logo
Valparaiso officials: City can keep ARPA funds used to buy land for now-defunct plans for sports complex

Valparaiso officials: City can keep ARPA funds used to buy land for now-defunct plans for sports complex

Chicago Tribune15-03-2025
As part of the sweeping controversy over a now-defunct proposal for a data center on Valparaiso's north side, one question that remained after the brouhaha seems to have subsided is whether the city has to pay back the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that were used for what was initially proposed as a sports and park complex.
City officials say no, a point they emphasized during Monday's City Council meeting, which stretched almost five hours and drew hundreds of people to City Hall with concerns about the potential data center.
Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, called the issue a 'red flag' during the council meeting, adding it led to a lot of questions, including whether the city would be on the hook for repaying the funds.
'Is this legal?' she asked Patrick Lyp, the city attorney.
'The simple answer is yes,' he said, adding an outside law firm from Indianapolis helped the city work through the details.
If the Redevelopment Commission sells the property, he said, 'there would be no prohibition or covenant on the money.' The funds, he added, would return to the RDC.
The tenets of ARPA funding offer exemptions for paybacks of funds under $10 million, as long as they are used for public purposes, Lyp said. There also is no prohibition on the sale or use of the property.
'There's no obligation that would be tied to ARPA funds,' said Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd.
The city received $7,681,979.52, according to an amended resolution for ARPA spending passed by the City Council on July 25, 2022.
That included $4,717,278.92 for land acquisition 'for future Park related activities,' according to the resolution, and includes the parcels for the proposed sports complex.
The breakdown on the use of the rest of the funding, according to the resolution, included $1 million for the demolition of the former Whispering Pines facility and two adjacent residential structures on North Calumet Avenue, as well as site remediation, for a then-proposed adult enrichment center; $663,147.68 in premium pay for eligible city employees; $575,000 for several nonprofit agencies; $500,000 for the replacement of sidewalks, walking paths and other infrastructure; $40,000 for consultant fees and reserve funds for future audits, all related to disbursement of the ARPA funds; and $25,000 each to the police and fire departments, for various upgrades.
The brunt of the spending, including the parkland purchase, fell under ARPA's 'Provision of Governmental Services using Revenue Loss Funds,' per the council's resolution, which is the most flexible of categories for ARPA spending.
In emails to the Post-Tribune before the City Council meeting and Mayor Jon Costas' statement that the city would no longer pursue the data center proposal because of the public outcry, Lyp and George Douglas, the city's development director, offered further insight into the transfer of funds before the 248 acres, comprised of four parcels between County Roads 500 North and 400 North east of Indiana 49, was purchased for parkland.
According to the option agreement signed in January between the RDC and the data center developer, Agincourt Investments LLC, the RDC would have sold 180 acres of that property for just over $9 million, almost twice what the RDC paid for the land.
'The Valparaiso Redevelopment purchased the properties in 2022 with available cash funds. The City Council did approve the use of ARPA funds to reimburse the RDC for the full purchase price in August of 2022,' Douglas said in his email.
He added he didn't believe anything happens to the ARPA funds once they have been used to reimburse the RDC for the land purchase and if the RDC were to sell the property, the commission could use the proceeds for any of its permissible expenditures.
'The ARPA funds were used for an allowed purpose when the City reimbursed the RDC,' Lyp said in his email. 'If the land is sold, the proceeds would be paid to the RDC and used by the RDC consistent with Indiana law.'
Jennifer Hora, a political science professor at Valparaiso University who focuses on state and local government, agreed that the ARPA funds come with flexibility but said that flexibility is supposed to come with accountability and responsibility.
She summed up her concerns as 'the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law.'
City officials dropped the plans for the park when, according to then-Mayor Matt Murphy, bids for the project, slated for $30 million, came in $7 million over budget. Costas said in an interview with the Post-Tribune last month that the city was going to invest more in its current parks instead and scuttle the plans for the sports complex.
City officials, Hora said, 'threw their hands up' and walked away from the sports complex proposal when it came in over budget and proposed using that land for the data center.
The future of the land purchased with those funds is unknown.
'This is not transparency,' she said. 'This is definitely not the spirit of ARPA law.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

East Chicago honors Hispanic political pioneers Jesse and Rosemarie Gomez
East Chicago honors Hispanic political pioneers Jesse and Rosemarie Gomez

Chicago Tribune

time3 hours ago

  • Chicago Tribune

East Chicago honors Hispanic political pioneers Jesse and Rosemarie Gomez

The 3800 block of Grand Boulevard in East Chicago now honors Jesse and Rosemarie Gomez, both Hispanic pioneers in politics. Jesse was the first Hispanic elected official in Indiana, Councilman Robert Garcia said. Rosemarie became the first Hispanic woman to serve on the East Chicago City Council after her husband died in 1979. Garcia represents the district that the Gomezes once did. The City Council approved the resolution last year, but getting everyone together for Friday's dedication of the new sign for Jesse & Rosemarie Gomez Way took time. 'We stand on the back of those elected officials,' Garcia said. 'I stand on the shoulders of their leadership and their legacy.' Their son, also named Jesse Gomez but with a different middle name, followed in his parents' footsteps, serving on both the city council and now on the school board. Gomez told his parents' story. 'My father's family arrived here in East Chicago from Mexico as trailblazers in 1916, and he was born here on April 14, 1920,' Gomez said. At age 12, Gomez's father and his family returned to Zacatecas, Mexico, later attending the University of Mexico, where he focused on political science. With the impending start of World War II, he returned to East Chicago to register for the draft and work at Inland Steel. After he left the mill, he worked as an insurance agent, an editorial writer for two Spanish-language newspapers, a radio announcer for WJOB's Spanish-language 'Hora Mexicana' program, and as a health inspector for the city. In 1963, he was elected 6th District councilman, the first Hispanic elected to political office in the state's history. He was re-elected to three additional consecutive terms, Gomez said, eventually becoming the 5th District councilman. 'Time with an elected official is interesting,' Gomez said. 'As a youngster, I remember that we often had a table set for eight at dinner – two for my parents, four for the children and one for the live-in family friend, Joe. The eighth seat was reserved for someone else, usually an immigrant who was first making their way here to East Chicago from Mexico, Puerto Rico or somewhere across the Atlantic.' 'My father was a good dancer, a great sketch artist, a fantastic chess player, a horrible joke teller and, in his mind, the greatest soccer player in the world,' Gomez said. Gomez rattled off a long list of achievements during his father's career, including serving as a Spanish language volunteer for the Pan-American Games and project coordinator for the East Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial, not to mention service twice as City Council president. 'That's a lot for one person to do in a lifetime. My father achieved that during his short time here on Earth,' Gomez said. The elder Jesse died Aug. 31, 1979, at age 59. Rosemarie was born Jan. 14, 1926, in Saltillo, Mexico. While she was young, her family moved back and forth between the United States and Mexico. She attended East Chicago public schools but left early to work at Inland Steel to help her family financially, Gomez said. She later returned to school and graduated from Washington High School. In 1939, Rosemarie portrayed the Statue of Liberty during the Mexican Independence Day Parade. The next year, she served as queen of that parade. Rosemarie, 99, has her own long list of accomplishments and involvement in the community. 'My mother was a great cook, a fantastic gardener, and she is one of the most loving, kind and considerate people that you ever will meet,' Gomez said. One day, Gomez said, his father told Rosemarie she needed to become an American citizen, which she did. 'My mother later found out that the reason he asked her to do that was so that years later she could vote for him when he first ran for the City Council, a race he won,' Gomez said. 'Together, my parents were trailblazers, in similar fashion to the way their parents were,' Gomez said. 'They were kind of the Hispanic version of John and Jackie Kennedy.'

City of Virginia Beach to inform voters of 10-1 system during Nov. 4 election
City of Virginia Beach to inform voters of 10-1 system during Nov. 4 election

Yahoo

time5 hours ago

  • Yahoo

City of Virginia Beach to inform voters of 10-1 system during Nov. 4 election

NOTE: This video is previous coverage from 7/1/25 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – The city of Virginia Beach informed voters Thursday that a referendum question will be on the ballot regarding the 10-1 system. The question will read: '' A 'yes' vote means that you support the 10-1 system, which was used in the 2022 and 2024 city council elections. In the 10-1 system, the city is divided into 10 districts and the voters of each district elect a single council member with the mayor elected at-large (city-wide). A 'no' vote means you support the 7-3-1 system described in the current city charter as modified by a general law change that occurred in 2021. In the modified 7-3-1 system, the city is divided into 7 districts and the voters of each district elect a single council member, with three other council members and the mayor elected at-large (city-wide). On July 1, a 2023 vote taken by City Council on the 10-1 system was ruled as void by a judge, but the decision on what system to use to elect council and School Board members was put off. 'Every voting change we've ever had in our city, beginning with the merger in 1963, the citizens of Virginia Beach have determined by referendum their voting system,' former City Council member Linwood Branch said. 'We broke with precedent this time, but I'm glad seven members of council are now going to get us back to having the citizens have that opportunity. It's their vote. It's no one else's.' Resources will be listed on the referendum website to explain why the question is on the ballot, along with frequently asked questions and recordings of City Council meetings and materials from the meetings. Additional information will be provided leading up to Sept. 19, which is the start of early voting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword

Kennedy Center's Melania rename and more: Letters to the Editor — July 27, 2025
Kennedy Center's Melania rename and more: Letters to the Editor — July 27, 2025

New York Post

time19 hours ago

  • New York Post

Kennedy Center's Melania rename and more: Letters to the Editor — July 27, 2025

Melania rename Renaming the Kennedy Center's opera house after First Lady Melania Trump would be a travesty ('Kennedy Center 'honor,' ' July 23). President Trump never attended any of the annual Kennedy Center honors while he was president in 2017-2020. Over the years, he showed no interest and was bored with the Kennedy Center. Unfortunately, a congressman tucked Melania's name into an amendment to a funding bill. Hopefully, Melania will correct the oversight. Advertisement Pete Sena, Naples Fla. Anti-car bias Our local progressive leaders' pro-bicycle and anti-car policies directly lead to the heightened parking space violence we now see ('No safe space in NY,' July 22). Self-serving progressive politicians who have their hands deep in the cookie-jar of the anti-­auto industry have, in their 'wisdom,' replaced countless legitimate parking spots with the generally unused CitiBike stands that could have easily been placed in safer public spaces, such as parks and wide sidewalks. Advertisement Our city planners are making drivers park essentially and dangerously in the middle of the road, so that under-used, if not useless, bike lanes can be placed next to the curb. Are there any car enthusiasts on our City Council, or do they all have taxpayer-funded chauffeurs? Because few must be taking public transit unless cameras are following. Meanwhile, regular New Yorkers are forced to claim squatters rights over our ever-shrinking and costly parking spaces. Demetrius Kalamaras, Staten Island Advertisement Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Rising Israel hate Thanks for pointing out the vile social-media post by Gineth Nelson ('Anti-Jew hex for LI therapist,' July 20). What I do not understand is why is there such hate against the Jews and Israel unfolding everywhere? Advertisement Why are these people like Nelson not showing equal disdain against the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, the continuous attack on Ukraine by Russia and the bad actors in Nigeria who kill, rape and brutalize innocents there? Martin Garfinkle, Staten Island Sick of sickos There is absolutely no reason to believe that true evil has not taken over this world ('Kid-sex abuse horror house,' July 24). We read each day of more hideous, despicable acts of violence on innocent children. What low-lives would abuse their own children this way? A father murders his own daughter, a son decapitates his own mother, a husband kills his wife, a mother leaves an infant in the blazing heat to watch the Smurf movie. That block of cement Bryan Kohberger sat emotionless in front of families whose lives he has destroyed. Each day, the paper is filled with stories of victims of violence from shootings, stabbings, blunt force trauma. First: Put criminals away so that cannot re-offend. Then open more mental hospitals and drug treatment facilities (that don't offer more drugs). That would help heal this wretched society. Maybe following the Ten Commandments would also help. Maria Cutro, Tenafly, NJ RIP, Ozzy Osbourne Advertisement So sad to hear Ozzy Osbourne has passed away ('Night for Prince of Darkness,' July 23). He only gave his farewell Black Sabbath concert just weeks ago. What a force of nature, a fantastic entertainer and a true rock legend. Love and thoughts to his wife, Sharon, and all his family at this very sad time. Ozzy Osbourne, RIP. Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach, Fla. Want to weigh in on today's stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@ Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store