By GLEN WERLING
“This is the first step,” Ossian Redevelopment Commission member Josh Barkley reminded his fellow commission members at Friday’s meeting to establish residential TIF districts in Ossian.
TIF, which stands for tax increment financing, captures increased assessed value of a designated district and then channels any new revenue generated from the property taxes of that district toward the benefit of the district.
But it can also benefit the town as a whole and that was something Barkley emphasized several times at Friday’s meeting. His support for TIF is if it will ultimately benefit the entire town by making it possible for growth of the community.
The two TIF districts under consideration are for a proposed 168-unit housing addition that may be built by Roanoke developer Kevan Biggs on a 72-acre plat of open farm ground that is part of the Dorothy Clark estate.
If the development moves forward, its main entrance will be directly across from Davis Road. Biggs is in discussions with the Indiana Department of Transportation about making the current T-intersection a four-way intersection. It could qualify that intersection — one of Ossian’s four most dangerous intersections in Ossian — for the installation of a traffic light from the state, Wells County Economic Development Director Chad Kline had mentioned in earlier discussions with the town council.
Also, to accomplish the goal of creating the entrance, a portion of the former Ossian Furniture will have to be demolished, which is a further expense Biggs pointed out, he will have to incur.
The first phase of the proposed development is 51 lots. That will include 22 single-family villa lots and 29 single family home lots, Biggs said. The houses will likely start at $250,000 to $300,000, he added.
Biggs emphasized at Friday’s meeting that the development will not happen without TIF or a Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative grant from the state.
There was no equivocation in his statement. The costs of undertaking the kind of development he was proposing would not be economically feasible for him without both, he said.
Piggybacking on Biggs’ assessment, Kline has stressed that a READI grant will likely not be forthcoming without the town’s willingness to create a residential TIF.
“Part of the proposal of challenges we have are not only bringing the utilities onto that piece of real estate where they can be utilized but also setting up the town for future expansion,” Biggs said. “There is a significant amount of funding required of this development,” he added, “to not just put houses on that piece of real estate but also provide future access for infrastructure as the town continues to move north.”
A second challenge is, as Biggs phrased it, to fix some challenges that exist now in providing the sewage capacity that is needed for future growth. The plans are, if the Biggs development happens, to oversize the utilities in the proposed addition to accommodate future growth to the north of the development.
“We’ve been working very corroboratively with the town and with Engineering Resources (the town’s contracted engineering firm) to work on that solution,” Biggs said.
Biggs said he has been involved with other developments in the region that have received READI grant funds so he is familiar with that process. However, it was stressed again that without the TIF it was unlikely that READI funds would be forthcoming.
“Without both READI dollars and TIF, this project does not move forward,” Biggs repeated. “There’s a real challenge across the state for bringing residential development to smaller communities. Land prices, labor and material for infrastructure just make these kinds of developments undoable,” he added.
After discussion on the matter, the commission members — who are the members of the Ossian Town Council — voted 3-0 to adopt Resolution 22-10-1 to begin the multi-step process toward creating a residential TIF district for the Clark property. Commission member Jason House was unable to attend the meeting and member Jeff Kemper recused himself from the discussion.
Commission member Brad Pursley said it was his understanding that the residential TIF will have no impact on the property taxes of Ossian’s residents. Kline explained that the TIF captures only new assessed value of the district itself. The property would still be assessed and taxed using the existing tax formula in place currently.
A public meeting for the proposed housing TIF plan is set for 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Ossian First Baptist Church, 1001 Dehner Drive on Ossian’s north side.
The second matter addressed by the commission was to expand the Ossian Industrial Park economic Development area to create a new allocation area for a TIF downtown. The proposed TIF actually extends to the north beyond the immediate downtown as far north as the area occupied by Ginger Fresh Market and Ossian Do-It Best Hardware.
“The intention of this TIF is to utilize it as a tool to support development,” Kline said.
The immediate goal is to promote residential development in the downtown area occupied by BKM Real Estate and NAPA Automotive. It would include the vacant lot once occupied by the former Sile Distribution that was demolished two years ago by the town after the roof of the vacant building collapsed and posed a hazard of the entire building collapsing.
The area targeted for development does not impact Heyerly’s Bakery — except perhaps positively by improving the appearance of the block and possibly providing additional space for the bakery, Barkley observed.
“Again this is a first step,” Kline said.
The TIF will not finish until a potential developer is identified for the redevelopment project, Kline added. If structure demolition is required, the buildings will be demolished prior to the creation of the TIF.
The commission members, after further discussion, on a 4-0 vote (Kemper returned) adopted a map for the proposed TIF, a list of properties that will be included in the TIF, identification of the potential future development and a potential façade improvement plan for future development.
“This TIF area will not be created if there is not a project unless you choose to create it,” Kline said.
He added that the TIF will only capture the increase in assessed value of the TIF area.
Like the proposed housing addition discussed earlier, Kline questioned if any developer would respond to a request for proposal without a TIF in place.
glenw@news-banner.com
