At its meeting at 7 p.m. Monday the Chesterton Town Council will hold a public hearing on the annexation of 85 acres south of the Indiana Toll Road.

The parcels in question:

•Slightly more than four acres, located east of Ind. 49, west of North Calumet Ave., and contiguous with the 75 acres annexed last year for development by I-80 LLC, owned by Richard and Nancy Baulos.

•Slightly more than four acres, located west of Ind. 49, south of C.R. 950N, and contiguous with the Toll Road, owned by Irvin and Dorothy Pope.

•And around 77 acres, located immediately west of the Popes’ parcel, owned by the Irvin Pope and Dorothy Pope Irrevocable Trust.

Attorney Cliff Fleming, representing the petitioners, has said that his clients have no plan right now for developing the property.

This would be the second trans-Toll Road annexation and a somewhat larger one than the first, when in July 2007 the town annexed 77 acres south of the Toll Road and east of Ind. 49, for a planned unit development which Bob Rossman of I-80 LLC has dubbed Coffee Creek Crossing. In July the council approved a PUD ordinance for Coffee Creek Crossing, which among other things will permit the construction on the site of a strip mall with a maximum square footage of 430,000, an anchor building of 175,000-square foot building, and a five-story building.

Refuse/Recycling

In other business, the council will open bids for the next three-year refuse and recycling contract. The current contract, provided by Able Disposal, expires on Dec. 31.

Posted 10/10/2008