Mooresville council approves Sunco, Wallace bids, moves forward on tax-abatement steps and routine payments

Mooresville Town Council on Feb. 18 accepted low construction bids for two town projects, moved ahead with declaratory steps on a tax abatement for Lot 8 in Innovation Park 67 and approved routine claims and payroll.

The council voted to accept Sunco's bid as the low bidder for work at 9 West Main Street. Council members said the project will use shared grant money; the grant portion is $110,000 and council materials list the additional $160,935 as the responsibility of the project representative, identified in the meeting as Steve Harris. The council also authorized the town manager (referred to at the meeting as Tom) to sign the contract once terms are finalized.

Separately, the council awarded the Community Crossings matching grant contract to Wallace Construction. Meeting documents show bids ranged from $766,707 at the high end down to Wallace Construction's $543,844.57 low bid. Council members said the town's 25% match will be drawn from the Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH) restricted fund, which staff described as an acceptable use for the match.

Council members also voted to proceed with a declaratory resolution for Lot 8 in Innovation Park 67, the first step in the town’s local tax-abatement process should the council later confirm the abatement in a subsequent action. Council materials say any final confirmatory resolution will be prepared by legal counsel and placed on a future agenda.

The council reviewed two statements of benefits from Sun Polymer — one for real property and one for personal property — and instructed staff to prepare declaratory resolutions. Staff noted a typographical error in documents distributed in the meeting packet: the manufacturing equipment investment on one form was corrected to $1,770,000. The council approved motions to move the declaratory paperwork forward to legal counsel.

On compliance matters, the council found Creative Foam Corporation in substantial compliance on both the real-property and personal-property statements tied to earlier resolutions (identified in the packet as Resolution 1-20-21 and Resolution 2-20-21) despite differences between estimated and actual employment and investment. Staff said Creative Foam's actual employment (22) is below the packet's estimated employment (70), but state guidance allows finding a company in substantial compliance when industry conditions outside the company's control affected performance. The council voted to find the company in substantial compliance on both items.

The council reappointed three executive redevelopment commission members (Ryan Taylor, Brian Culp and Greg Sweeney) and reappointed the executive nonvoting member from the schools (Dr. Jake Allen). The council also appointed Jared Overton and reappointed Aaron Pipkin to the redevelopment commission's remaining voting seats.

On infrastructure, council authorized staff to solicit separate quotes for sewer inlining in the Marleywood and Crestwood subdivisions and for separate manhole rehab work; the council asked staff to present quotes so the town can track work done to satisfy an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) inflow-and-infiltration commitment.

Finally, the council approved payment of claims in the amount of $657,631.93 and approved payroll clearing of $223,397.37.

Votes at a glance

- Accept Sunco low bid for 9 West Main Street and authorize contract signature by town manager once finalized — outcome: approved; tally recorded in meeting as 5–0. - Award Community Crossings matching-grant contract to Wallace Construction ($543,844.57 low bid) — outcome: approved; tally recorded as 5–0. Town 25% match funded from MVH restricted fund. - Table cemetery mowing bids for further review — outcome: motion to table approved; tally recorded as 5–0. - Proceed with declaratory resolution for Lot 8, Innovation Park 67 (first step toward tax abatement) — outcome: approved; tally recorded as 5–0. - Instruct legal counsel to prepare declaratory resolutions for Sun Polymer (real and personal property statements) after staff corrections — outcome: approved; tally recorded as 5–0. - Find Creative Foam Corporation in substantial compliance for Resolution 1-20-21 (real property) and Resolution 2-20-21 (personal property) — outcomes: both approved; tallies recorded as 5–0. - Appoint Jared Overton and reappoint Aaron Pipkin to the Redevelopment Commission — outcomes: both approved; tallies recorded as 5–0. - Authorize staff (Brian) to seek quotes for sewer inlining and manhole rehabilitation (Marleywood, Crestwood, other manholes) — outcome: approved; tally recorded as 5–0. - Approve payment of claims $657,631.93 and payroll clearing $223,397.37 — outcomes: both approved; tallies recorded as 5–0.

Nut graf: The council’s Feb. 18 business meeting focused on awarding construction contracts that will move two capital projects into contracting, advancing tax-abatement paperwork that could affect future investment in Innovation Park 67 and approving a mix of compliance findings, appointments and routine payments; most motions passed unanimously.

Ending: The council set a public hearing for the fire territory (noted in the meeting as occurring soon) and scheduled its next regular meeting for March 4. The town manager and legal counsel will prepare the formal declaratory resolutions and contracts the council approved in principle.