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Saint Joseph County OKs Microsoft predevelopment MOU amid resident concerns about water, transparency
Summary
The county approved a multiparty memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to fund $12,577,375 in predevelopment work for the Saint Joe Farm site; residents urged greater transparency on water studies, public-records costs and potential tax-increment financing.
The Saint Joseph County Board of Commissioners voted March 17 to approve a multiparty memorandum of understanding with the City of Mishawaka, the county Redevelopment Commission and Microsoft Corporation to fund predevelopment design and utility work at the Saint Joe Farm site south of Granger.
Economic development director Bill Shalio told the board the MOU covers predesign and utility planning — water, sewer and roadway work — and establishes a Microsoft project fund of $12,577,375 to pay for the work, including professional services, project management, public-safety fees and property acquisition. Shalio said construction agreements would be negotiated later and that the MOU’s funding covers the professional-service phase only.
The MOU, Shalio said, is intended to clarify utility corridors, setbacks and engineering needed before a final site plan is submitted for plan review. He said some tasks — soil borings, potholing for utilities and locating high-pressure gas lines — must be completed quickly because of agricultural timing on the properties.
Several residents who spoke during the public-comment period asked the board to delay or reject the MOU until more information is public. Granger resident Ryan Patrick Callahan, who said his background is in public health and policy, asked the county to release recent water-quality reports and to direct DLZ to consult local residents about priorities for public utilities. "I would encourage the commission today to use your influence with Microsoft to establish transparency on items of public interest," Callahan said.
Janie Jaronak, a longtime Granger resident, said a prior town-hall meeting produced little information and that NDAs prevented staff from answering questions. "We should have public meetings. We as concerned citizens should know what's going on in our backyard," Jaronak said, and urged commissioners to vote no on the MOU.
Other speakers, including Steve Francis of Juday Lake Drive and Dan Caruso of New Carlisle, warned that a large industrial expansion could follow and said tax-increment financing (TIF) questions should be resolved at public hearings before development moves forward.
Shalio responded that Microsoft is covering the predevelopment cost and that the county’s design teams have worked with Microsoft for months. He acknowledged uncertainty on some details — "depending which newsletter you read here locally, it could be 5 buildings. It could be 6 buildings," — and said water and power use estimates will depend on final building and cooling choices. He also said that some cooling-system waste streams would not enter the municipal wastewater network and that the county will research decommissioning agreements and public-records/legal-fee questions with counsel.
After the public comment period, the board moved to approve the MOU; several commissioners recorded aye votes and the motion carried.
The county’s immediate next steps, per staff, are to complete predesign work, finalize engineering corridors and continue coordination with Microsoft and city planning staff before any construction agreements or permits are sought.
