City council approves $400,000 mall infrastructure ordinance

Kirsten Adair, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·5 min read

Dec. 7—The Logansport City Council passed an ordinance Monday to allot $400,000 from the city's American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for infrastructure near the mall.

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is a federal stimulus package that gave local governments money to offset the effects of COVID-19 in their communities. Local governments must follow certain federal regulations when spending the money.

Council Member Carl McPherson expressed concern that the money could be better spent elsewhere and suggested that the council wait to fund additional work at the mall until seeing profits from new businesses there.

"We supplied Joe (DiCosola) with money out there," he said. "We gave him over $300,000 for sewer. We built him a road for over $70,000, $75,000. Until he gets cash flowing, instead of (us) giving him the $400,000, he should just slow things down until he gets cash flow to do it."

Logansport resident Paul Willham also questioned the ordinance and whether the money should be spent on smaller local businesses that have been greatly affected by the pandemic instead. He added that the mall project could be a risky investment if the country enters a recession and expressed concern that retail businesses will not fill the space.

Bill Cuppy pointed out that previous work at The Junction was not completed specifically to benefit DiCosola. He said the road benefits all the businesses in that area, and he added that DiCosola did not need the sewage infrastructure, but installing it benefited multiple businesses like AT&T, a local church, the new Home2Suites hotel and a bank as well as the mall.

"Obviously progress continues up there," Cuppy said. "There hasn't been any money flowing to him from this group, so my opinion is that if he was in trouble, things would have stopped a long time ago. I see definite progress with what's been done (at the mall) since you improved (the ordinance) last month after the first reading. All the curbs, the striping, and the sidewalks are all done now."

Cuppy also said it is appropriate to use ARPA funds to cover the infrastructure because DiCosola and the mall project were significantly impacted by the pandemic. He addressed concerns by describing efforts to reach out to small businesses throughout the pandemic and said that 46 businesses applied for assistance. The city had the funds to help 50 businesses, but Cuppy said no additional businesses applied to fill the last four spots.

"We did work really hard to get local people money," Council member Amy Densborn said.

Cuppy added that ARPA funds can be spent on a combination of local businesses helpful projects, and he detailed the work already completed on local facades and ongoing efforts to help the city's small businesses. He said the mall project is another crucial component of drawing visitors to the city, especially with the hotel in place.

Cuppy also said the mall project is valuable to the community and should have the same opportunity to receive COVID-19 relief as other projects and businesses in the city, especially since the project is expected to greatly benefit Logansport.

"The ARPA statute does say that this money can be used to build a strong and resilient equitable recovery by making investments that support long-term growth and opportunity," he said. "As we've discussed, (DiCosola) is $6 million plus out of his pocket already. It's a $12 million project, and the guesstimates are that it's going to generate a $260,000 annual tax. He was instrumental in bringing the hotel here, which is another $100,000 plus annually. We greatly needed the hotel, which hopefully will be open by the end of the year. I don't know how I can state again how important I think this is."

Cuppy also emphasized the pandemic's impact on the mall project and said DiCosola has worked with many delays and price increases.

"He bought (the mall) a week before COVID hit," he said. "We know what that did with the delay and the carrying costs that he carried with his debt. It delayed him selling the piece off to the hotel, it delayed materials, it delayed labor. It's delayed a lot of things, so yes, he's been impacted."

Council Member Dave Morris also spoke out about why it makes sense for the city to pay for infrastructure development around the mall.

"We've been talking about doing something with the mall area forever," he said. "... I think we owe it to our community and to a guy who stepped out on a ledge at probably the worst time you could time things, not knowing about COVID and what was coming. I think we do owe him a little bit gratitude, and I won't say it has to be financial. In this case, everything that we're asking to do will benefit that area, not just Joe. We pay for the streetlights downtown. What's the trouble with paying for streetlights at the mall? We pay for paving downtown. I don't see any harm in the paving being done to have access to get in and out of the mall. Same with the sidewalks."

The infrastructure ordinance passed 5-1, with McPherson being the sole "no" vote. Council Member Jonathan Nelms was absent and did not vote on the ordinance.

"Now we have something you can be proud of as you drive by," Cuppy said. "We're building it and we're going to fill that thing. We've got the ends already done, we've got the middle filled, and now we're just going to fill it in. Visibly, it's much better for Logansport. People can stay in those hotels overnight when we have visitors, they can look out the window, and we're not going to be embarrassed. I just think it's been a great deal for Logansport."