St. Joseph County Council

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.

Democratic St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner worries a data center ban could trigger lawsuits from developers that will increase the county's legal costs. But Republican Council Member Amy Drake says he's being too cautious on the issue.

While the Amazon and Microsoft data centers are coming, the St. Joseph County Council now seems to have majority support for a ban on new hyperscale data centers.

Republicans on the St. Joseph County Council are calling for a two-year data center moratorium, while Democrats and the business community say that would jeopardize local control on major land use projects and close the door to future economic growth.

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

A group of homeowners on Elmwood Avenue on Mishawaka's southern edge are asking the St. Joseph County Council to close off their street with a barrier because cut-through traffic has grown so much in recent years.

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.

Four Republican St. Joseph County Council members are asking Amazon Web Services to voluntarily pay into a fund that would give homeowners property tax relief, despite the council granting the tech giant an abatement in August 2024.

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.