Bryan Tanner

St. Joseph County Council Republicans are asking Amazon to give back some property tax breaks but a leading Democrat accuses them of political posturing.

St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says the Midwest Continental Divide Trail would have largely used rights-of-way that edges private property, like abandoned railways, but he understands people come to view that as their property since they maintain it.

The St. Joseph County Council Tuesday night unanimously passed a resolution requiring county commissioners to bring any sale of Portage Manor property before the council for approval. Commissioners President Carl Baxmeyer noted the commissioners must sign any council actions into law.

The new limits on low-frequency sounds that industrial operations can emit won't apply to Amazon's data center because its building permits have been issued but they will apply to the data center that Microsoft will soon start building in Granger.

St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says he sympathizes with people living north of the Toll Road who might want to complain about low-frequency sound but it will not be possible to accurately measure sound from the data center when the Toll Road makes so much noise itself.

St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says since the county is creating nearly half of the animal control work for the Humane Society of St. Joseph County, its funding to the nonprofit should increase accordingly.

The St. Joseph County Council's four Democrats will maintain their governing coalition with Republican Dan Schaetzle but he'll no longer serve as president in 2026.

St. Joseph County Council Democratic President Pro Tem Bryan Tanner says Democrats' coalition with Republican Dan Schaetzle worked well, including tapping cash reserves to shore up police pensions and double road repair spending.

A St. Joseph County Council committee will consider new restrictions on low-frequency sound, the kind we feel rather than hear, that's emitted by industrially zoned operations like data centers.