Members of the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission heard from Katie Lear and Greg Wendling from USI Consultants about the proposed second phase of Veterans Parkway from Michigan Road to Pioneer Road in Plymouth.
The project would essentially be funded by both Marshall County and the City of Plymouth with two-thirds of the cost being the county’s responsibility. The city’s responsibility of one-third of the cost of the project would come from TIF Funds in the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission’s budget. The county would apply for the project between Michigan Road to Oak Road and the city would apply from Oak Road to Pioneer Drive (or Pine Road).
To make the application more competitive, INDOT recommended that some preliminary engineering work get underway. If that work gets started, the project may be more likely to be funded as there is local investment in the project.
Lear said it was recommended that a notice to proceed is approved to get preliminary engineering report work done through Stage 1 design. The city’s cost would be $210,000.
It was also recommended that the application be split where the county would apply separately from the City of Plymouth as a competitive strategy. Commission Member Nancy Felde asked about the process moving forward if the county was awarded funding and the city was not awarded funding. Lear said an Interlocal Agreement between the city and county should tandem both applications, but she pointed out that INDOT officials believe it is a good project and encourages local entities to take the recommended steps for the upcoming application.
The Plymouth Redevelopment Commission gave support to the project and the members authorized obtaining a proposal from Baker Tilly to do a feasibility analysis on TIF 1 and TIF 3 to fund the project. Resolutions were also approved that would amend the economic development plans for the U.S. 30/Oak Road and U.S. 30 and Pine Road Economic Development Areas.
The application will be submitted by both the county and the city in December with an award to be announced in January. The project would receive funding in 2027, but it could be expedited to 2024, if awarded, depending on available funds.
The project has also received support from the Marshall County Commissioners and Marshall County Council in previous regularly scheduled public meetings.
