Kosciusko County Council approved Thursday a tax abatement for Torrent Engineering and Equipment, which plans an expansion worth over $2 million.
The Milford maker of snow and irrigation machinery plans to buy a piece of light industrial property and invest $565,000 in renovations to an existing structure there. The company also will build a new 11,000-square-foot building and buy $170,000 worth of new equipment, attorney Randy Morgan told council.
The expansion will grow the number of employees from nine to 21 over a period of three years, with a payroll increase from $500,000 to $1.5 million.
Council approved a five-year phased-in abatement on personal property and 10-year abatement on real estate.
At the outset of the meeting, President Bob Sanders introduced Tom Anglin, who was chosen by a Republican caucus last month to replace Jim Moyer. The District 2 representative left council to take a job as assistant county surveyor.
Anglin, who has spent four decades in Kosciusko County government, last served in 2012 when he lost his council seat to Jon Fussle in the primary election.
Also Thursday, council approved:
• A $2,000 additional appropriation for the county Alcohol and Drug Program for the purchase of workbooks. Drug and alcohol offenders use the books in six- or 10-week classes on making better choices, Nicole Wallick, a caseworker with the program, told council.
• Several appropriations for the Highway Department, including $143,445 for bituminous material, $30,000 for new road surface paint striping and $20,000 for salt. Another appropriation of $49,890, which will be covered by a grant, will go toward grading a railroad crossing at CR 600N and Ind. 15 where gates and flashers will be installed.
The bituminous purchase was funded by the wheel tax, which Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden said enabled the county to chip seal 67 miles of road and pave another 17 this year, compared to 10 miles of chip and zero paving the county might have otherwise been able to afford.
• A number of fund transfers and appropriations for the sheriff’s department, covering everything from a Department of Natural Resources grant for lake patrol to payroll and vehicle repairs.
(Story By The Times Union)
