ALBION — For the past several years, the local economy has been blessed with little to no inflation, according to retired banker and current Noble County Councilman George Bennett.
What kind of setbacks should be required?
A bill that passed in the Indiana House â but died in the Senate this past legislative session â would have set those guidelines for the entire state.
One provision in that bill would have allowed some local control. Any county with an ordinance in place before June 30 would have been exempt.
Even with that bill having failed, the Noble County Plan Commission is working to come up with its own guidelines as part of the countyâs Unified Development Ordinance.
âOur zoning ordinance doesnât have anything to do with solar energy,â Noble County Councilman George Bennett said during Mondayâs regularly scheduled council meeting. âThis is an important consideration in an area that has been neglected so far.â
ALBION â Noble County Sheriff Max Weber told the Noble County Council Monday that he plans to ask for additional manpower when budget hearings come around this August.
âI want to plan on adding a couple of officers,â Weber said. âI donât want any less than two.â
Weber provided the council with a detailed report comparing Noble County to counties with a similar population, and then compared that to the number of deputies those communities have.
The Indiana counties of Henry, Noble, Lawrence, Dubois, DeKalb, Marshall, Jackson and Shelby all have populations between 40,000-50,000, according to data provided by Weber. Noble County ranks No. 1 in population of those counties at 47,945.
ALBION â The Noble County Council made what it hopes is a rare exception to its tax abatement rules Monday, allowing a rural Kendallville company to claim a tax break despite running afoul of the countyâs guidelines.
KSN Kammerer LLC had been seeking a $700,000 five-year tax abatement on a 20,000-square foot addition.
The company had already begun construction before going to the council. Current rules set by the council allow an abatement on new construction only if the company has not yet broken ground on the project.
âThey did not know about the abatement process,â said Matt Brinkman, of Region III-A.