By PAULENE POPARAD

Burns Harbor officials stayed on the fast track this week as the Redevelopment Commission partnered with an Indiana agency in hopes of buying more town park land and hired consultants to help obtain a grant to redevelop the abandoned Standard truck plaza.

The commission also authorized members Mike Perrine and Cliff Fleming to meet with the staff of the Regional Development Authority to discuss a possible application for RDA grant money in July.

Matt Riordan of Short Elliott Hendrickson was hired at a cost not to exceed $2,900 to ready for the November grant cycle a separate application to abate the town’s most prominent eyesore. But how exactly the commission is going to do that hasn’t been resolved.

The derelict U.S. 20 plaza east of Indiana 149 has been abandoned for 20 years, its Nevada owner has died, his estate owes Indiana $80,000 in fines for improper site closure and the property owes thousands of dollars in delinquent taxes.

According to Riordan, “You guys got stuck holding the bag and no one is going to bail you out.”

He said the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has a formula for reviewing grant applications and Burns Harbor likely would score higher if it has a preferred end use determined for the Standard Plaza. But town attorney Bob Welsh asked, “What would we ever say with any meaning or thrust behind it other than it will be used as commercial?”

Riordan said the town generally can propose a use consistent with the parcel’s Commercial-2 zoning designation. He noted that the intended use would determine to what extent the property, which apparently hasn’t had a formal environmental assessment, would need to be remediated.

Welsh said without knowing if contamination is miniscule or massive, a decision will need to be made how far the town wants to go to eliminate an eyesore. “It’s a policy question the town needs to address earlier rather than later.”

Fleming said there might be a way for the town to acquire the plaza at little or no cost and not have IDEM transfer liability for any future clean-up. Riordan agreed owning the plaza would bolster the town’s application.

Engaging the community in a planning process to recommend a reuse for the plaza is important, said Riordan. The town already has hired A.J. Monroe of JJR consultants to facilitate a possible planning grant through the RDA. Tina Rongers, a consultant to the RDA, attended the Redevelopment Commission meeting Tuesday.

Perrine noted that the Burns Harbor Advisory Plan Commission is considering asking the Town Council to enact an 18-month building moratorium generally along both sides of U.S. 20 including the plaza property until a new master plan is developed.

Also present at the meeting was Jenny Orsburn, a program specialist with the Lake Michigan Coastal Program under the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The Redevelopment Commission voted 5-0 for the town to actively partner with the DNR in efforts to get grant money to buy 187 acres in Burns Harbor on North Boo Road west of Indiana 149 now owned by Arcelor Mittal.

Orsburn said a partnership would have a better chance of getting funding. Perrine said he believes acquiring the 187 acres as open space would be an issue with some residents. He said Burns Harbor is becoming two towns, the early residents and the new. “Those have to be reconciled.”

Member Louis Bain, who favored maintaining Burns Harbor’s small-town identity, said the commission may need to do some door-knocking to foster consensus within the community. The Advisory Plan Commission in the coming weeks will be sending out a resident survey regarding their preferences for the future.

Perrine, who said he favors growth, said anti-development “is getting to be the less-popular view but we have to realize it’s there.” Fleming said, “A lot of people who want to be left alone don’t realize (development) is a done deal.” As available land shrinks in town, he added, what’s left has to be better developed to promote a pedestrian-friendly community.

Monroe advised the last thing the town wants to do is submit a controversial application to the RDA. “You’d never want to put your town in that situation or the RDA in that position.”

Perrine expressed concern that the town doesn’t spread itself too thin and end up chasing after grants but not have enough money to maintain infrastructure. Bain said attracting new residents and business to town would help offset shortfalls.

Fleming said Burns Harbor is a unique environment. “We’ve got something for everyone here and I don’t think the public is aware of that.”

Posted 5/15/2008