Burns Harbor
Redevelopment Commission administrator Joseph Rurode said it’s been a
traveling road show lately, meeting with regional leaders and maintaining
open lines of communication with potential master developers while also
working on the RDC’s communication strategy once a development consultant is
hired.
“We’re looking
forward to turning the corner what comes next,” he told the RDC on Thursday.
Rurode later said
he spoke with a friend across the country and his jaw dropped when he heard
the names of the firms responding to the town’s request for consultants to
devise a plan to implement the town’s 2009 master plan.
Ruroade said after
the meeting that there’s no specific timetable when a master developer will
be chosen. “It’s a matter of doing it the right way.”
Eleven lead firms
using a total of 30 subsidiary firms have submitted proposals. Deadline for
the submissions originally was Oct. 20 but was extended twice to eventually
Nov. 25. The RDC has met several times since then in closed executive
session reviewing the proposals, which may contain confidential trade
secrets or sensitive financial information.
Thursday’s special
meeting, which was followed by an RDC executive session, took the place of
the scheduled Dec. 30 monthly meeting, which has been canceled.
In other business,
the RDC voted unanimously to extend its current contract with four staff
members through March 31, 2015. The four were hired in September through the
balance of this year.
Retained with the
same compensation and contract termination clause were Danielle Ziulkowski
as communications manager for $2,000 per month; Tina Rongers of Karnerblue
as a grants developer for not to exceed $18,000 based on $100 per hour;
Rurode as RDC administrator for $5,000 per month; and Stu Summers as RDC
coordinator for $120 per hour not to exceed 15 hours per week.
The RDC does not
use a recording secretary; member Jeff Freeze does the minutes.
RDC member Cliff
Fleming said Walter Cook Insurance Agency with offices in Merrillville and
Valparaiso has assumed operation of the Frain Insurance business at 311
Melton Rd. Fleming said he has encouraged the new agency to keep the
business in Burns Harbor, either at the current site or in another location.
Also Thursday, the
RDC agreed to send the Duneland School Board a letter requesting that Ralph
Ayres, a School Board member, be retained as its appointment to the RDC.