RDA OKs Valpo land purchase

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BY LU ANN FRANKLIN
Times Correspondent | Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | No comments posted.

The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority will purchase land for a parking lot project in Valparaiso, and save money in the process.

In February, the RDA board awarded the City of Valparaiso a $2.1 million grant to fund an express bus line from the city to downtown Chicago. However, Valparaiso officials learned this spring that the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission could provide more federal money for bus purchase, said Stu Summers, executive director of the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission.

On Tuesday, RDA board members approved the change from buying commuter buses to the purchase of land for a 110-space parking lot. The parking lot will be built along the existing South Shore rail line where the rail extension could be located.

That saves the RDA $238,000, said Leigh Morris, RDA chairman.

Before voting unanimously for the change, board members discussed what would happen to the land if the commuter bus service were to be discontinued any time in the future. An agreement with the city of Valparaiso would allow the land to be used for another public purpose, but the RDA would get back the $1.8 million granted for the land purchase.

Summers told the group that if bus service were discontinued, the parking lot could be used for commuters riding the South Shore.

If the RDA helps with the land acquisition and NIRPC purchases the buses, "the individual result is transit-oriented development" which is one of the four state mandates for the RDA, said Summers.

"There's more federal funding available from NIRPC for commuter coaches. We can do this with more federal money and less local money," he said.

In other business:

-- Northwest Indiana's Regional Bus Authority received $1 million in funding from the RDA on Monday. That is part of the original $6.5 million grant.

-- The expansion of the Gary/Chicago International Airport continues under discussion with airport officials meeting with representatives of rail lines.

A bridge for railroad access will need to be built.

That bridge will now cost $18 million to $20 million dollars more, reported RDA member Gus Olympidis, who represents Porter County. "The airport will be looking for funding sources," he said.

-- A search for a consulting firm to advise the RDA about airport expansion has narrowed to two candidates: PB and SEH. PB is an international firm with offices in Chicago. SEH is a national company with regional offices and ties to Northwest Indiana.

-- The first of the 14 new passenger cars ordered for the South Shore at a cost of $17 million will be delivered in late fall. The parts for these double-decker cars are being manufactured in Japan and other parts of the Far East. Those parts will be shipped to a plant in Wisconsin for final assembly.

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