President Brad Jackson, left, and KEDCO CEO Peggy Friday attended the Tuesday, June 17 meeting of the Syracuse Town Council. On Friday, the council was requested to allocate 5.5% of Syracuse’s EDIT fund to KEDCO.
HYRACUSE At their meeting on Tuesday evening, June 17, the Syracuse Town Council brought up the topic of redistricting once more.
The number of wards is reduced from five to three by the new redistricting ordinance. Additionally, it converts the other two districts—currently represented by Paul Stoelting and Larry Siegel, council members—to at-large districts. This implies that any town resident, irrespective of their district of residence, is eligible to run for those council seats.
The council decided 3-1 to accept the law after debating which map to attach. Bill Musser, a council member, did not cast a ballot.
The new district structure authorized by the Syracuse Town Council on Tuesday, June 17, is depicted on this map.
Along with updating the fair housing ordinance in accordance with Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant application guidelines, the council also approved an ordinance appropriating $51,555 from the town’s general fund to reimburse the police department following the purchase of a new Tahoe last month.
KEDCO’s Brad Jackson and Peggy Friday came out to request that Syracuse invest in their company. 5.5% of Syracuse’s EDIT fund is the money they are looking for in order to carry out their purpose of offering Kosciusko County economic development services.
The CEO of KEDCO gave a list of the company’s achievements for the past year on Friday, which included signing a memorandum of understanding with Club 720, searching Kosciusko County for available land to create affordable housing, and relocating Slate Auto to the vacant LSC Donnelley site in Warsaw in less than ten months. According to Friday, the corporation hopes to hire 1,800 to 2,000 workers in the future. Along US 30, the orthopedic maker Auto Cam is also developing a new structure.
Additionally, KEDCO is a part of Plug and Play, a company that offers local chances to attract investors, corporations, and entrepreneurs to the county.
Friday stated that KEDCO’s top priority are attracting and keeping businesses.
Friday stated, “I believe we’ve done a really good job this past year. Our mission is to create wealth for the people who live here and the businesses that choose to locate here.”
As a resident of Syracuse, Brad Jackson, President of KEDCO, stated that he believes it is an excellent investment.
Jackson said, “I know there’s been this Syracuse/Warsaw thing sometimes,” and he made the case that investments made around the county will also help Syracuse.
I believe that what benefits Warsaw and any other area of the county also benefits Syracuse. According to him, this is the reason the county has decided to make significant investments in KEDCO.
Many people are unaware of how close we were to losing Polywood, he added.
Siegel noted that the company has constructed a new plant in North Carolina and ships at least 20% of its products from that state. What might KEDCO do to keep Polywood, he inquired?
Friday responded that since most Polywood employees commute 20 to 25 minutes to work, housing inside Syracuse will be a top priority. In order to extend the college, Jackson also considered purchasing the Hoover-Gardener property close to Polywood.
Nate Scherer, the president of the council, inquired about any businesses that Plug and Play has put in Kosciusko County.
Friday said that because many were still in the funding stage for research and development, it had not yet placed a company in Kosciusko County. She said that a number of businesses were really interested in using Plug and Play to locate locally.
Later, council members talked about wanting to learn more before deciding, particularly in view of recent changes to the law, such as Senate Bill 1.
“We’re still trying to understand what SB 1 means to the town, and they’re asking for 5.5%, so I think it’s pretty appropriate to just table it so we really know what we’re committing to,” Scherer said.
The town’s vacant building inspector/code enforcement position has not been filled, according to Town Manager David Wilkinson. He noted that the position needs to be filled as soon as possible because Syracuse has a number of major construction projects coming up.
Wilkinson said he would create a new compensation package and requested the council to think about making the building inspector/code enforcement position a full-time role. The council decided to give issue some thought.
According to Wilkinson’s report, he has sought for a $500,000 Community Amenities Projects award, which will be utilized for the Boardwalk project. This includes a $500,000 funding from the K21 Health Foundation and $300,000 from READI 2.0.
According to Public Works Director Mark Aurich, MACOG has received paperwork as part of Syracuse’s application process for a $700,000 OCRA grant to assist with the cost of Huntington Street water system upgrades.
Additionally, he stated that the town has 13 days left to complete its compliance period following an IDEM sewer infraction the previous year. Since then, there have been no infractions.
As mandated by state law, the town is ready to start live broadcasting meetings on July 1.
According to Police Chief Jim Layne’s report, 646 service calls were made in May. Ten people were arrested, 135 traffic citations were issued, and nine accidents were reported. All police cars traveled 10,123 miles, put in 53.5 reserve hours, and completed 24 full-time training hours.
Additionally, he stated that the Tahoe that was bought last month is already undergoing outfitting, which should take about a month and a half.
On Saturday, July 5, Fire Chief Mickey Scott said that the annual fireman’s cookout would begin at 10 a.m.
According to Parks Superintendent Chad Jonsson, the number of vendors at the Syracuse Artisans and Farmers Market has increased from roughly 16 to over 20 each week. About 30 games are anticipated to take place at Schrock Athletic Complex this weekend, and 250 runners have enrolled for the Mudtastic Classic on Saturday, June 21, he added.
In other business, the possibility of either keeping the alley beside Syracuse on Main Street open or closing it was discussed. It will stay open since, following discussion, no one expressed a preference.
The council also gave its approval to:
renewing each of the 17 tax breaks that are available.
Claims totaling $610,197.19 were paid.
The next meeting of the Syracuse Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m.
