Tipton County site for proposed transmission plan under review

A consultant for a possible Chrysler-Getrag transmission plant has provided information to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concerning possible wetlands at a development site in Tipton County.

Although no official announcement has been made about the location of the rumored $560 million plant, the location has reportedly been narrowed to Howard and Tipton counties.

The proposed site in Tipton County is located at the intersection of U.S. 31 and Ind. 28. The Tipton County Economic Development Foundation has taken out options on 231 acres at the intersection and is seeking to option an additional 35 acres.

A preliminary map compiled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified two potential wetlands on the Tipton site. One is a 12-acre forested area and the other is the entire location.

Doug Shelton, chief of the Northern Section with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville, said the consultants have provided a site evaluation.

"We have been asked to make a jurisdictional determination," Shelton said Friday. "The evaluation is undergoing a technical review."

A decision on the Tipton site could be made within the next week, he said.

"The technical review is two-fold," Shelton said. "Are they wetlands and does the Army Corps of Engineers have jurisdiction?"

Shelton said if the Army Corps of Engineers decides it does have jurisdiction, it would determine if mitigation was required.

"Our preference is that the mitigation takes place on the same site," he said. "That way it affects the same location and watershed. There are times that the mitigation area has to be moved to a different location."

If the Army Corps of Engineers determines it does not have jurisdiction of the site, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will have jurisdiction, Shelton said.

Shelton said either way the Army Corps of Engineers will work in conjunction with IDEM.

Tipton County is offering land for the possible development at no cost to the companies, and will pay for the cost of providing utilities to the site.

Tipton County officials will purchase the property through a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Bond.

Tipton County is in the process of creating an Economic Development Commission which could designate an area as a TIF District.

Creation of a TIF district allows a governmental entity to borrow money to purchase land or make infrastructure improvements to an area designated for development.

The bonds are repaid by the additional tax revenues generated by improvements to the property. Other government entities continue to get the revenues generated by the property at its value before improvements are made.