Four show interest in Shelbyville's 88-acre Wellman property

One bidder interested in the Wellman property, TF Development, has a site plan that includes restaurants and banks along State Road 44 and “some type of home improvement” store on another portion of the property.

Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson is keeping a sharp eye out on the progress of efforts to sell the 88-acre site formerly occupied by Wellman Thermal Systems, so that local taxpayers don’t wind up footing the bill for an eventual environmental cleanup.

“If we don’t get the property cleaned up this time, it’s going to be there forever,” Furgeson predicted.

A 2:45 p.m. hearing was held Thursday in Shelby County Circuit Court, in which four different developers submitted bids for the property. The bids ranged from $1 million to $1.1 million, with some offers containing contingencies.

No decision was made because Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Charles O’Connor was required by statute to excuse the property’s receiver, state Rep. Ed Mahern, D-Indianapolis, from the proceedings since Mahern is a member of the General Assembly, which is in session. (A receiver is one who officially receives money or property for others.)

Some of the offers were submitted late Wednesday and early Thursday. The four bidders and their offers are:

— TF Development, Indianapolis, represented by attorney David Jurkiewicz of Bose, McKinney & Evans, Indianapolis; $1,001,000.

— Pirt LLC, North Vernon, represented by attorney John Gay; $1 million.

— CDC, Dallas, represented by attorney Brad Schooley; $1 million.

— Alchemy Property Trust Inc., Indianapolis. No attorney was present, but the company sent a letter of intent. $1,100,000.

Shelby County Attorney John DePrez IV said the bulk of the winning offer will go toward paying real estate taxes, penalties and interest owed on the property. Since 1990, those taxes have been adding up. The total amount currently owed is $1,959,197, DePrez said.

Some of the offers have conditions attached to them, which worries Furgeson. For example, CDC has requested that the property be divided up into two tracts and sold to two different groups. If one of those groups were to go bankrupt, local taxpayers could get stuck with the environmental cleanup of the site, he said.

“There is potential insurance coverage for cleaning up this property through (the owner), but once the chain of custody is relinquished and someone buys the land free and clear, the possibility of getting the land cleaned up goes away,” Furgeson said. “We need someone who will accept the liability, along with the property.”

Wellman Thermal Systems consolidated with five other heating equipment manufacturers to form CCI Thermal, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Wellman occupied the Shelbyville plant after General Electric Co. pulled out.

The Shelbyville plant, located at 1 Progress Road, has been vacant about 1-1/2 years, Furgeson said.

In 2003, Shares Inc., which employs handicapped workers, purchased WAP Inc., the former Wellman operation that produced glow plugs — spark plugs used in Humvees for the military. The glow plugs are still being made in Shelbyville, Furgeson said.

After the hearing, Jurkiewicz, who is representing TF Development, offered a site plan for turning the property into “Shelbyville MarketPlace & Commerce Park.” He said restaurants and banks would likely be built along State Road 44, while “some type of home improvement” store is anticipated on another portion of the property.

Gay said that Pirt is a limited liability company that was organized to purchase the Wellman property. Lester Lee, a property owner in Shelby County, organized the company. “He is quite interested in resolving this and in cleaning up the property,” Gay said.

“We want to divide it up eventually, but we have uses for the industrial building on the back side of it that we didn’t see in anybody else’s offer,” Gay said.

Schooley, representing CDC, declined to compare his company’s offer with the others.

Judge O’Connor told the group that he would find out what Rep. Mahern’s schedule is with the General Assembly so that the matter may be resolved as soon as possible.

“The receiver is directed to review the (purchase agreements) and submit his recommendation to the court posthaste,” O’Connor said.

Furthermore, a representative of Millennium Investments, which owns the Wellman mortgage, will soon be scheduled to appear before the Shelby County Board of Commissioners to ask the board to forgo the penalties and interest on the owed taxes, DePrez said.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the property developed and getting the Wellman property cleaned up,” Furgeson said. “With the new Southeast Corridor (also called Progress Parkway) going right past that facility, that will be the new gateway to our community. That’s one of the things that people will see every day.”

When completed, the Southeast Corridor will help facilitate better traffic flow between the south and east sides of the city.

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