North Judson officials discussed funding for the Stellar Communities Designation Program once again when they met Monday evening.
Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe informed the members who were not in attendance at last month’s meeting that a total of $5,000 was being requested.
The funding is intended to not only help Constellation of Starke officials secure a consultant for the Regional Development Plan process but to also pay for any additional preliminary costs associated with participation in the program.
As far as funding from other sources goes, County officials have committed up to $20,000, the City of Knox has committed up to $10,000 and the Starke County Community Foundation secured $11,000 in grant funding through the Lilly Endowment.
Councilman James Young, who also serves as a North Judson representative on the Stellar Advisory Committee, provided his input about the funding request.
He shared, “North Judson has a lot a lot to gain from this, working together with Starke County. I definitely think it’s to our benefit to go ahead and look at the money that we can put forward just to show that we’re serious about this.”
Young noted that he thought $5,000 was an acceptable contribution and added that he initially felt providing $7,500 would also be reasonable
Councilwoman Jane Ellen Felchuck made a motion to approve the $5,000 contribution, with the possibility to put more funding toward this purpose in the future. The motion passed with unanimous council approval.
