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La Porte City Board of Public Works and Safety approves $5 million REDI 2.0 grant for new YMCA center; allows early contractor hours
Summary
On July 15 the La Porte City Board of Public Works and Safety approved a contract tied to a $5,000,000 REDI 2.0 grant to fund infrastructure and site preparation for a new YMCA Community Recreation Center adjacent to Fox Park. The board also authorized limited 6 a.m. starts and occasional Saturday work for related contractors through September.
La Porte City’s Board of Public Works and Safety on July 15 approved a contract related to a $5,000,000 REDI 2.0 grant to support infrastructure and site preparation for a new YMCA Community Recreation Center west of Fox Park.
Craig Phillips presented the agreement, saying it is with the Northwest Indiana Forum via the State of Indiana’s Indiana Economic Development Corporation and that legal staff reviewed the contract. "This has been reviewed by our legal staff... it's boilerplate language," Phillips said. He told the board the figure in the application reflects the total anticipated investment and that the local match is provided by project partners, not by the City of La Porte.
The board discussed timing and oversight. Phillips said the state deadline for expenditure of REDI 2.0 funds is late 2028, giving the project roughly two and a half years for completion of work funded by the grant. A board member raised the potential future use of the existing YMCA building — saying a priority would be senior affordable living — and Phillips noted the selected site’s proximity to trails, housing and shopping as supportive of the project’s goals.
A board member moved to approve the contract; the chair seconded. The motion passed by voice vote.
The meeting also approved a related operational request for contractors working on the PIN fusion parking lot and pad preparation in Newport Landing. Phillips said crews travel from the Eastern Time Zone and asked that they be permitted to begin work at 6 a.m. local time and, if needed, on Saturdays. "They would like to start at 6AM our time... it would just help them," he said, adding that the early starts would also reduce work in extreme heat. The board authorized early starts and Saturday work from July through the end of September; that motion likewise passed by voice vote.
Before the business items, resident Lily Allen gave public comment about a separate personal incident involving what she described as incorrectly filed DMV paperwork, a traffic stop and the towing of her car. Allen said she paid $258.46 to the police station and $400 to a towing company and asked the board to help secure a refund; the chair and a board member directed her to submit a ticket appeal and to contact Assistant Chief Youleman (extension 2002) and said staff would follow up.
The board adjourned the special meeting after approving the items.
Next steps: city staff and project partners will proceed with contract execution and project planning consistent with the grant timeline; staff will also follow up with the resident about the ticket-appeal process.
