News Tagged ‘American Oak’

The Starke County Planning Commission at their regular October meeting heard a request to reduce a building permit fee from Attorney Todd Wallsmith on behalf of American Oak.

American Oak is looking to construct a new 100,000 square foot building, but with the current fee schedule, Wallsmith said they would be looking at a cost of $20,000 for the fee. This five-figure cost, Wallsmith explained, highlights the commission’s need to rework their fee schedule which is currently set at $0.20 per square foot.

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David Pearman

The Starke County Council last week passed a motion to approve a proposed ordinance to allow American Oak to develop property in the North Judson Industrial Park.

Council President David Pearman says this is a great opportunity to expand the development in the industrial park. He says next to the American Oak property is some land with a lot of scrub trees, and American Oak is interested in putting some money into that property.

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North Judson Town Board

Walter Block presented the North Judson Town Board with information from a contractor’s union representative regarding procedures, violations and training for confined spaces.

Garland Rose had provided him with this information in regards to the recent incident in which a utility employee hung by his feet off a backhoe to remove a root ball that clogged a sewer line at American Oak. The employee of the department volunteered to be strapped to a strap by his feet suspended by a backhoe and he was lowered approximately 16 inches into a four-and-a-half foot manhole to retrieve the root ball. The employee successfully retrieved the obstruction within a matter of seconds and no injuries were reported.

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The Starke County Economic Development Foundation will be holding it’s “Prospectus and Achievements Night” next Thursday evening, November 10th.

Several awards will be given out that night. For the very first time, the Foundation is recognizing those industries which have been actively involved in business within the county for 50 years or more.

Executive Director, Charles Weaver, says the first to be recognized is almost 100 years old.

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North Judson Town Board: Dan Anderson, Wendy Hoppe, Jane Ellen Felchuk, Attorney Cassie Hine and Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller

The North Judson Town Board members held a lengthy discussion about safety at their meeting this week.

A picture of a utility employee hanging by his feet off a backhoe sparked the discussion as some thought a safety violation had occurred. WKVI learned that the owner of American Oak had requested the assistance of the North Judson Utility Department to help unclog a sewer line that his contractor could not successfully complete. It was found that a root ball was clogging the line. Due to the compact sewer area and the success of a previous similar issue, an employee of the department volunteered to be strapped to a strap by his feet suspended by a backhoe and he was lowered approximately 16″ into the four-and-a-half foot manhole to retrieve the root ball. There was no sewage in that area at the time and it had been vacuumed and cleared at the time. The employee successfully retrieved the obstruction within a matter of seconds and no injuries were reported.

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North Judson Town Board: Dan Anderson, Wendy Hoppe, Jane Ellen Felchuk, Attorney Cassie Hine and Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller

The North Judson Town Board discussed modifying the commercial building permit fees at their meeting last week.

The current fee schedule allows a commercial business to pay $.15 a square foot of new building construction. Instead, the Board plans to incorporate a flat fee per permit. If the new building or addition is 10,000 square feet or less, the permit will cost $250. If it is 10,001 or more, the permit will be $500.

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Youth Club volunteers helped take phone calls during the Radiothon

The Starke County Youth Club Radiothon brought in over $35,000 during its annual fund raising event.

With only minutes to spare, American Oak pushed the dial over the $35,000 goal to support the club’s activities for another year. Read the rest of this entry »

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