Lake Station gained a new light industrial business Thursday, but won’t reap tax benefits for 10 years.
Mike Aurelio, of Aurelio IV LLC, of Griffith, said work would begin soon to construct light industrial buildings at 968 Ripley St.
At its Aug. 14 meeting, the city council designated the site, between U.S. 20 and the Indiana Toll Road on the west side of Ripley, as an economic revitalization area for a period of 20 years.
That resolution stated the totality of benefits from the new development, including employee salaries, was sufficient to grant the 10-year abatement.
Aurelio said he typically constructs initial buildings on speculation and offers them to companies for rent.
“These types of projects are more difficult these days with interest, materials and labor high. I think we’ll be a good partner,” he told the council.
He said the first building would dictate what happens next. He said the site would be paved, clean, and without heavy docks. He operates a similar business in Griffith.
No one spoke at the public hearing on the abatement resolution.
In other business, sanitary sewer project manager Walter Jaime told the council the city recorded a 6.35-inch rainfall during a rainstorm Aug. 18-19 that led to a sanitary sewage overflow on 25th Avenue, east of Clay Street.
“That was the first overflow of that magnitude in many years,” Jaime said. “When the water table is high, you’ll get infiltration.”
Jaime said workers also repaired a sewer line collapse that created a sinkhole behind the Edison High baseball field. He said the collapse was near a lift station, and a 30-foot section was replaced.
Police Chief James Richardson said a team of officers is working on a dozen cold case homicides with a company that provides fast DNA results.
He said the department also received a grant to install cameras along Ind. 51 truck stops to stem a crime wave. “We’ve already taken one ring down, and arrest warrants are being issued.”
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
