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Commission corrects contract for Midwest Continental Divide planning; public commenters press for spending transparency
Summary
The commission approved a corrected contract for Midwest Continental Divide planning after staff discovered a duplicated $37,500 line item (totaling $75,000). Public commenters raised questions about consultant fees, lobbying expenses and the lack of a released draft from prior spending.
The St. Joseph County Redevelopment Commission approved a corrected contract with Community Redevelopment Partners to address an administrative error in a previously approved amendment and heard pointed public comments calling for greater transparency in how consultant and planning funds were spent.
Staff said the contract approved at the prior meeting inadvertently included two $37,500 provisions (a total of $75,000) even though commissioners had approved a single $37,500 increase. One $37,500 in the corrected document covers legislative services related to recently enacted Senate Bill 228, which staff said enables designation work for the Midwest Continental Divide Coalition; design services are to be contractually covered by the City of South Bend under its own contract.
During public comment Dan Caruso of New Carlisle said residents would have preferred earlier public notice and input on some items and opposed a proposed diverging-diamond interchange and large-scale dewatering plans, telling the commission, “first no divergent diamond. We do not need the divergent diamond.”
Derek Deer, the St. Joe County surveyor, urged commissioners to scrutinize spending tied to the continental-divide work, saying the project “may get up to $40 million over 20 years,” and flagged previously paid invoices—roughly $245,000 according to his statement—and payments for lobbyist participation. “We're also paying for people to go down and act as lobbyists on our dime,” Deer said; he asked the commission to review invoices and contracting practices.
An online commenter, Steve Francis, asked why a reported $300,000 in planning funds had not produced a publicly available draft and requested more direct staff engagement with constituents.
Commissioners approved the corrected contract document on a motion and second. Staff described the change as an administrative cleanup with no increase in total contract value or timeline and said the corrected document will replace the earlier amendment in the records.
Why it matters: The item combines a routine administrative correction with community concern about oversight of consultant contracts and the use of public funds for lobbying and planning. Commissioners agreed to correct the contract; public commenters asked for additional documentation and answers to outstanding invoice and deliverable questions.
