Group says county hiding info about investment

 

SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind.-- Is the County purposefully hiding documents?

The Open Space and Agricultural Alliance says that the county has been purposefully hiding documents from the community regarding the proposed Indiana Enterprise Center.

This mega-industrial center has been on the docket since August of 2017-- the plans say it will span 7,200 acres of farmland and other acquired spaces in the New Carlisle area. You can imagine this to be the size of a small city, one that the Economic Development Board is working diligently to create the right way.

So far, the board has used over $3.5 million to pay for consulting and testing of the soil, water, aquifers, and other environmental and business factors. 

While the plan for the industrial center is still in the works--concerned citizens are all ready finding plenty of problems. 

The OSAA held a press conference in front of the County-city building Monday afternoon to shed light on hundreds of emails they received after months of Access to Public Record requests.

The emails found below are discussions between county members and the various consulting agencies and outside figures.

The emails are a cause for concern to members of the group who are worried about how this project will affect the environment and the New Carlisle communities way of life. 

The group plans to bring their evidence to the county council meeting tomorrow night looking for answers from the council on where and what these documents are that are not fully being shared with the community. 

And the executive director of the Economic Development group, Bill Shalliol wants to also let the community know that while it has taken time to get the full plan together, they are hoping to release the plan later this month or beginning of November along with a slew of public meetings and forums to allow the public to enter in discourse.