Conservancy district agrees to be annexed by LaPorte in exchange for water and sewer work

LAPORTE — The City of LaPorte has reached an agreement to annex the 39 North Conservancy District without a bitter legal fight between the two governing bodies.

The city council last week unanimously approved an agreement setting the terms of the annexation. That agreement was subsequently ratified by the conservancy district board.

Under the agreement, the city will pay $2 million for water and sewer lines the district installed to attract new business and housing development once the conservancy formed in 1997.

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The money will be distributed to property owners within the conservancy district in the form of credits on their water and sewer bills.

The city must also live up to its promises, such as replacing water lines with larger ones and other upgrades to improve water flow and fire protection.

Replacing the lines would allow for further development, because current lines are large enough to serve only existing customers.

City Attorney Nick Otis praised the conservancy for attracting enough development to raise its assessed property tax valuation from $4 million to $40 million.

Otis said the district has outlived its ability to further grow, however, by not being able to finance the improvements needed for its water system, while the city has the means to pay the estimated $10 million cost.

“There’s only about 150 property owners out there, so you’re talking about a $10 million project that would have to be funded by a small group of individuals,” he said.

The council also approved an ordinance to annex about 70% of the conservancy district territory, consisting of more than 900 acres along Indiana 39 from about Severs Road to the Indiana Toll Road.

City Planner Craig Phillips said the remainder of the ground, containing over 30 parcels north of the Indiana Toll Road, could not be annexed at the same time.

He explained the land sought to be annexed next will not be contiguous to the city limits as required by the state until after the first parcel is brought inside the municipal boundaries.

Phillips said the public now has 90 days to file an appeal to the first phase of the annexation.

If there’s no remonstrance, Phillips said, the annexation will become official in early December.

He said any challenge would likely fail because the city has signatures from 57% of the landowners requesting annexation within the conservancy district.

Under state law, municipalities must have 51% of the signatures from supporting property owners to annex.

Mayor Tom Dermody, who aggressively led the charge down the once-bitter road toward annexation, gave thanks to everyone involved in making it become reality, including the 39 North Conservancy District Board.

“It’s been a long negotiation,” he said.

The once-hesitant district board started negotiating more after the city obtained enough signatures to meet the state requirement.

Conservancy District Attorney Shaw Friedman said he advised board members to accept the terms of the agreement because the city would likely win any legal effort.

Friedman said a courtroom defeat would have meant the conservancy being left empty-handed.

“It’s really the feeling of both the district and the city this is a win-win all the way around,” he said.

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LaPorte Economic Advancement Partnership Executive Director Bert Cook said the prospects of further growing that area are high, judging by the number of developers that seem to be waiting for the water system improvements.

Speaking to the city council, Cook said, “the action you take tonight and as we move forward toward the end of the year, I think, will put us in a place to be able to help those companies construct in our community, create jobs and really invest in the city of LaPorte and LaPorte County, as well.”

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Conservancy district agrees to LaPorte annexation for water, sewer work