Bill schalliol

The St. Joseph County Redevelopment Commission on Tuesday will consider whether to hire a firm to study the feasibility of installing a pedestrian tunnel under the two sets of railroad tracks in New Carlisle.

An agreement before St. Joseph County commissioners Tuesday would require the county, city of Mishawaka and Microsoft to find an alternative funding source for water infrastructure if the county council won't approve a tax incremental financing district.

St. Joseph County is managing the water extension project and Microsoft is paying for it, and then the city of Mishawaka will assume ownership and maintenance of the new water lines.

St. Joseph County economic development director Bill Schalliol Aug. 25 will seek county council approval to create a tax incremental financing district at and around the Granger Microsoft data center site.

St. Joseph County Commissioners President Carl Baxmeyer says commissioners are looking for a law firm outside of the county to objectively review whether they should fire economic development director Bill Schalliol and area plan director Shawn Klein, over citizen complaints about their handling of recent development proposals in rural areas.

St. Joseph County Commissioners Tuesday announced they'll appoint an independent counsel to review allegations against economic development director Bill Schalliol and area plan director Shawn Klein. Commissioners were not specific but said the allegations involve the Midwest Continental Divide Trail project and a solar farm.

Although Microsoft isn't seeking a property tax break, St. Joseph County economic development director Bill Schalliol says the county is still asking the tech giant to pay for new water and sewer lines to spur growth in Granger beyond the data center.

St. Joseph County has decided not to study a new rail corridor along Capital Avenue, despite getting a federal grant for that purpose.

Now that construction is underway on Microsoft’s Granger data center, St. Joseph County officials are promising to keep an eye on disruption to the surrounding community.

Statewide advocates for electric ratepayers and the environment came to Granger Wednesday night to talk about the data center that Microsoft will start building this summer. They urged Microsoft to be more transparent and they called on St. Joseph County officials to watch out for constituents as they negotiate a development agreement.