The Fort Wayne City Council meets tomorrow at 5:30 pm in Regular and Committee Sessions.
Download the full agenda here.
Downtown Improvement District
The Downtown Improvement District will be making their annual presentation to the City Council. The presentation will be an overview of the DID’s accomplishments, highlights, and activities over 2020.
One of the resolutions on the agenda is R-21-02-03. The resolution also includes the Redevelopment Plan for the West End Economic Development Area.
From the resolution:
A resolution confirming the approving order of the Fort Wayne Plan Commission and Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission Resolution 2020-38 concerning the establishment of the West End Redevelopment Project Area and Economic Development Area.
This resolution establishes an Economic Development Area for the existing downtown St. Joseph Hospital and the new Lutheran Downtown Hospital currently under construction. The areas are adjacent to each other and include the block that St. Joseph Hospital covers and the block where the new hospital is being constructed. The Allocation Area, however, will only include the block of the new hospital.
The new hospital is a $118 million, five-story structure containing approximately 191,000 square feet. It will include a 19-bed emergency department, a six-suite operating room, two gastroenterology suites, imaging services, robotic-assisted surgery, and laboratory services.
That investment by the Lutheran Health Network includes the construction, new equipment, site preparation, and demolition of the old hospital, which is expected to commence after the new hospital is opened. According to city officials, the demolition will possibly the largest demolition project in the city’s history. After completion of the demolition, the block will become surface parking for the new hospital.
Remediation to the new hospital site was necessary as there was a former gas station in the block. The storage tanks were removed several decades ago; however, contaminated soil was not. To bring the site up to the stringent environmental standards for a hospital, the contaminated soil was removed, and the area had remediation procedures applied.
The Lutheran Health Network is a for-profit business, which means they have been paying taxes on the existing facilities and will pay taxes on the constructed facility when completed.
This is the resolution that would be sent to the Indiana General Assembly to inform the body of the Fort Wayne City Council’s opposition to Mayor Tom Henry’s proposed 1 penny tax increase of the Allen County Supplemental Food and Beverage Tax. Senator Travis Holdman is the chairman of the Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee and last week stated that no Food and Beverage legislation would be considered this session. The COVID-19 pandemic and the effect it has had on businesses has been the reason offered up for the opposition. It is felt that adding any taxes would further burden businesses already struggling.
S-21-01-12, S-21-01-13, and S-21-01-14:
Also on the agenda are the purchases of Diesel and Unleaded fuel for the City’s Fleet Department. The contracts total $2,310,000 and are between the City and Lassus Bros. Oil, Inc.
S-21-01-19
An ordinance approving the purchase of thirty-six months of Computer Services benefitting the infrastructure utilized by the City of Fort Wayne and Allen County, for a total of $11,696,762; from and through KSM Consulting by the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
This is to upgrade the computer systems and network infrastructure currently used by the City of Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne City Utilities, and Allen County government. All city and county departments use the equipment. The total cost is split between the aforementioned agencies.
The ordinance includes the full contract.
There are many other ordinances and resolutions on the agenda as well. Download the full agenda here.
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