FEDCO sewer funding gets OK
170 acres affected

BY CHRISTINA M. SEILER
News Editor, The Sentinel

The Fulton County Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval for Fulton Economic Development Corp. to build a $1.23 million sewer lift station on the northeast side of Rochester.

Proposed: A lift station near Indiana 25 and Fourth Street to accommodate seven existing businesses and the development of 170 acres.

The only question voiced was whether the city sewer line along East Fourth Street has enough capacity to handle future growth. FEDCO chief Shane Blair and Mayor Mark Smiley will check.

Blair said he'd like to return to the council with more details in two months and start construction in the spring.

The council said it was the first viable move toward an industrial park they've seen. Blair noted the lift station will provide shovel-ready land and help him market existing buildings.

A bond issue, payable with County Economic Development Income Tax funds, would be payable over 12 to 15 years and still leave the county $4.31 million of bonding capacity for other projects, said Todd Samuelson, of Umbaugh Associates.