Residents press DuBois County Council to oppose Midstates Corridor; council delays vote

A group of DuBois County residents urged the county council on Monday to adopt a resolution opposing the proposed Midstates Corridor, and the Property Rights Alliance presented a draft resolution that the council said it would study rather than vote on at the meeting.

Mark, a representative of the Property Rights Alliance, read a proposed DuBois County Council resolution (draft number 062325-1) that would oppose the Midstates Corridor project, decline support for eminent domain or additional county tax funding for the highway, and prioritize protecting residents, farmland and the environment. The draft cited a June 11, 2021 state appropriation for improvements to US 231 and argued that improvements to the existing US 231 should be prioritized instead of a new terrain highway.

Mark read the resolution aloud and offered paper packets to council members. "This is a resolution opposing the Midstates Corridor project," he told the council as he read the text.

Dozens of residents spoke during the public-comment portion and at the council invitation. Speakers described loss of productive farmland, damage to multigenerational homesteads and potential economic effects on Jasper-area businesses if a bypass limited local access. "We will be disrupted by this road," said Bob Pfister, one of several residents who identified themselves as farmers or farm owners. Howard Bartels, who said he owns a farm near Honeybird, told the council he would be open to discussing targeted improvements to the existing highway but opposed a diagonal four-lane bypass across his land: "What they wanna do is run a 4 lane highway diagonally from the...town that's been in my town since 1851. I have a problem with that."

Speakers from the opposing side of the project emphasized some distinctions: representatives of the Property Rights Alliance said their group supports the improvements Governor Holcomb announced in 2021 to the existing US 231 alignment but opposes construction of the new corridor alignment as proposed. The draft resolution singled out concerns including displacement, loss of farmland and forest, potential environmental damage, and forecasting it called pro-project economic claims speculative.

Council members said they had received many letters and petitions — speakers at the meeting said petition signatures collected against the project in DuBois County exceed 12,000, with more than 10,000 counted strictly within the county — and they thanked residents for the respectful comment. Council President said he did not want to force a vote that night and preferred more time to study the draft resolution and gather information. "I don't feel as a council president that I wanna...bring this letter to a vote tonight. I think we need to study it," he said.

No formal council vote was taken on the draft resolution. Council members asked for additional information, expressed concern about local fiscal impacts if the county were asked to assume maintenance of roads, and invited residents to bring additional evidence and to attend future meetings. Representatives from the Property Rights Alliance offered to host tours of affected farms and to provide further documentation; the group announced a public meeting and invited council members and the public to attend.

Speakers

- Mark — Property Rights Alliance (presenter; nonprofit) - Bob Pfister — Resident/farm owner (citizen) - Howard Bartels — Farm owner (citizen) - Council President — DuBois County Council (government)

Discussion and decision

Discussion points: Mark presented a drafted council resolution (062325-1) opposing the Midstates Corridor and cited prior studies and public opposition; multiple residents described land- and business-related impacts; petition counts and petition collection methods were discussed.

Direction: Council asked staff to review the draft, collect additional information and petitions, and return with more material before any vote.

Decision: No formal action was taken; the council deferred a vote and will study the resolution further.

Authorities

- type: resolution (draft), name/description: "Council resolution number 062325-1 (draft) opposing the Midstates Corridor project", referenced_by:["midstates-corridor-resolution-oppose-2025-06-23"] - type: other, name/description: Governor Holcomb 2021 appropriation for US 231 improvements ($75,000,000), referenced_by:["midstates-corridor-resolution-oppose-2025-06-23"]

Clarifying details

- category: petition count, detail: speakers reported over 12,000 total signatures collected opposing the Midstates Corridor with over 10,000 from DuBois County residents, value:12000, units:signatures, approximate:true, source_speaker:Meeting speakers - category: resolution draft, detail: resolution text opposes new terrain highway, will not support eminent domain or additional tax funding; requests prioritizing improvements to existing US 231, value:n/a, units:n/a, approximate:false, source_speaker:Mark - category: state appropriation, detail: May cite Gov. Holcomb appropriation of $75,000,000 for improvements to US 231 (June 11, 2021) as referenced in draft resolution, units:USD, value:75000000, approximate:false, source_speaker:Mark

Proper_names

- {"name":"Midstates Corridor","type":"other"} - {"name":"US 231","type":"location"} - {"name":"Governor Holcomb","type":"person"} - {"name":"Property Rights Alliance","type":"organization"} - {"name":"DuBois County","type":"other"}

Community_relevance

- geographies:["DuBois County","Jasper"], funding_sources:[], impact_groups:["farm owners","small businesses along US 231","residents near proposed corridor"]

Meeting_context

- engagement_level: {"speakers_count":20,"duration_minutes":120,"items_count":1} - implementation_risk: "medium" - history: [{"date":"2025-06-23","note":"Draft resolution presented; council deferred vote to study matter further."}]

Searchable_tags:["midstates-corridor","transportation","eminent-domain","farmland","petition"]

Provenance

- transcript_segments:[{"block_id":"block_1133.5701","local_start":0,"local_end":180,"evidence_excerpt":"Okay. The Du Bois this is to the Du Bois County Council of State of Indiana. Council resolution number 062325Dash1. It's a resolution opposing the Midstates Corridor project... the council opposes the Midstates Corridor project, will not support eminent domain... Adopted, if you would, this day of 06/23/2025.","global_start":1133.57,"global_end":1296.0,"tc_start":"00:18:53","tc_end":"00:21:36","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"block_1565.4249","local_start":0,"local_end":180,"evidence_excerpt":"Anyone else have any comments?... I don't feel as a council president that I wanna...bring this letter to a vote tonight. I think we need to study it.","global_start":1529.5751,"global_end":1565.205,"tc_start":"00:25:29","tc_end":"00:26:05","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]

topics:[{"name":"transportation-midstates-corridor","justification":"Direct local debate over a proposed major highway alignment and county-level fiscal and land-use impacts.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":0.98,"depth_score":0.90,"opinionatedness":0.12,"controversy":0.92,"civic_salience":0.94,"impactfulness":0.95,"geo_relevance":1.00}}]