Council receives city wayfinding plan, and Corey Murphy has good news for the New Castle City Council this week.
Murphy, the president and CEO of the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corp. (EDC), told the city council on Nov. 3 that the EDC has sold its “shell building” in the industrial park on Memorial Drive south of the city.
Kentucky-based United Utility Supply has agreed to buy the 50,000 sq. ft. building, Murphy said. This will be the company’s first Indiana facility.
“We got near asking price on that facility and no other incentives,” he told the council.
Murphy explained that United Utility Supply sells its end products to utility companies, such as Henry County REMC. The REMC is also headquartered within the New Castle industrial park.
Murphy expects the new United Utility Supply facility to create 12 new jobs.
He also informed the city council that negotiations are underway to build another 25,000 sq. ft. factory across the street from the shell building. If the deal goes through, this new factory would house Ennio International, a food package manufacturer from South Australia. This would be the first U.S. facility the company would own.
“There’s still an opportunity for that deal to fall apart, but I feel comfortable enough talking publicly about it,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the new facility would be a $7 million to $9 million investment and would bring 50 new jobs to the area.
One of Ennio’s customers is Boar’s Head, which has three facilities along County Road 400 S. The new factory would be located within the Country Road 400 S Overlay District, an area designated to protect air emissions around the Boar’s Head plants.
The Henry County Planning Commission reviewed Ennio’s plans in October and voted unanimously that it met the overlay district restrictions. Murphy told the county planners at the Oct. 16 meeting that the manufacturing process is clean and will have minimal environmental impact.
Murphy told the city council on Nov. 3 that Ennio hopes to break ground on their New Castle facility before the end of 2025.
“They want to be operational this time next year,” he said.
New Castle Mayor Greg York told the city council that the New Castle EDC helped finance the sewer line along Hayes Way in the industrial park, which helped prepare the road for these prospective new factories.
York told the council there are also plans for more sewer and water expansion within the industrial park for future growth.
“We’ve got businesses coming, so if we don’t have infrastructure there, shame on us,” the mayor said.
In other economic development news, Murphy told the council that public infrastructure work is moving quickly on Washington Street for the new Brookfield Farms subdivision. The new houses will be built by Ryan Homes.
According to the plans, Brookfield Farms will have 85 homes in the next five years. The homes will be valued at $250,000-$350,000, based on buyers’ preference.
“We’ll see homes come out of the ground in the spring of next year or early summer,” Murphy said.
The bulk of the public infrastructure work is being funded by a $3 million award from Indiana’s Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI) 2.0 program.
“None of the grant money is going to the actual home construction,” Murphy told the council.
Murphy also presented the city council with a wayfinding plan Nov. 3.
Quoting American writer Bill Burnett, Murphy said, “Wayfinding is the ancient art of figuring out where you are going when you don’t actually know your destination.”
The study showed New Castle leaders what types of signage they could install and where to place those signs to best help visitors and even local residents find points of interest downtown.
“We’ve talked about this and talked about this. I see beautiful signs in other communities,” Mayor York said. “I would like to see us move forward with it as fast as we can. I feel like it’s time. Or past time.”
City Council President Rex Peckinpaugh recommended using Riverboat funds over time to implement the different phases of the wayfinding plan. No formal action was taken Nov. 3 on the new signage plan.
Council comments
During council committee reports, Council member Jeff Hancock asked about leaf pickup procedures.
Street Superintendent Lee Walker said the street department started picking up leaves about three weeks ago and will continue until it starts snowing.
Residents can rake their leaves onto the curbs for the leaf-vac to suck up. The piles should not have sticks in them.
People can also bag their leaves and set them on the curb. There is a limit of 15 bags, and they will be picked up on regular trash day, Walker said.
Council member Mike Guffey thanks emergency responders for their quick response to a fire in his neighborhood Sunday.
Peckinpaugh congratulated Park Superintendent Mike Bergum and park department for the new Pickleball Plaza by Baker Park. Peckinpaugh said even in the cooler weather, players are packing the new courts. Hancock, who has championed pickleball in New Castle for a decade, also thanked Bergum for the work.
Bergum reported that all eight projects at the Pickleball Plaza have either been started or completed.
“We’re still well under budget on what we decided we’d like to do on each of those projects,” Bergum said. He said a few more details and upgrades still in the next couple of weeks, including around the horseshoe pits.
State Road 3 update
Mayor York and Public Works Director Dave Barker announced that traffic patterns on State Road 3 will shift on Nov. 19.
Barker said traffic will have one lane of travel on both sides of the highway. Contractor Milestone will continue working on the new concrete medians that separate both directions of travel, Barker said.
Other business
In other business, the city council passed Ordinance 3965 to update certification pay for the city’s union employees.
York said the amended contract will give those employees an incentive to take additional schooling for their certifications.
The council suspended the rules and fully adopted Ord. 3965 with a 6-0 vote. Council member Aaron Dicken was not at the Nov. 3 meeting.
The New Castle City Council meets again at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17 in council chambers, 227 N. Main St.
– Story by Travis Weik (Editor@TheCourierTimes.com) of The Courier-Times. Read more local stories at TheCourierTimes.com.