Culver officials working on proposal to EDA
5-30-03
By Stacey Creasy
Pilot News
CULVER � Culver officials conducted a workshop Wednes-day which means they are now prepared to submit another pre-application to the Economic Development Administration to upgrade the town�s infrastructure.
Culver Town Manager Jeff Sheridan said the Culver Re-gional Infrastructure Develop-ment Project will ultimately assist the citizens of Culver more than anyone else.
If the town can obtain a $175,000 grant from the EDA, it will be well on its way to rebuilding its water and sewer services.
Extending water to Houba Inc. is the project that got the proverbial ball rolling, but Sheridan said the Culver Re-gional Infrastructure Develop-ment Project goes well beyond services to Houba.
�This will greatly increase our odds of getting someone in Walker-Tenneco,� Sheridan said. �It will help us extend services to Houba, but the people of the community will be the biggest winners from this.�
Culver does need to put together between $3 million and $3.5 million to extend water and sewer services to the Houba, Inc. plant.
Houba, Inc. is a division of Halsey Pharmaceuticals based in Rockford, Ill. The company has been producing the drug Doxycycline hyclate, an effective treatment for a number of illnesses, including anthrax at the Culver area plant for more than 10 years.
Officials at Houba claim they have reached their potential given the resources they have at the rural plant. In order to expand the company, they need water and sewer services piped to the site.
Culver cannot afford to extend the services. Instead, the town council is seeking funding from state and federal agencies. Sheridan said Houba has also agreed to pay a portion of the project cost.
The town ran into what Sheridan calls �a glitch� with the first pre-application to the EDA. The first pre-application was denied based on statistics from Marshall County. Sheridan and town officials have put together a second pre-application that shows how the infrastructure upgrade will be a direct benefit to surrounding counties like Starke County.
�If we can get somebody back in Walker-Tenneco, that will be a direct benefit to Starke County,� Sheridan added. �Most of the people that worked there before were not from Culver. They were from outside the county.�
When Walker-Tenneco pulled out of town, the plant manager estimated two-thirds of the employees resided in Starke and Fulton counties.
Sheridan is hoping once a pre-application is approved by the EDA, they will submit an application. With the EDA funding, the town can begin to upgrade the infrastructure which could help attract businesses and ultimately lower various tax rates for Culver residents.
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