Chesterton is poised to finance the remodeling of the town hall and fire station with $2.5 million in general obligation bonds.
The Chesterton Town Council Monday took the first step toward obtaining the bonds. The council will have a final vote on the bonds after holding a public hearing at its next meeting on Feb. 24.
Chesterton is planning to use annual revenues collected from the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district to pay off the debt. The district was recently expanded to include the town hall and fire station property at 8th Street and Broadway.
The town hall and fire station project is expected to cost about $2.8 million.
The fire station construction will include a two-story, 2,000-square-foot addition along with remodeling the office space and sleeping quarters for firefighters.
The town hall project will include a number of technological updates and remodeling.
In other business, the council awarded contracts for new parking lots and road projects.
Grimmer Construction Inc. of Highland was awarded a $1,269,149 contract for building two downtown parking lots in the 100 block of Grant Avenue and the 100 block of Indiana Avenue.
Downtown parking lots will help to accommodate visitors for the European Market, held downtown every Saturday from May through October. Downtown businesses had also identified parking availability as a need.
The council also awarded contracts to Rieith-Riley for $589,583 for Community Crossing road projects and to Milestone Contractors for $810,701.50 for annual paving projects.
Brian Lewandowski of Benlew Enterprises told the council that their company recently purchased the vacant building at 538 Broadway with the idea of redeveloping it into office space for small businesses.
Lewandowski said he wanted to gauge reaction to his proposal, given that the town is doing a new comprehensive plan. He said that it’s likely he will have to seek variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
“What you’re proposing is better than what we got,” said Councilman James Ton, R-1st.
Councilwoman Erin Collins, D-2nd, urged the public to contact the state senators and representatives about the potential dire financial consequences if the legislature approves Senate Bill 1, which is a property tax reform bill.
While Collins said she supports meaningful tax reform, “As the bill is written today the financial impact would be catastrophic for our town’s budget.”
Collins said that under the proposal, the town would lose $1.1 million in revenue in 2026, up to $1.38 million in 2027 and up to $1.677 million in 2028.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
