Latest news with #PorterCountyBoardofCommissioners
Chicago Tribune
01-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Chesterton, Porter and county officials try to move forward after rift from June shooting
There were glimmers of possibility Tuesday morning for Porter County and the towns of Chesterton and Porter to mend their rift following an officer-involved shooting on June 18. While facts continue to be disputed by the towns and county, Chesterton Town Council President Sharon Darnell, D-4th, and Vice President Erin Collins, D-2nd, engaged in cordial talk with Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, and Porter County E911 Director Debby Gunn following a news conference organized by Biggs in the commissioners chambers at the county administration building Tuesday morning. County officials did not take questions during the two-part presentation. Biggs and Gunn have called for Chesterton and Porter's dispatch to merge with county dispatch and Biggs has suggested increasing the county's local income tax to cover the expense, as first reported by the Post-Tribune June 22. Officials from both towns have said they are not interested in a merger. The shooting is under investigation by Indiana State Police; the injured officer is recovering at home and he and the second officer involved in the shooting remain on paid leave. The Post-Tribune is not naming the officers because of the open investigation. Gunn, whom the towns have called upon to step down for what they say has been fear mongering regarding the safety and efficacy of their police dispatch center which is independent of the county dispatch consortium, gave a timeline of events on June 18, followed by a refuting of various statements made by the Chesterton Town Council and various entities. Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, has gotten much criticism for reaching out to The Post-Tribune shortly after a Chesterton officer was shot and airlifted to an Illinois hospital and a suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after exchanging fire with police and being hit multiple times in front of the Hilton Garden Inn in the 500 block of Gateway Boulevard. 'At no time during or following this incident did I, or anyone from PCCC (Porter County Central Communications), contact the press,' Gunn said as she began her remarks. Collins shook her head throughout the 16 statements pulled primarily from Facebook and news articles that Gunn refuted individually, except one. That statement from a town of Chesterton Facebook post on June 26 reads, 'Officers from area departments have told CPD staff that PCCC never advised many of them that there was an active shooter/officer down over their respective radio channels for which the regional E911 center dispatches.' Gunn said that is true, that the Valparaiso Police Department was not advised of the incident. Regarding the town of Chesterton's intention to draft letters to the Porter County Council, the Board of Commissioners and the state's public access counselor requesting an investigation of potential disclosure of privileged information by Gunn per Indiana Code 5-24-3-6.5, Gunn said that code was repealed in 2019. After Gunn concluded her presentation, Biggs spoke briefly, saying calls for Gunn to step down are 'unwarranted' and 'baseless.' He said considering that 80% of the dispatched calls to the two towns involve first responders dispatched by PC E911, it is untrue that the events of that day are none of the county's business. 'When that incident occurred on the 18th, that broke me,' he said. 'I will apologize to the towns of Chesterton and Porter if I have not conveyed that accurately.' 'We will continue to agree to disagree on the facts that were presented today,' Darnell said after the event. From her perspective, Collins said staffing issues preclude the county from being able to take on police dispatching for the two towns. 'Why don't they have the staffing opportunity for that? I believe it's because of the director,' she said, adding that people are still leaving despite pay increases. 'It's been a constant, the issues within the county dispatch,' she said. 'The toxic environment that is going on in Porter County Dispatch.' After the event, Biggs and Gunn spent time speaking with Collins and Darnell. 'Sharon just told me that years ago, when the consolidation was considered, they had some equipment that allowed them to speak directly to Porter County,' Biggs said. He said he told her that they should see if the county could share the cost of reinstating that system if cost is an issue. He agreed with Collins that absorbing the eight full-time and 11 part-time dispatchers from the Porter/Chesterton Dispatch Center could be challenging if they agreed to consolidate, but not because of leadership. He thinks an additional four to six dispatchers would be needed to consolidate and isn't sure they would be able to absorb all 19. Even a lesser amount would have to be worked out in the county's budgeting process that begins in August for next year. Biggs was asked why he hadn't reached out to the town of Chesterton. 'I did,' he said. 'I talked to (Police Chief) Tim Richardson yesterday. I told him that we're ready to meet. We need to get past this. It is not good for either unit of government.' For his part, Richardson, who watched the news conference on live stream, said Gunn's numbers don't add up on the timeline she provided. 'She's complaining about 57 seconds, when it took the E911 Center one minute and 38 seconds to dispatch an ambulance.' He also said Gunn's Fact Check #15, in which she said a guest commentary to local media outlets from January was written by a PCCC administrative staff member other than herself, was untrue. He provided a copy of an email from Biggs dated Jan. 14 that says in part, 'Tim, I should tell you I reviewed the letter before it was sent out,' and 'This is precisely why I felt Debbie needed to respond.' The Porter Town Council, meanwhile, released a statement Tuesday morning expressing solidarity with the town of Chesterton and their shared dispatch center. The council cited the 'continued onslaught of public pressure and false accusations levied by our own county commissioner and the director of County E911.' The accusations concern the performance of the Chesterton/Porter dispatch center for the June 18 police involved shooting. 'Chesterton's call for the director's resignation is both reasonable and necessary. The Council stands behind our Police Chief's statement 100%,' said the statement signed by Council President Laura Madigan.
Chicago Tribune
26-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Porter County culls 35 employee dependents from health insurance because of ineligibility
Thirty-five dependents of Porter County employees will be eliminated from the health plan July 1 after a recent dependent verification process aimed at protecting the county from unqualified expenses and unforeseen liability. The Porter County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on the removal at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning, with Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, absent. Representatives from General Insurance Services (GIS) and American Fidelity explained that the process began March 10 with a communication to employees about the upcoming audit. Such audits are done every two years, according to Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center. Aram Touloukian of American Fidelity explained that seven rounds of communication were sent to employees asking for documents verifying eligibility of the dependents in question. Eight did not participate or complete the required documentation, 12 did not have sufficient documentation, and seven are spouses who qualify for health insurance on their own. Touloukian said it costs $4,700 per year for the county to add one dependent to the plan. The removal of the 35 ineligible will save the county not only $150,000 to $160,000 annually, but could also protect the county if someone technically ineligible became a high-cost claimant. The county has a separate insurance stop-loss policy that takes over claims after an individual tops out of the standard plan after $175,000 in claims. If that insurance provider asked for verification of qualification and a claimant failed that qualification the county could be responsible for those medical bills. 'So we have a number of dependents who have hit the stop-loss level?' Regnitz asked. 'Oh, absolutely,' replied Employee Benefits Advisor Candace Arvin of GIS. 'I think that's what we have to protect our plan from happening,' Regnitz said. She confirmed with Arvin and Touloukian that employees may reenroll any qualifying dependents during open enrollment in the fall, should they be among the 35 who failed to supply adequate documentation. In other business, commissioners gave Information Technology Director Lee Childress permission to set up a fund for additional appropriations that would be necessary if the County Council gives its blessing to an additional $400,000 expenditure for the purchase of 250 computers that will be necessary to run Windows 11. Windows 10 will stop receiving security patches in October and the computers purchased in 2007 to run it will not support the new software. The board also unanimously approved a zoning map amendment of the Unified Development Ordinance allowing Heartland Christian Center in Morgan Township to change the zoning of 10.7 acres from low-density single-family residential (R1) to Institutional (I). The property in question is for the development of the future Sunshine Center, planned as a recreational facility for the disabled and their caregivers. 'We're in the process of getting going,' said Heartland Pastor Phil Willingham. Finally, during approval for NWI Activists/NWI NOW to hold their next two 50501 protests on Sunday, June 29, and Thursday, July 17, the petitioners were asked by Regnitz to speak with members of their groups. 'I am getting photos of the event, and some of them are inciting violence,' she said. 'Are you talking about the 86 47 ones?' NWI NOW Director Deb McLeod asked. 'Yes,' she replied. The women explained it is a commonly used restaurant term that means to remove or eject an item, as from a menu, when it has sold out, and that they would not condone violent rhetoric at their events. The term has been under scrutiny since former FBI Director James Comey used the phrase recently. The implication is that he was referring to President Donald Trump. Merriam-Webster Dictionary says the term has taken on its police and military meaning of 'to kill.' 'Did they perceive that in the same way when they were spouting '86 46?'' McLeod asked of those sending complaints to Regnitz. 'We're not going to have another presidential election for a couple years, so to say we'll get rid of 47 now, the implication is violently,' Regnitz insisted.
Chicago Tribune
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Porter County election office moving back to office by late August
Porter County expects to have the restoration of its Elections & Registration Office complete by the end of August following catastrophic flooding on Feb. 16. The Porter County Board of Commissioners approved a $43,000 contract Tuesday morning with Tudor Cleaning and Restoration to clean up the space at 155 Franklin St. 'It's a pretty extensive job, upstairs and downstairs,' said Porter County Facilities Director Joe Wiszowaty. He said property damage is estimated at $250,000 to $300,000. The replacement of voting equipment which was damaged when water from the burst hot water heater pipe on the main floor leaked into the basement is estimated at just over $1.4 million. All damage will be covered by insurance. Wiszowaty told the board that the basement ceiling and walls will be cleaned and treated beginning Wednesday and he expects to have quotes for restoration work to the office and basement storage space at next month's board meeting. 'It's nice to see an absolute clean slate, start all over and do it right this time,' said Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, referring to conversion of the space at 155 Franklin St. just last year. The Elections & Registration Office staff moved into the former Mexican restaurant from a smaller space in the basement of the Porter County Administration Building which has been given over to expansion of the health department. In other business, NWI Activists and NWI NOW were given permission to hold their next 50501 protest on the south lawn of the Porter County Courthouse from 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. on May 23. The groups have been organizing the local protests against the Trump administration which are designed to happen at 50 locations in 50 states on one day approximately every two weeks. 'I do have an observation in that that is the only business entrance,' Regnitz said of the south side of the courthouse. 'The problem is you all don't want us on the other (north) side because it's Lincolnway and you all are the county seat,' said Deb McLeod on behalf of the organizations seeking the permit. Then Regnitz suggested perhaps Saturday would be a better day for the protest as the courthouse is closed on the weekend, but McLeod said they have been trying to avoid Saturdaystoo limit impact on area businesses. 'We're trying our best to balance everybody's needs,' McLeod said. Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, told McLeod not to occupy the sidewalks leading to the building and said he would have Wiszowaty tape off areas where the county doesn't want protestors standing. Biggs and McLeod then set up a time to meet with Porter County Attorney Scott McClure to discuss the possibility of the protestors applying for multiple permits at a time. 'I'm just going to be upfront with you, that don't look real good right now,' Biggs said, adding that he would prefer the applications continue to come in separately for individual protest dates. Finally, as has been the case over the last several commission meetings, multiple people spoke out against the data centers proposed for Wheeler. LaPorte resident Becca Goodman, who said she'd like to move back to the area, told the commissioners that 86% of Indiana's wetlands have been lost since the state began hosting data centers. The safety of the Union Township School Corporation school children, whose campuses would be concentrated near the centers, was raised yet again. 'Like our superintendent said, you wouldn't let us build a school next to a data center, why would we allow the opposite?' Goodman asked. Union Township resident Mark Chavez said as the father of high school and younger children he's completely against the centers and will be a single-issue voter in the next commissioner race based upon their voting on the issue.
Chicago Tribune
05-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Porter County residents protest Union Township data center proposal of nearly 800 acres
A standing-room-only crowd spilled out of the council chamber into the rotunda Tuesday morning to let the Porter County Board of Commissioners know its opposition to proposed data centers that would cover nearly 800 acres in Wheeler if approved. Planned unit development (PUD) applications were submitted to the county on Feb. 28 and were not part of Tuesday's board agenda; the Post-Tribune acquired the applications through an Access to Public Records Act request. Those voicing opposition did so predominantly on environmental grounds, particularly concerns over noise and water pollution, the safety of school children separated from the southerly proposed site by a railroad track, and the desire to make a decision sooner rather than later. Nearly two dozen people spoke against the application, starting with John Hunter, superintendent of Union Township School Corporation. He cited not only environmental concerns, such as pollution and noise, but said tax increment financing districts, or TIFs, would have negative impacts on the school district if approved. He said property values would also be affected. 'Residentially, we're going to lose about 10 square miles,' Hunter said. 'Why would we put an industrial area immediately adjacent to a school?' Residents in Chesterton, Burns Harbor, and most recently, Valparaiso, have opposed data center proposals on similar grounds. The areas in question are currently zoned rural residential, and the board of commissioners would need to pass ordinances to amend the county's unified development ordinance approving a PUD. The applications were submitted by AXPK, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, on behalf of the property owners who would transfer ownership upon adoption of the ordinances. The proposed projects are being called Jeremiah A and Jeremiah B. Jeremiah A is proposed for a 351.85-acre parcel at the northeast corner of County Road W 450 North and County Road N 750 West owned by John Loxas of Hammond. It is the more northerly of the two non-contiguous parcels and south of the landfill, and proposes an 80% impervious surface area. Jeremiah B is proposed for 434.46 acres owned by Johnson Sunnybrook Farm, LLC, and Ceres Cedar Creek Farm, LLC, of Hobart, at the southeast corner of W 450 North and N 650 West, due north of Union Township Middle and High schools. Architectural elevation plans show the buildings would be constructed of pre-cast concrete and pre-finished metal and aluminum composite panels, among other materials, and stand up to 120 feet tall, not including an additional maximum parapet height of 20 feet. Porter County Director of Development and Stormwater Management Mike Jabo said, 'The UDO's criteria is limiting to something less than that,' and said a building that tall would have to receive a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals. He couldn't speak to whether a 120-foot-tall building could cast a shadow onto adjacent property with an 80-foot setback. Proposed setbacks for the developments abutting residential areas would be 80 feet to the side and rear, and 100 feet in the front. Proposed setbacks from the nearby cemetery would be 100 feet on all sides. Setbacks from the property line to primary buildings proposed for all other settings are 50 feet on the side and rear and 80 feet in the front. Jabo said the height limitation is an example of the considerable scrutiny and back-and-forth the applicant will receive for its proposals. 'What they have proposed is nowhere near what we're going to see when they get to the plan commission,' he said. The Summary of Intent submitted by AXPK for Jeremiah B reads, 'The property is appropriate in large part based on its location which will have minimal impact on the community as a whole, and also due to its location in close proximity to existing utility services.' Every person who spoke against it disagreed that the impacts would be minimal. 'The proximity to three schools without land use studies is unacceptable,' said Angel Forystek, a Wheeler resident and mother of school-age children. Sandy Hill, who lives on County Road 650, said she has a friend in South Dakota who lives near a data center. 'He says it's 24/7 noise,' she said of the noise it puts off. 'He said you can turn the TV up as loud as you want and you can still hear it.' Under the category of noise standards, the application for Jeremiah A reads, 'Normal operation shall be mitigated through screening or muffling devices, such that the decibel level perceived at adjacent noise-sensitive land use is at or below 75 dB.' That's considered loud and equivalent to the noise level of a busy restaurant or loud radio. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says eight hours of exposure to 85 dB can damage hearing. The proposed ordinance for Jeremiah B exempts the noise maximum for 'construction, general maintenance/future construction and/or equipment or machinery used in emergency scenarios.' The tone eventually got heated between some in the audience and Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North. 'We did not ask for a data center to come knocking at our door,' he said. He told the crowd that while the board was there to serve them, it would not do to circumvent the application and due diligence process. Multiple speakers thanked Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, for making it known that she planned to vote against any proposed data centers, which she confirmed after the meeting. Jabo is in the process of setting up an informational meeting at the Porter County Expo Center to be run by the plan commission. AXPK would get to introduce its proposals and the public would get to ask questions. He expects the meeting to be in late April or early May.
Chicago Tribune
21-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Porter County postpones meeting on data center proposal to get more information
Porter County officials will not address a proposed data center possibly in Wheeler at the March 26 Plan Commission meeting, citing the need to do their homework on the proposal and not rob a previously scheduled item of its due. 'We never published the agenda with them on it,' said Mike Jabo, Porter County's director of planning and stormwater management. He said the petitioner, which has already filed with the county, requested placement on the March 26 agenda. However, a subdivision seeking approval is expected to draw a large crowd that evening. 'I think the people who were already scheduled to be at the meeting would not get their due,' Jabo said, adding that the county might need a larger venue when the data center is discussed. 'The commissioners chamber would probably not be suitable to hold that meeting.' A date to address the proposed data center has not been chosen. The Post-Tribune, through an Access to Public Records Act request, is awaiting an opportunity to review the data center application. Under the county's Unified Development Ordinance, a petitioner has to go before the Plan Commission if it does not meet the zoning requirements for a project. Residents in Chesterton, Burns Harbor and, most recently, Valparaiso, have fought back against data centers proposed for land adjacent to residential areas over concerns about noise, bright lights, and their requirements for water and other resources. A rezoning request would have a first hearing where the public may comment. Property owners within 500 feet from any property line of the parcel in question would receive a formal letter informing them of the hearing, while other forms of advertisement are also employed. 'What we have is a very publicly-involved process,' Jabo said. The plan commission forwards a recommendation either favorable or unfavorable to the Porter County Board of Commissioners who would then have two readings, the first at a public hearing, while the second does not require a public hearing. 'They weren't happy that that meeting was canceled,' Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, said of the petitioner, 'but we need time to do some of our own homework. We're talking about a generational decision here.' Biggs said several companies have expressed interest in developing data centers in Porter County, but he, Porter County Council President Andy Vasquez, R-2nd, and County Attorney Scott McClure have met with representatives from one of them. 'They're from out west somewhere,' he said. 'There was no talk of what they'd pay in taxes. There was no talk of where they'd be located,' he added. 'The rumor is it would be out there in the Wheeler area and it very well may be, but they had not disclosed that.' Should a data center be approved for Porter County, Biggs said it would be a 'game-changer' and the largest economic development project the county has taken on since the development of Bethlehem Steel. He said while the county is absolutely committed to responding to public sentiment – 'We've already done that with solar, telling them to go away.' – every option needs to be fairly considered to meet the state's growing demands that counties become more fiscally independent. 'We're already having the discussion on raising the income tax, which is going to be less popular than data centers,' Biggs said. Jabo and Biggs have talked about chartering a bus to visit a data center to witness noise levels and see how they're kept. Biggs promises, particularly to the communities that would potentially be affected, that the county would not approve anything detrimental. 'I hope we have proven ourselves with solar,' he said. 'Please allow us just to do our job. Let us process this.'
