Nice Job in addressing our concerns."  He almost sounded as if he was promoting them to go to the DRCD.  He didn't come out and say that, but I took away that he would rather see it stay in the county and with the local area than to go to Chesterton.  Just a gut feeling.

Liz Marshall - Wow...all I can say is Wow....OK, that's not all I can say...

I'm not sure how she got here or where she's been since they started discussing this in 2007, but I would think from her comments that this is the first time that she's been to a meeting.  I also doubt that she read any of the info on the construction that was given to them ahead of the meeting.

Here are some of the comments made.  Keep in mind that these are not exact quotes, but I'll use quotation marks in order to keep her paraphrases from my comments:

I'll start with the statement of the night...not sure the entire quote...and I don't think she was either...

"Isn't there an endangerd bat species there that we will make extinct?"  Uh...no comment....but Wow...Porter Starke is right up the road...might want to go get checked out....

"Timberland Residents weren't taxed by Damon Run Conservancy" - Really?  Then I better get hold of the state because somebody jacked up my tax bill.  This is truly mis-information on her part.  Yes Liz, we were taxed by DRCD.

"Timberland Residents might have to buy flood insurance because of the drainage flow from the hospital site".  Really?  Huh?  OK..it was later stated in the meeting by a gentlemen that is on the drainage board.  He specifically stated that Damon Run (the ditch, not the district) runs West from 49 and under Rt. 6.  He also said there are 4 branches of Damon Run and he listed them off.  One runs through the center of Timberland.  Now...let me see....Upstream - Timberland will not be affected because it's a different branch.  Downstream...did I mention that it runs West?  And really more Southwest?  OK...moving on.

"Damon Run Conservancy District only goes to Fox Chase".  Really?  Where the hell is my water coming from then?  Where is my..uh...sewage going? 

"This area is a very delicate drainage area and needs to be protected."  OK, feel what you may.  But from what I've seen developments such as this actualy HELP the drainage problem.  For those of you that aren't aware - Timberland is built on a swamp.  It was always a swamp prior to development.  Granted that we had the 150 year storm come through a couple of years ago and saw a flood, but when was the last time two hurricanes blew through Northwest Indiana? 

Bottom line on Ms. Marshall - she stated that she didn't want this location for the hospital and wanted it "centrally located."  Is this location in the middle of the county?  No.  Is it in the middle of the population of Porter County?  Yep.  Guess it depends on your opinion of "Centrally Located."  Not sure where she is from, but I'm sure this is more that she wants it in her home town to take the tax revenues.

Herb Read - Actually, Herb brought up some good points, but also some others....

"Issue is what will happen downstream" - again, see my comments on Liz...

"There's an 85' drop from Southeast ton Northwest of the property".  Well, that may be true - if you measure off of Route 6 that has been built up over the years.  There are a couple of houses there now and they don't seem to have excessive drainage issues.  One of the home owners was there and spoke stating that he has never seen (in 25 years on the property) this site get flooded out.  Well, this tells me too that Ms. Marshall's claim that it is a delicate drainage error is false.

Here's a few of his questions - and my answers..

"Is the hospital willing to do wetland mitigation even though it is not required?"  Uh...no.  It's not required by the IDEM or the Army Corps of Engineers.  He went on to state that he wanted to know WHY the Army Corps of Engineers and IDEM said it didn't need done.  Herb, really?  It's the friggin' Army Corps of Engineers!  They are the best in the free world! 

"What plans does the hospital have for the north area of the site?" - well Herb, since they own it..they will probably develop it at some point.  And they will have to go through plan approval.  And they will have to do this all over again.  Right now, they just want to build their hospital and are getting pretty tired of delays. 

Tim Cole  - Probably had one of the truest statements of the night.  "It's going to go gangbusters." 

Tim's right.  This area from Calumet to Meridian and from the tollway south of 6 will be a mecca for building and construction (See my other post for my prediction...yep..I said that too after being in the construction product industry for a dozen years...I've seen it happen)  He also said that we needed to look at this as a whole and develop it from there.  Well said Mr. Cole.

Kris Parker - This was more of a love fest with the hospital.  She repeatedly thanked them for their efforts in bringing this facility to the county and for complying with the requirements and requests of the board.

Robert Detert - I like this guy.....and I loved his comments.

Pretty much, he said - "Nice job Porter Hospital.  My fellow board members - we meet on this day and time.  If you didn't show up - you suck.  Show up some time and you would have had the answers you needed.  Now let's vote."

Rita Stevenson - More of a love fest than Ms. Parker was.  Thrilled they were building.  With just a few questions.

"Where's the secondary entrance going?"  The developer for St. Andrews was in attendance and addressed that they have given the right of way for the second entrance to go through St. Andrews.

"Drainage?"  Always a question. 

"Ambulance Noise & affect on neighbors?"  Good question.  I'm sure that they will be good neighbors and have sirens off and/or I don't think that if someone is at death's door the neighbors will mind.  Hell, the hospital is right downtown Valpo and I haven't seen anyone complaining in the papers about the ambulance noise there.  Or in Portage, Michigan City, LaPorte, Hobart, etc....

"What about an Annex of the land by Chesterton?"  Hmmm...this one is a concern of mine as well.  Best way to keep Chesterton's hands off of the property?  Join the DRCD rather than Chesterton Utilities.  It will really keep them at bay since they will not have as much of a vested interest.  I also don't think the hospital will go for that given the high tax rate that they currently pay in Chesterton - over 21 cents per $100.  She almost sounded as well that "Chesterton sucks..keep it in the county.."  She went on to state that Porter County had put all the work into this - and didn't like the thought that Chesterton may sweep in and take the additional revenues...

One of the other highlights tonight was when Commissioner Harper put a full Smack Down on Herb Read.  Nicely telling him to Shut the F--- up and they weren't going to cross-examine the CEO tonight.  Kinda had to be there for that one...trust me - I don't defend Democrats too often.  Nice job Mr. Harper....and smacking down a fellow Democrat as well!  Ahh....

So, we don't have an answer yet and the paper probably reported a bit too soon that they would be selecting a utility provider.  I guess I'm not surprised - as they needed to get over this hurdle first.  Now it starts to roll and the decision will need to be made very soon...especially before the underground plumbing work starts.