Hobart council weighs in on Little Cal levee fund
By Karen Caffarini Post-Tribune correspondent February 1, 2012 9:34PM
Updated: March 3, 2012 11:35AM
HOBART — Not wanting to miss the opportunity to have their voices heard in Indianapolis as they did with the right-to-work bill, the City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution opposing pending legislation to fund the Little Calumet River Basin Commission.
The council said House Bill 1264, which passed the state House by an 84-10 vote and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Local Government, should be defeated or amended.
The resolution also states that legislators from Northwest Indiana should work together to create legislation that would fund the commission through a fee structure that includes both Lake and Porter county parcels, reflects the drainage impact of a parcel and reflects the benefits the parcel receives from the commission’s expenditures; and allows for the commission to spend funds anywhere in the area the funds are collected.
The bill currently calls for everyone living in the Little Calumet River and Burns Waterway watershed in Lake County to pay $45 a year to fund the commission, but the money initially would be spent only within one mile of the river in both Lake and Porter counties.
The money would be used to complete the project, maintain and operate the levees and pay back a loan from the Regional Development Authority.
In return, those living close to the river to the west should pay less for flood insurance, or not have to pay at all.
State Rep. Ed Soliday, D-Valparaiso, has said Hobart will benefit after the first five years, but Hobart officials said they don’t see any proof of that in the bill.
“This bill is no good for Hobart from where it stands,” Mayor Brian Snedecor said.
“If there’s some amendment that protects Hobart, Lake Station, Crown Point and Merrillville, that assures that money is spent here on our drainage projects as well, then let’s talk,” he added.
He said he understands the need to share in the maintenance to take water away from Deep River, but added Hobart has never had any input in the Little Calumet River project and “now that they are running out of money they want Hobart to help pay for it.”
He said he is meeting with a local state senator who also has objections to the way the bill is written on Friday. He did not name the senator.
Councilman John Brezik, D-5th, suggested the council put off voting on the resolution so it could change some of the language, saying he heard the bill won’t be heard in the Senate in the near future.
But Councilman Dave Vinzant, D-4th, said he wasn’t convinced there wasn’t a time constraint, pointing out that it was too late for the council to also approve a resolution supporting the right for all workers to form unions and engage in collective bargaining as it planned to do Wednesday night.
The right-to-work bill passed Wednesday and was quickly signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
“This could be like right-to-work, and move faster than we do,” Vinzant said.
While House Bill 1264 has been referred to a Senate committee, no committee schedules had been publicly announced for next week as of press time.
State Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate along with Sens. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, and Karen Tallian, D-Portage, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
Sandy O’Brien, a member of the Friends of Robinson Lake, said she hoped something could be worked out because the Hobart Marsh mitigation project hangs in the balance.
“I would like to see that land restored. The benefit to Hobart would be great,” O’Brien said of the 350-acre project.
The bill would fund a portion of that project.
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