A special meeting was held at the North Judson Community Center last week regarding the industrial park, and while nothing definite was decided, the meeting brought together members of the community to share ideas and gather information.
The industrial park has been dormant for quite some time, and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation wanted to work with the North Judson Town Council to put their heads together and come up with some potential possibilities for the development of the park. The meeting also reviewed any current issues with the park.
Starke County Commissioners Dan Bridegroom and Kathy Norem were in attendance, along with Starke County Economic Development Executive Director Charles Weaver, North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry, Town Council President Wendy Hoppe, council members Tim Cummins and Jane Ellen Felchuck, Town Superintendent Marshall Horstmann. Larry Wickert of the Economic Development Foundation was also in attendance.
A few issues with the current location were pointed out. The main issue with the location is that there is no access to a state highway, so Bridegroom presented a figure on extending the street along the industrial park to State Road 39. He says the project would cost at least $4.5 million, and the town would have to cover 20 percent of that cost.
Another issue with the property is that the minimum desired acreage for an industrial park is at least 80 acres, and the current location only has roughly 40 acres.
Henry says the meeting was very successful, and everyone went home with a to-do list to work on before the next discussion regarding the park takes place.
