Jasper Redevelopment: Property purchase will allow access to The Parklands

The Jasper Redevelopment Commission approved continuing the process of purchasing small property on Schuetter Road to be used for access to The Parklands.

The land at 473 Schuetter Road is about eight tenths of an acre and is owned by the Dorothy M. Boeckman Trust. It was identified as a potential access point to the somewhat landlocked property in the CityVision created plans for the park since it didn’t have a residence on it.

The commission gave City Attorney Renee Kabrick permission to continue the process of purchasing the property. Appraisals have been completed but the price for the land is still in negotiation, according to Kabrick, who therefore would not release the price.

The purchase will have to be approved by the planning commission and the common council before returning to the redevelopment commission for final approval.

The commission also approved the following payments for services during the establishment of the tax increment finance area; Umbaugh & Associates for $7,500 and CWC Latitudes for $25,000.

Both firms reduced their fees to meet the amount originally approved by the commission when they contracted with the firms.

Legal firm, Barnes & Thornburg of Indianapolis, presented the commission with about $21,500 in billables; over twice the $10,000 amount the commission approved. Attorney Kabrick plans on contacting the firm to potentially negotiate the fees since the firm did not notify the city when it was approaching the approved fees.

“They did all the work they charged for and their work was outstanding,” Kabrick said about the additional charges. “If they (the development commission) had known that we had almost reached the amount approved, they could have made the decision to either continue to do more work (with the firm) or to back off from having them at certain meetings.”