The Portage City Council decided Tuesday to redo the Carlson Farm annexation to straighten out a few legal wrinkles.
The council approved the annexation ordinance before the fiscal plan, but state law wants it done in the reverse order, City Attorney Ed Graham told the council.
Graham said the council’s intentions were good, but he recommended a do-over.
Councilman Collin Czilli, D-5th, is one of three holdovers from the previous council. He remembers the meeting when the annexation and fiscal plan for the Carlson Farm property was presented.
“The fiscal plan was presented to the council that night. We had a question about it. We shouldn’t have proceeded until we had that question resolved,” he said.
The fiscal plan was approved Feb. 6.
Graham said he believes the requirement for a public hearing has already been met, but he’s checking to be sure.
Mayor Austin Bonta added that Redevelopment Director Dan Botich was approached by the developer, Providence Real Estate Development, to write a fiscal plan. That was before Botich became the city’s redevelopment director, Bonta said.
Providence still wants Botich to do the work, promising to reimburse the city for his time. The Board of Works will take up that issue, Bonta said.
About two-thirds of the 120-acre Carlson Farm property is already within the city limits. The remaining 38 acres are south of the city limits.
“You may have an opportunity to review the merits of the petition, but probably it should be just a finality,” Graham said, since the fiscal plan and annexation have already been approved.
Councilman Ferdinand Alvarez, D-At-large, cast the sole vote against the annexation when it was approved earlier.
Providence plans to build a mix of traditional single-family and villa homes on the site.
The Plan Commission recommended bringing the property into the city with R-1 zoning, for single-family homes, before hearing details on Providence’s plan.
In November, a Providence representative said the attached villa homes would cost about $290,00, and the single-family homes would range from $340,000 to $400,000.
In other business, the council heard from Beautification and Sustainability Committee member Carl Kurek, who asked the council to consider changing the new group’s status from a committee to a commission.
“Becoming a commission opens the door for grants and opportunities we could not have as a committee,” Kurek said.
The committee has visited with the Michigan City Sustainability Commission, which has received numerous grants for solar projects and other improvements in the city, he said.
Porter has a similar town commission, Kurek noted.
Bonta asked Clerk-Treasurer Liz Modesto to weigh in on any potential fiscal issues. She suggested Kurek’s committee get an attorney’s help and draw up a fiscal plan as well as an ordinance that spells out the structure and function of the commission.
Council President Victoria Vasquez, R-3rd, thanked Kurek for bringing this issue before the council as well as the committee’s work to clean up litter and otherwise beautify the city.
“I love your Facebook page. I appreciate all the time and energy you and your fellow members have put into this,” said Councilwoman Penny Ambler, R-4th.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
