File Photo: 6th District City Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade
Gary City Council on hold about port authority
Contributed By:The 411 News
Sparks-Wade attacks 40-year-old law never put to use
Gary’s plan to activate a port authority is the worst idea the city’s administration is chasing or it’s the best way to bring economic development and growth to a city that sorely needs it.
Those differing views, put forth at the Gary City Council’s last finance committee meeting, frame the dilemma of a 2017 city leadership implementing a 40-year-old law that had lain dormant since it was enacted in 1977 by the Hatcher administration.
Ordinance 5247, approved by the city council on February 1, 1977, created the municipal port authority. The port, established under Indiana state law, has jurisdiction over all of the territory in Gary’s city limits.
First District Councilman Rebecca Wyatt said, “It sounds like a good idea, but I wonder why it was never acted upon.”
Announcing her choice for the 5-member port authority board in July, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson called the port a means to bring more businesses to the city and wouldn’t require any new legislation.
It’s not a traditional port requiring a deep water harbor for large cargo ships, like the port at Burns Harbor, the city’s economic development director Bo Kemp told the finance committee. “It’s for logistics and distribution companies that have a keen interest for locating in Gary.”
Because of the major highways and rail lines that cross the city, Kemp said companies like Amazon and Walmart would bring warehouses, terminals and other facilities, creating jobs for Gary residents.
The port authority board will determine where in the city those facilities would be located. According to state law, the board will have the power to acquire, own, hold, sell, lease, or operate real or personal property for the authorized purposes of the port authority.
Sixth District Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade argued against the city’s ability to activate the port and the broad powers of its board. “This is a council that wants to offer incentives for companies to stay here. What I don’t agree with is having a port that has eminent domain and bonding authority over the entire city for a warehousing and distribution facility.”
When acquiring land, if the port authority and property owners cannot agree, the board has the power to condemn the property. The board can ask the city to authorize general obligations, mortgage, or revenue bonds.
Councilwoman Sparks-Wade also said that Gary’s port authority is not recognized by the state of Indiana. Reading a report from the Indiana legislature’s Joint Study Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Assessment and Solutions that listed all the ports in Indiana, she said, “As late as 2014, these are the ports they recognize and Gary is not on there. If we’re not authorized to seat a board, all that we’re doing right here is futile.”
In Sparks-Wade’s debate with the council’s legal advisor Atty. Rinzer Williams about the validity of the city’s port, Williams responded, “There is no doubt the 1977 ordinance created the port. My only question is why the mayor’s appointments varied with the state statue.”
When the pending ordinance activating the port and naming the board members, C.P.O. 2017-52, was presented to the council in July, the mayor had nominated 5 members to the board. The nominees were Gary City Councilman Ron Brewer, Lake County Commissioner Kyle Allen, Delta Walker, Ken Stalling, and Michael Chirich.
According to the state law, the mayor can only appoint three members with the city council appointing the remainder.
The ordinance will remain in the finance committee until all questions are answered, said Mary Brown, finance committee chair.
Story Posted:09/18/2017
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