St. Joseph County Council

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.

Republican County Council member Amy Drake says someone sent Department of Child Services investigators and several county police officers to her Granger home at 2 a.m. for a welfare check. She wants DCS and police to investigate and prosecute the caller.

After an eight-hour meeting stretching from Tuesday into Wednesday, the council voted 7-2 against a New York developer's request to build 14 data shells, each the size of Notre Dame Stadium, on 1,000 acres of farmland near New Carlisle.

Supporters Monday held a press event saying the data center would not raise electric rates or stress water resources, but critics countered Tuesday with their own event refuting those claims.

The St. Joseph County Council is set to vote Tuesday on a rezoning needed by a New York developer to build a data center on over 1,000 acres along Chicago Trail near New Carlisle.

Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood says he's not in touch with the issues opponents have raised regarding a proposed data center near New Carlisle, but he thinks the project's job and tax revenue would benefit the local economy.

The city of South Bend, St. Joseph County and the Michiana Council of Governments would create a new nonprofit to administer the land bank program. It aims to reduce the number of vacant properties and create new affordable housing opportunities in blighted neighborhoods.

On the St. Joseph County Council, Democrats say businesses that receive property tax breaks should use mostly local firms to build projects while Republicans say the county's abatement process is too complicated and cumbersome for businesses.