Farmers and conservationists criticize Midwest Divide planning as county officials defend timeline and spending

Community Redevelopment Partners gave an update to the St. Joseph County Redevelopment Commission on the Midwest County Divide initiative, and members of the public used the commission’s comment period to press for more outreach and invoice transparency.

Sean, a Community Redevelopment Partners representative, told commissioners that the initiative began after local and state stakeholders sought a way to connect natural assets across the county. He said the county contracted CRP for $300,000 to lead planning, MKSK was selected to prepare a land‑use plan (about $250,000 of that contract), and the state approved an appropriation intended to seed the effort — $2,000,000 annually for 20 years — contingent on forming the commission and completing statutory corrections. “We started the process to coalesce stakeholders, protect natural assets and create a strategy that can drive quality of life in St. Joseph County,” he said.

The presentation emphasized that the land‑use plan remains incomplete…