By PAULENE POPARAD

JJR, LLC of Chicago was hired Monday by the Burns Harbor Redevelopment Commission at a cost not to exceed $3,120 to make an as-yet-undetermined application to the Regional Development Authority for grant money.

The Redevelopment Commission set a special meeting for May 13 at 9 a.m. to confer with JJR consultant A.J. Monroe and discuss what types of projects might be proposed for RDA funding pending approval this week of the terms of JJR’s contract.

Ideas thrown out to potentially pitch to the RDA, which serves Lake and Porter counties, were:

•Buying 180 acres Arcelor Mittal Steel is selling west of Indiana 149 on North Boo Road north of Interstate 94 to be used as a town park;

•Building a hike/bike trail through Burns Harbor to connect east and west units of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore;

•Undertaking long-range planning efforts including rezoning to facilitate desired development including a Burns Harbor town center;

•Studying and carrying out traffic-management upgrades, especially along U.S. 20; and,

•Promoting redevelopment of the eyesore former Standard Plaza truck stop on U.S. 20 and if possible having the concrete structure razed and the site landscaped this year.

Voting to hire JJR were commission members Toni Biancardi, Cliff Fleming, Jim McGee and Mike Perrine. Louis Bain was absent. All are also Town Council members.

Monroe formerly served nine years as Portage director of community planning and development. The Burns Harbor Redevelopment Commission already is working with another JJR consultant from the urban planning and design firm regarding application for state/federal brownfield grants to make the Standard Plaza ready for redevelopment.

Clerk-treasurer Jane Jordan said the brownfield application can be made this fall. Perrine said it likely will require a 50 percent local match, which Monroe said the RDA could be asked to fund making the town’s brownfield application more attractive.

“We’re hoping to hit the jackpot twice,” said Perrine.

A stumbling block has been gaining access to the plaza site to obtain preliminary information needed to make the brownfield application. Town attorney Bob Welsh was asked Monday to contact the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which may have jurisdiction over the property, and if necessary to ask the property owner for permission to conduct soil borings or other needed testing as well as whether the building can be torn down.

Other options are to ask a court to order the town can have access to the site for specific purposes related to public health/safety, and for the town to acquire the 22-acre plaza parcel east of Indiana 149 through eminent domain although the latter isn’t favored unless required for the brownfield grant.

As for a Burns Harbor hike/bike trail, Monroe said a pedestrian path connecting the town of Porter’s planned Brickyard Trail at Howe Road and Douglas Trail at West Beach in Lake County is a missing link and “in dire need of a champion.”

Perrine suggested buying the Mittal land once eyed by former owner Bethlehem Steel for a business park but now is a home for deer.

“Although (Burns Harbor’s) Lakeland Park is nice, that would tie us with Portage’s park system,” said Perrine. On the city’s north end the RDA is funding construction of the new Lakefront Park although it and the Burns Harbor parcel may not be contiguous.

Monroe said some of the proposals under consideration by Burns Harbor were identified in the recently adopted Marquette Plan Phase 2 for areas east of Portage, and the RDA is authorized to help fund Marquette Plan projects.

“You can guarantee us money?” McGee asked Monroe.

“I can make a strong case for you and advance your project, however, there are no guarantees,” he replied.

Posted 5/6/2008