The Hobart City Council gave final approval to two requests for proposed industrial development on the city’s west side.
The council, in a unanimous vote on Wednesday, approved a rezoning request for Northwind North Industrial Park.
Paul Thurston of Becknell Industrial requested a rezoning of 26.78 acres at the corner of 61st Avenue and Liverpool Road.
Thurston was seeking a rezone from B-3 to PUD to go forward with the construction of a 356,000-square-foot, four-building structure.
Plans by Becknell are to build the speculative structure, to be called Northwind North Business Park, and utilize it for light industrial businesses to rent.
The total construction cost is $56 million, and the developers expect it will result in 150 construction jobs plus 330 full-time jobs once completed, Thurston said.
The new park will be located north of the existing NorthWind Crossings, Becknell Industrial’s 200-acre business park.
The buildings within the structure include two that will be 83,166 square feet and two that are 95,046 square feet.
Thurston said his company plans to start construction within the next four months.
The city council also approved, upon second reading, plans by petitioner Jason Simon of Clay 138 LLC to change an R-2 zone to an M-1 classification for 138.98 acres at the northwest corner of Clay Street and U.S. 30, known as the site of the former U.S. 30 Dragstrip.
Plans, as outlined at the plan commission, are to utilize the property for industrial development.
The council said petitioners must provide a full development plan and agree to improvements at the site.
Those improvements include widening Clay Street, paying for utilities such as water and sewers, and purchasing a home on the west side of the property.
In other business, the City Council heard from Mayor Josh Huddlestun that work on the Wisconsin Street Bridge will begin on July 6, with the closing of it starting on that date.
Initially, it was determined the work would last about 18 months but studies have determined that the closure will only be for four months.
That’s because the bridge approach work, which was to be paid for by the city, won’t be necessary, Huddlestun said.
“It will save money and time, which is great for us,” Huddlestun said.
In other business, No Hobart Data Centers representative Joseph Conn read highlights from an email sent to city officials by Jennifer Williams stating there had been multiple violations of Indiana’s Open Door Law in regard to public notice of the May 7 Hobart Plan Commission meeting.
Conn said he wanted the City Council members to know even though the violation dealt more with the Plan Commission that the city’s notice procedures were legally deficient.
The original public notice had given the address for the Plan Commission meeting as council chambers, 414 Main St. when it was later relocated to the Hobart City Court building, 705 E. 4th St.
The No Hobart Data Centers group had requested a larger facility, noting that the court building’s capacity is only 100.
“The meeting wasn’t properly advertised and what we’re asking and demanding is it to be rescheduled,” Conn said.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
