Article submitted by Jamie Fleury, The Pilot News Staff Writer
David Miller of the Plymouth Picklers, a group of local Pickleball enthusiasts, updated the Plymouth Common Council Monday night on their pursuit of five dedicated Pickleball Courts to be located in Centennial Park along with their proposal for funding the project.
Continue readingTen people were arrested in the early morning hours on Sunday in a year-long undercover investigation called Operation Orthodox conducted by the Knox City Police Department.
Officers from the Knox City Police Department were assisted by the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and the Knox, North Judson and Plymouth Police Departments in executing the arrest warrants.
The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety held discussion on an amendment to the techFarm land sales agreement with Van Vactor Farms on Monday night.
Under the current agreement, which is amended from the original agreement, when land is sold in the techFarm area the money from the sale is split between Van Vactor Farms and the City of Plymouth. The city’s portion goes into a monetary gift fund to be used at the discretion of the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety members to enhance the city. Continue reading
Discussions will continue concerning mechanics within a proposed lease between the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety and Van Vactor Farms.
David Miller from Van Vactor Farms presented a proposal to the board during their meeting earlier this month and the company’s attorney drew up a simple agreement that was presented to the board Monday night that gives guidance on how money sold from land sales from the techFarm be allocated. Continue reading
David Miller of Van Vactor Farms approached the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety Monday night to discuss an amendment to a land sale proceeds agreement.
Miller reminded the board members of the donation of 20 acres of land out in the techFarm area on Miller Drive and Pioneer Drive back in 2004. Miller stated that the donation of land was a partnership with the city to build a techFarm on the northwest side of town. The original agreement called for a split of proceeds between the Van Vactor Farms and the city as land is sold for development. According to the original agreement, the money split would be used to help development infrastructure and other projects at the techFarm.
The Plymouth Redevelopment Commission will fund a downstream study in the TechFarm area that may ultimately result in the replacement of a culvert under Pioneer Drive.
According to David Miller from Vanco Development, a larger culvert needs to be constructed in the area. The current equipment has the potential to cause drainage and flood plain issues when projects develop on the TechFarm site and the surrounding area. A 100-year flood study was recently released which puts that area in a flood prone zone. All of those findings have led up to the needed downstream study to see how that culvert replacement could affect water flow downstream in the case of a flood event. Continue reading
David Miller from Vanco Development requested help from the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission with funding a $35,000 downstream impact study to ultimately replace a culvert under Pioneer Drive. The culvert has the potential to cause drainage and flood plain issues when the city expands development projects on the Tech Farm site and the surrounding area.
He explained that the culvert adjacent to his property located under the road isn’t maintained by his company. In fact, the city, county and state don’t have rights to maintain the culvert. Essentially, it lies within the drainage board’s property on the state’s right of way.
Representatives from Van Vactor Farms, Inc. presented the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety a check this week for their portion of the proceeds of the land sale at the techFarms site.
Patty Van Vactor Wright and David Miller presented a giant check in the amount of $111,493 for the city’s Monetary Gift Fund.
The techFarm is located on Miller Drive and Pioneer Drive on the west side of Plymouth and consists of 20 acres zoned industrial and 11.3 acres zoned as commercial land. The city helped extend infrastructure to the park in 2010 so the site is ready for development.
Funding for a footbridge to be built near the South Gateway Project was approved by the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety Monday night.
The $300,000 footbridge will cross the Yellow River on the south portion of the property near S. Michigan Street and Lake Street in Plymouth. The city’s share would be $90,000 which would come out of the city monetary gift fund which yields the proceeds of the sale of TechFarm property. The money is split between Vanco Development and the City of Plymouth.
