The Portage Redevelopment Commission started the process of issuing a $10 million bond to pay for a bridge and other infrastructure improvements to open up about 450 acres on the city’s north side for development.

The RDC adopted a preliminary resolution for the bond Thursday, the first step in borrowing the money. The resolution covers hiring Barnes & Thornburg to do legal work for the bond.

Redevelopment Director Dan Botich said the work includes connecting Burns Parkway to U.S. 12 from the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission office on Southport Road in the Ameriplex complex.

The work is important not just for opening land for development but also for extending the Marquette Greenway, which will eventually stretch from Chicago to New Buffalo, Michigan.

The roadway will become a boulevard similar to national park roads, Botich said.

The $10 million would be the local share of the project’s total cost. Botich is still looking for funds for the remainder, including a potential federal RAISE grant or state READI funding.

Once the road is completed, the city could see a $450 million to $500 million investment in that 450 acres, Botich said.

The state requires the city to have “skin in the game,” he said, so the bond is needed.

Further along in the process, specific projects will be listed, Botich said.

Mayor Austin Bonta said the city investigated other avenues for funding the road and trails, and the bond seemed the most appropriate option.

“You don’t have to go for the maximum,” Botich said, if other funding sources arise. The $10 million figure sets a maximum amount to borrow, just as the maximum interest rate for the 20-year bond would be 7%.

Portage Township School Board member Wilma Vazquez, a nonvoting member of the RDC, asked about the RDC’s outstanding bond obligations. That’s going to be spelled out in a work session next month, and it’s listed in the RDC’s annual report, Botich said.

The RDC is also looking at residential tax increment financing districts for future subdivisions, including Bauer Farm and Sandy Trail, Botich said.

The RDC delayed action on the proposal for another month while the city works out details with developers. Botich said the TIF plan calls for the developers to pay a fee to the city up front that would be used for a variety of purposes, including raises for police officers approved by the City Council this month. That annual fee would disappear when the subdivision is considered fully built out, meaning 90% of the lots have been developed.

The fee would vary for each subdivision. “The numbers will be different because of the size of the neighborhoods and the investment involved,” Bonta explained.

Developers hope to see the program details ironed out within 30 days, Botich said.

The RDC also agreed to budget up to $300,000 next year for the north side sewer interceptor project. That helps pay for relocating the planned major sewer line away from north side acreage so the property retains its high dollar value.

The RDC purchased that property shortly before the city went to bid on the project, utilities department General Superintendent Tracie Marshall said.

The city had built in $500,000 for that contingency, but the actual cost turned out to be up to $800,000. With the RDC paying the extra amount next year, the work can go forward.

“I want to stress it’s not because utilities did anything wrong,” Bonta said. The city had designed the interceptor in the most cost-efficient way, but running the interceptor down the middle of that parcel would devalue the property, he said.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.