A new property project is underway for the town of North Manchester.
This project would involve the purchase of land to create new residential housing, bring in new businesses, and stimulate the town’s economic growth.
Currently, North Manchester is known as a bedroom community and most residing there commute to either Warsaw or Fort Wayne for work. Thomas Dale describes this venture as a two-edged sword.
“Just because we do not have many businesses in our town does not mean we do not want to improve,” he said.
There was concern from some visitors about how much this project will cost, and they also made point that going through with this project does not guarantee the sprout of business. Others said these future homes will bring in younger families and will certainly be a benefit for developing the community. They agreed North Manchester wants to keep its small-town feel while offering opportunities to create jobs closer to home.
The project has two appraisals and the bonds have been issued. The board and community hope this expense will bring North Manchester the prosperity it is ready to achieve.
HF Group has brought forth a tax abatement proposal and has asked for two new Kodak printers.
“HF Group has been a major asset to the community,” Dale said.
The two printers would cost $640,000 altogether, but these machines would be able to print entire books from PDF files. This would allow the company to work directly with a publisher via email. A print job and the book binding process could be cut down to 48 hours, according to Jim Heckman.
Because the business has been serving the community for 74 years, the board did receive HF Group’s proposal well. HF Group wants to expand and diversify its fields to better serve the community and stay with the pace of competing, nonlocal companies. With this investment a few high-status employment opportunities with reasonable salaries would also come, the town heard. In time, this purchase could be another asset in the broadening of businesses.
The traffic signals project has been put on hold for the time being. The two dated streetlights in town are still completely functional, but in need of eventual improvements that could reach up to $95,000 in expenses. These additions are much more costly than the board first anticipated.
Laura Rager pointed out this item of business has been discussed various times and it might be easier to drop the project unless it does become a problem. James Smith urged the board to postpone the issue until the next meeting to be sure this proposal received a proper evaluation. The board has decided to wait for what Dave Schoff can tell them by the next board meeting. He will be meeting with a specialist to see if there is an alternative that would be suitable that is in the range of the board’s budget.
(Story By The Times Union)
