The Porter County Board of Commissioners started Tuesday’s meeting with an announcement that there are no new developments in the process for the data centers proposed for Wheeler.

Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, read a statement on behalf of Porter County Development & Storm Water Management Director Mike Jabo, whose office is responsible for analyzing the application.

“As of this date, we have not received any revised submittals from QTS. We expect new information to become available in the near future,” the statement read in part.

As has become customary at the monthly board meetings, several members of the public took the opportunity to speak during the public comment portion at the end of the meeting to drive home their opposition to the plan.

Union Township resident Cheryl Johnson spoke at length. “What kind of company would come with no care or concern about the kids?” she said, echoing the main argument against approving the application because the two planned data centers totaling nearly 800 acres would be near two Union Township schools.

Biggs and Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, disagreed on how the county should handle its lease arrangement with the city of Valparaiso for after-hours use of the county parking garage just south of the Administration Building.

The board voted in June to double the city’s annual lease cost from $15,000 to $30,000, but Tuesday Regnitz said she would like to change her vote.

“I asked for that to be on the agenda and you wouldn’t allow it,” she said to Biggs, who sets the agenda as president.

County Attorney Scott McClure explained the contract with the city was automatically renewing year after year, and that was why it included a 90-day termination clause. A check for $4,917 was paid to the city on July 1 for refund of its remaining credit after it said it would not pay the higher fee.

Regnitz is concerned the county hasn’t sat down in talks with the city and said $15,000 is better than no revenue at all.

“I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world if it is not used. It’s less wear and tear on the building,” Biggs said, citing over $300,000 in repairs recently made to the structure and the need to recoup some of that expense, especially considering more work is anticipated in the next five years.

Regnitz said the large outlay was to be expected considering the county hadn’t spent any money on the structure in 30 years and that casual public use in the evenings was unlikely to put much stress on the building.

“It’s not true that we haven’t spent a dollar on that building in the last 30 years,” Biggs said. “It’s an expensive building.”

Porter County Auditor Karen Martin interjected that the building gets more than light use in the after-hours when neighboring residents park their vehicles there overnight. “What we could do is an evaluation and find out how many of those vehicles are being left overnight,” she said.

Martin and Biggs said a gate system could be used if the city doesn’t renew its contract, allowing employees access with badges and requiring payment from everyone else. “I would postulate that anything we would take in would not make up for lost revenue,” said Regnitz.

Biggs again brought up the city’s refusal to waive a $39,000 permit fee for renovations at the Porter County Jail, “which they use every day.”

“Because they have ordinances like we do,” and couldn’t waive it without the proper documentation, Regnitz countered.

Biggs said, “I asked for that protocol to take place and I was told there was nothing they could do.”

“You did get a copy of that, and that request was in writing,” Regnitz said.

“I don’t understand, Commissioner, if you feel this way, why you voted for it,” Biggs said of the parking garage fee increase for the city of Valparaiso.

“It was a surprise. It was not on the agenda,” she said. “I will not do that again.”

Finally, three people spoke during the public hearing held for the first reading of an ordinance for an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance to establish minimum requirements for personal solar energy systems in unincorporated Porter County.

“I have been waiting since November to get a permit to install solar panels on my properties and the federal government has the 30% rebate right now,” said Valparaiso resident Robert Carney.

“I would like it to be easy for somebody knowledgeable like myself,” said Steven Cergizan.

Nick Benninghoff, of Valparaiso, said he saw significant savings on his energy bill immediately after installing them on a rental property in another county and was “pretty shocked that we couldn’t install them here.”

Biggs said the second reading of the ordinance would be Aug. 5 and Jabo said property owners can make an application in the meantime so it can be reviewed and ready to receive a permit that day after the board approves the ordinance as expected.

Shelley Jones is a freelancer.