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Council briefed on APC comprehensive-plan procurement and thoroughfare-plan timeline; $100,000 budgeted, vendors may require more
Summary
Council members heard that three firms remain under consideration to update the county’s comprehensive plan and thoroughfare plan; the estimated cost range cited by staff was roughly $275,000 to $425,000, with $100,000 already budgeted in the APC line and possible future requests to the county.
Boone County officials said the Area Planning Commission (APC) has narrowed proposals for a countywide comprehensive plan and thoroughfare update to three firms and expects interviews by the end of the month.
Staff told the council the APC budget currently contains $100,000 for the project, and the three finalists’ price proposals were described during the meeting as roughly $275,000 to $425,000 depending on scope and selection. Council members were told a final contract amount should be available in April after vendor interviews.
The county’s comprehensive-plan timeline is linked to a moratorium covering wind, solar and carbon-sequestration development, members said; staff estimated roughly 14–16 months to complete the plan, which will also include an updated county thoroughfare plan.
Council members discussed whether municipal jurisdictions inside the county — including Whitestown, Zionsville and Lebanon — would participate or be separately responsible for parts of the plan. Staff said existing municipal comprehensive and thoroughfare plans would generally remain in force inside each municipality’s corporate boundaries; the county plan update will focus on unincorporated areas but will be coordinated with municipalities so border plans are consistent.
Several members pressed whether projects in the county plan could require future county expenditures — for example, replacing or widening bridges to match a new thoroughfare alignment — and asked whether developers and municipalities would share costs where a county project advances municipal thoroughfare objectives. Staff said developers have historically paid for some bridge work related to new developments and that the county maintains a bridge fund that covers county responsibility for bridge approaches.
Staff also said a prior expectation of grant funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to help pay for the plan did not materialize; the APC will proceed using the budget allocation and may request additional county funds depending on the vendor selected and project phasing.
Council members requested notice when the APC makes its vendor selection and said they expect any request for funds beyond the budgeted $100,000 to come to the council for consideration in April.
