The Grant County Redevelopment Commission on a voice vote approved a proposed timeline and a draft map to begin establishing an Economic Development Area (EDA) and allocation area along the I‑69 and State Route 26 corridor.

The EDA proposal and timeline – described to the commission by attorney Samuel Meeks of Barnes & Thornburg and presented by commission staffer Bookout – will be used to prepare a declaratory resolution to be considered at a future meeting.

Meeks told commissioners the declaratory resolution “approves a map of an economic development area” and also includes an economic development plan that explains why the area was selected and the powers the commission would use to support development. He said the draft before the commission proposes the EDA be coterminous with the allocation area (all parcels in the EDA would also be inside the allocation area).

Under the statutory sequence Meeks described, after the commission adopts a declaratory resolution the proposal goes to the county’s plan commission to confirm conformity with the comprehensive plan, then to the board of county commissioners for assent. If those bodies approve, a public hearing is noticed at least 10 days before the redevelopment commission’s confirmatory resolution. Once confirmed, the allocation area is reported to the county auditor and the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for state reporting and inclusion in the state transparency portal.

Commissioners discussed the draft map’s rough boundaries with staff. Commissioners and staff described the mapped area as running from the gas plant near the interstate to the highway, reaching back to Wheeling Pike and east to roughly 700 East. Bookout said he had spoken with owners of the larger corner parcels; three larger parcels’ owners gave “positive feedback” and are open to conversations but are not ready to sell. He said a small, defunct Stuckey’s gas station at the southeast corner is a willing seller.

Commissioners and counsel emphasized the map and plan are draft documents that can be revised at later stages. Meeks said the commission could expand the area later by repeating the same approval steps: a new declaratory resolution followed by plan commission and county-commissioner approvals and a confirmatory hearing.

The commission took a motion “to approve the timeline and proposed timeline for the establishment of an I‑69 and State Route 26 economic development area along with the attached draft,” made by Commissioner William and seconded by Commissioner Harrington; the chair called for a voice vote and the motion carried.

Next steps reported by staff: finalize the declaratory resolution and map for a future meeting packet, circulate the draft to the plan commission and county commissioners as part of the intergovernmental review, and publish the required public‑hearing notice once those steps are complete.

The commission did not adopt any zoning changes; Bookout and Meeks reiterated that separate zoning and infrastructure processes would still be required for any future projects in the area.