SOUTH BEND -- Six St. Joseph County Council members are asking the state Legislature to hold off until a summer study session before making a decision on Gov. Mitch Daniels' Indiana Toll Road lease proposal.
If that's a bust, they're then asking the Legislature to allow creation of a North Central Regional Development Authority (St. Joseph and LaPorte counties, endowed with $10 million placed annually in a trust from lease proceeds for 10 years -- with no local match.
"We've been left out of two Regional Development Authorities," said Councilman Mark Catanzarite, District G, referring to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority formed in 2005 with Lake and Porter counties and Daniels' lease proposal, which creates a Northeastern Regional Development Authority with Elkhart, LaGrange and Steuben counties.
"A North Central group with St. Joseph and LaPorte counties just makes sense," Catanzarite said. "I've talked with LaPorte County Commissioners and one of their County Council members. Our proposal has their full support."
Combining St. Joseph and LaPorte counties into a regional development group is in direct opposition to a position taken by the Greater LaPorte Chamber of Commerce. The chamber supports placing LaPorte County in the Northwest Indiana group with Lake and Porter counties.
Catanzarite expects opposition to the St. Joseph County Council's proposal, especially to the summer study session request. "Everything I'm hearing from constituents is 'put the brakes on' and 'slow down the process.' I don't know if legislators are digesting that."
As proposed by Catanzarite and five other St. Joseph County Council members (Joseph Baldoni, District H; Andrew Kostielney, District B; Michael Kruk, District E; Rafael Morton, District D; and Randall Pryzbysz, District A), their request for creating the North Central Regional Development Authority is strictly contingent on no local membership or entry fee being required.
Their proposal also requires the authority to draw an equal share annually on the interest from the trust fund and allow the authority's trustees to allocate the principal for economic development and infrastructure projects in both counties.
Earlier this month, St. Joseph County Commissioners asked legislators to include the county in the Elkhart-LaGrange-Steuben bloc. If that's not possible, commissioners would opt for banding with LaPorte County.