Madison County city hopes to establish industrial park with help from Senate bill
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A bill being considered by the Indiana General Assembly would allow the city of Alexandria in Madison County to annex about 460 acres for use as an industrial park.
Senate Bill 491, authored by Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, would make it easier for local officials to attract new businesses to the area, according to Alexandria Economic Development Director Alan Moore.
“Without zoning in place, it creates a challenge of being competitive,” Moore said. “So that’s kind of the obstacle that we’re looking at.”
The city currently has the Alexandria Business Park, which encompasses 460 acres and is home to a bioethanol production facility operated by South Dakota-based Poet. The land set for annexation goes beyond that park’s borders not far from State Road 28.
Moore said, with support from property owners, annexing the land would give the city control over zoning, which is something developers look for when making site selections.
“When we do the site visits, one of the questions everybody asks is, ‘Is it zoned?’ And as competitive as the market is, if the answer is not yes, then that’s a negative for your site location,” he said. “So [we’re] trying to attract industry, and we think this is an important tool to allow Alexandria to do that.”
The bill currently focuses on the 460 acres, but Moore said there is potential for expansion of another 550 acres in the future.
Moore said while the city is open to bringing in companies from all industries, there has been interest from manufacturers.
“Everybody’s obviously competing for the battery plants, the chip manufacturers because of rail access and the size of the site, and we’ve had visits of that nature,” he said. “But it’s open right now to whatever makes sense for the community and the business.”
If the bill is passed and signed into law, Moore estimates that it could take about a year for the annexation to be completed.
“It’s important for the community,” he said. “Obviously, there’s jobs. There’s also tax revenue, which benefits the school system. The entire community benefits from having a strong industrial base. There are some smaller communities that have successfully brought in companies, so Alexandria is trying to do that in order to lift up the entire city and the entire community.”
Inside INdiana Business reached out to Sen. Gaskill for comment but did not receive a response by deadline Wednesday.
SB 491 has been referred to the Senate Local Government Committee. It has not yet received a hearing.