Laurie Wink, The News-Dispatch
LA PORTE - A member of Stop Intermodals - Save Our County urged the La Porte County Logistics Task Force to promote economic development without forfeiting agricultural lands and disrupting farm families.
Bob Hull, representing SISOC, addressed the task force Wednesday at La Porte County Complex. A crowd of about 75 people attended.
Hull served on the County Council for eight years, is a La Porte Chamber of Commerce member and a partner owner of Accurate Castings Inc. He has lived in La Porte County for more than 56 years.
With an unemployment rate in the county of about 5 percent, Hull emphasized the need for "good, high-tech business." But, he said, manufacturers should be courted that would not bring a large amount of truck traffic.
"We don't want 11,000 trucks a day happening in La Porte County," he said. Hull said a multimodal warehousing operation likely would be developed by out-of-county companies. A transportation hub would require development of a road and rail infrastructure that doesn't yet exist and would destroy more family farms.
Hull criticized the loss of U.S. jobs to China.
"Indiana is one of the 10 states hardest hit by China," Hull said. "From 2001 to 2006, we lost 45,200 jobs to Chinese manufacturing."
He didn't give examples of where new jobs for La Porte County would come from. He mentioned "high tech" businesses such as those located in an industrial park created near Purdue University that is attracting startup business.
He criticized what he sees as a lack of economic-development planning allowing a new Super Wal-Mart while there are three strip malls "from 20 to the freeway that are half full."
"Couldn't something have been done in one of the three malls?," Hull said.
Information came in part from his experience in manufacturing and print sources such as The Daily Southtown, a newspaper published in the area of Elwood, Ill., where the CenterPoint Intermodal Center is located.
Following Hull's presentation, task-force members had an opportunity to share their impressions of the trip taken to the Elwood intermodal site on Feb. 20. Members who spoke agreed it was a valuable experience.
The task force will consider formal requests for presentations to be made at upcoming meetings, Presentations must be agreed to by two-thirds of task force members, and should be pertinent and within the presenters' areas of knowledge or expertise.
Task force members agreed to convene at 3 p.m. April 2 for a bus trip of the area around Union Mills and the Kingsbury Industrial Park, possible sites for a county multimodal. Member Hugh Glasgow, a Union Mills farmer, will work with the farming community to participate in the tour.
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