Starke County, Indiana

STARKE COUNTY , INDI ANA Key Valley REMC is bringing in trunk line cable to their substations that will supply the broadband needs for a large part of the community. It will be about an $8 million project and they’re conferring with other companies who would put up small towers to broadcast the broadband. We also want to move forward with housing projects. We’re short on mid-range workforce housing. And we need rental homes for young families or beginning workers.” Rowe: “We want those workers staying here. In North Judson, for example, we had to tear down a long-vacant building in our downtown and now there are empty lots. So, a big part of our Stellar Communities plan was a housing project with retail at the bottom and three floors of apartments. There are also places near our school that are prime for potential housing developments, and a plotted development of homes around Chesapeake Golf Course, as well.” Wickert: “Knox is our County Seat and they’ve done some street upgrades; resurfaced about 8.7 miles and added half a mile of roads. They’ve upgraded their stormwater system with new lines, relined their sewer lines, did upgrades to their wastewater treatment plant. And in their park, they added a splash pad, built a performance stage, and put up a new concession and restroom facility that is ADA- (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant. For three of those projects, half of the cost was done with donated work from local people. There was really good support to get those up. They also had a blight elimination program, with assistance from a grant to demolish older homes that were in bad repair. And they did a nice streetscape with murals in the downtown. Now they’re working on an urban revitalization plan. “Starke County has always looked after its communities and that will continue far into the future. We’re ready to move forward and we’re just waiting for the opportunities to do that.”