The Bloomington City Council doled out praise for a project that would bring Hoosier Energy’s corporate headquarters to a location north of Tapp Road and east of Ind. 37, with its first round of discussion on the proposal Wednesday.
Council members voted 7-0-1 in favor of a “do pass” recommendation to vacate a right-of-way on South Tech Park Boulevard, and then 7-1 to recommend approval of a 10-year tax abatement for the energy cooperative. Those moves, when officially voted on next week, will make way for Hoosier Energy to take advantage of its option to buy land for the project from Public Investment Corp. of Bloomington.
Currently, Hoosier Energy has a facility north of the city on Ind. 37 but is hoping to have its new facility erected by December 2014 to house 116 of its employees. It chose the Bloomington site from about 60 others. The company’s board still has to approve the project in March.
The council and staff cited several of the positives of Hoosier Energy’s plan. According to Danise Alano Martin, Bloomington’s director of economic development, the new facility will bring $11.1 million in employee payroll to the city. And while there will be an abatement, the headquarters will send money into a Tax Increment Financing District that, at the moment, has no money coming in.
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