Muncie board okays $85,000 Habitat developer agreement; approves claims and temporary parking

The Muncie Board of Public Works and Safety on Aug. 20 approved a developer agreement committing $85,000 to Greater Delaware County Habitat for Humanity to support construction of a single-family home on West Charles Street and also voted to approve the weekly claims register and a temporary parking permit request.

Gretchen Cheeseman, director of community development, presented the agreement and said the project will involve the building trades program at Muncie Community Schools. "They are very anxious to get started," Cheeseman said.

The developer agreement is described in the meeting as $85,000 in city support for development of a single-family home on West Charles Street. The transcript lists two nearby addresses during discussion, "2407 West Charles" and "2704 West Charles Street," and did not clarify which address is the project site; the exact street address was not specified in meeting documents presented verbally.

Board members also approved the register of claims for $412,921 and granted a temporary parking permit request from Andrew Seager to allow about four to five cars to park off-street for a private gathering. The claims, minutes and parking permit were acted on by voice vote; no recorded roll-call tallies were provided in the verbal record.

Cheeseman said Habitat is partnering with the local building trades program at Muncie Community Schools on the house and indicated the organization has completed required environmental review for the project.

Votes at a glance

- Approve minutes of the Aug. 13 meeting — motion approved by voice vote. - Approve register of claims, $412,921 — motion approved by voice vote. - Approve temporary parking request for Andrew Seager (allow 4–5 cars for a private gathering) — motion approved by voice vote. - Approve developer agreement with Greater Delaware County Habitat for Humanity, $85,000, for development of a single-family home on West Charles Street — motion approved by voice vote.

Each motion passed by a voice vote with no opposition recorded in the meeting audio.

The developer agreement directs city funding to a local affordable-housing project and pairs the construction with a local high-school building trades program. Meeting materials provided to the board were not read into the record in full during the presentation; the board approved the agreement after Cheeseman's remarks.

The board adjourned after a short public-comment period.