By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

NEW CARLISLE, Ind. — Plans to turn farmland into a huge industrial park outside New Carlisle are moving closer to final development and a vote – and calls to dump the plans are also heating up from protesters demanding more transparency and involvement from the public, as blueprints for the park move toward a final draft.

“I don’t think St. Joseph County has an unemployment problem. I don’t think St. Joseph County has a revenue problem. It’s some of the richest farmland in the Midwest. Why do we want to turn it into a concrete haven?” asked Dan Malicki.

He has 150 acres that he acquired from his parents, west of New Carlisle. He rents the land near the LaPorte County line to a farmer who uses it to grow corn.

“Farms Not Factories” and “Farms Not Pollution” were among the signs held by protesters at one of their most recent rallies. A petition seeking more information about the proposed Indiana Enterprise Center was also presented by the opposition during the Oct. 11 meeting of the St. Joseph County Council.

The St. Joseph County Open Space and Agricultural Alliance alleges too much of the development as it’s been taking shape the past 18 months has been done under a veil of secrecy.

Plans call for the industrial park to go on 22,000 acres of mostly farmland east of New Carlisle in the area of I/N Tek and I/N Kote. St. Joseph County Economic Development Director Bill Schalliol said he didn’t necessarily agree with the allegations, but more of an effort is being made to keep the public updated and allow people to be heard.

He said the proposed draft of the development should be finished by early November, then several public workshops will be held next month to go over the plan and make any necessary adjustments. Once the final draft is agreed upon, Schalliol said the plans will go before the county council and county commissioners for their recommendations.

Final approval will be sought from the redevelopment commission, probably in January. In the meantime, the public will be able to view the plans online as they’re posted and updated.

“That’s really the plan for the next couple of months,” Schalliol said.

Malicki said his land is about four miles or so from the proposed development. However, he said plans also call for a rail spur connecting two existing rail lines so the park can be served by railcars from the west and south – and the rail lines would be connected by a line running through his property.

He said the county should take its plans to where heavy industry once thrived, such as the south side of South Bend, that could use the help. “It’s ideally set up. It’s a blighted area,” Malicki said.

Schalliol, though, said sites elsewhere in the county to accommodate heavy industry, especially in the cities, are scarce. The site outside New Carlisle was chosen because of considerable interest from private developers and because its close proximity to I/N Tek I/N Kote has quick access to what industries desire.

“It’s got big water. Big power. Big roads,” he explained.