NIRCC to help find consultant for next step in county plan

The steering committee for a new countywide plan for the next 20 to 30 years moved ahead on Friday with more than 30 people – many of them local government leaders – agreeing to have the chairman of the group, county commissioner Steve Bailey, contact the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council for advice on getting a consultant.

Bailey said he will work out a date for the next meeting of the committee and publicize it for public attendance as well. Friday’s session was at least the fourth led by Bailey, all in the Adams County Service Complex in Decatur. The consultant will serve as an “enabler or a facilitator” for the county’s effort, said Bailey.

He added that a consultant would also play a key role in reaching out to the public for views and opinions. As he put it: “We need someone to come in and ask us – ask us a lot.” By “us,” he meant the county’s residents – to gauge their outlooks, concerns, ideas, and potential solutions.

Among the many points made at the event were these:

• The provisional name for the project is “Adams County Vision 2026 and Beyond,” which connects the push for betterment with the 200th anniversary of the county and Decatur, the county seat, since both were created in 1836. However, it was noted that the consultant firm could amend or reframe that title. At the meeting, someone referred to the fact that Adams is alphabetically first among Indiana’s 92 counties as he suggested this name: “Keep Adams Number One.” Another man advocated a do-it-yourself strategy for a county plan, with no outside help.

• Bailey called for more focus on the bedrock agriculture foundation here, counting farms, land value, ag-related businesses, and other farming connections of importance. He also spoke of stressing the county’s existing “quality of life and quality of place” as

this project “builds a plan and action steps for the very best Adams County we can create.”

• Conversation turned to making the county more attractive to people who work in Fort Wayne, but don’t want to live there. Among problems identified with this, as North Adams Community Schools Superintendent Kim Hiatt said, is that, in Decatur, about 45% of the homes are occupied by “empty-nesters and retirees,” which means an aging population. Coni Mayer, the executive director of the Adams County Community Foundation, said some local grandparents move away to live closer to their grandchildren.

• Although the local group will not replicate Allen County’s overall plan, since it’s 10 times bigger than Adams, Bailey said the Allen plan covers parks and environment, community services, transportation, economic development, agriculture, housing, and public facilities and infrastructure.

• The Amish community, which is large and growing, must be involved and, according to one speaker, is willing to be included in such planning. Bailey called for “building trust” with the Amish, saying, “We’re sincere in needing their help.”

• Colton Bickel, the executive director of economic development for the county, said no one in the county should be excluded. It was also suggested that the eventual countywide plan should involve aspects of the development plans of Decatur, Berne, Geneva, and Monroe. Bailey said the Wabash County plan, which he and others have examined, does just that. His remark led to one man saying that more attention ought to be paid to the county’s rural areas, to which Bailey replied, “We’re going to focus on the county” as a whole.

• Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord said he’d like to see the city add at least 1,000 residents to it’s officially-recognized total of 9,918 because the city would welcome a larger tax base to assist with future water and sewer projects on aging pipes and as the city seeks to build a new fire station and buy a new firefighting platform truck.

• Bickel said the planners must avoid turning the final product into a “municipality versus agriculture” document and should strive for a “unified” result to “bolster” everyone at the same time.

• Rickord and Pat Laux, the operations manager at the Thunderbird Products powerboat plant in Decatur, said the city and its suburban areas need much more affordable middle-class and upper middle-class housing.

• Decatur’s mayor further noted that 30% to 40% of workers do their jobs remotely and that many younger workers he talks to tell him they can’t find what they need or want in Decatur, so they go elsewhere. When someone mentioned the many houses surrounding Grand Lake St. Marys in Ohio, Rickord drew chuckles when he remarked, “I’m waiting for the county to build a reservoir.”

• In regard to Rickord’s remark about working remotely, Baikey twice referred to a need to expand broadband internet and communcation capabilities throughout the county.

• Ed Hirschy, a rural Decatur resident, asked how the final plan will be distributed to the public.

Bailey said the completed “action plan” should have a person delegated to spread the word. The local news media will also be involved. Hirschy also advocated a public survey to obtain people’s views more fully, such as asking why people moved here and why those born here stayed.

• Bickel said the plan should be reviewed at least once a year and Bailey stated that the plan would be “highly visible” to the public as it seeks to “realistic and attainable goals.”

• Rickord reported that, throughout Indiana this year, $750 million will be available for business and industry projects and development plans such as the one here are always sought when companies consider where to locate a building or a production operation.

• Jim Langham, an area minister and newspaper reporter, said the plan should point out the “unique” offerings of the county, referring to recent media coverage of writer and naturalist Gene Stratton Porter, who lived first in Geneva and later in Rome City, Indiana. Langham added that annually-changing downtown Decatur sculpture display is another one-of-a-kind feature that ought to be boosted.

• Regarding Langham’s uniqueness angle, one man suggested that a tour of the county be given to pinpoint all of its offerings, especially in the southern half. The last such tour was done in 2004, said Bob Rhoades of Geneva, a member of the county council.

• Mayor Rickord declared that even though Decatur did not win a large Stellar Grant for downtown amenities several years ago, the city pushed ahead and developed the Madison Street Plaza as a centerpiece for downtown activities and it paid off handsomely, as opposed to “so many downtowns falling apart.”

• Bickel said early-learning sites should be meshed with housing projects to help draw people to live here, pointing out that King’s Kingdom Church set up a 95-person daycare site in The Merit Center in Decatur (on Dayton Ave., where Northwest Elementary School once was) and Grace Bible Church began a daycare for 25 to 30 children. He said Wells County is doing similar things under the title “Imagine Early.”

• North Adams superintendent Hiatt noted that her school district has 100 children in a new preschool program through the statewide On My Way Pre-K project and about 50 more in a daycare. After the meeting, she added that if families obtain a state waiver, they can send their children to the two NA programs free. The normal cost is $40 per child.

• Regarding business and industry, Laux brought up the concept of “productivity per person,” while Rickord pointed out that a lot of people live in Ohio, work in Decatur, but pay their income taxes in Ohio, not Indiana, so potential revenue is missed on this side of the state line.

• Nate Rumchlag, the county engineer and a Decatur resident, said that if the county’s population drops, local fees and taxes will have to come from a smaller base of people if the county maintains or wishes to increase its level of services. Earlier, he spoke about the need for smaller cities to remain “vibrant” to prevent unwanted unban sprawl into what have been farms since the 19th century.