(La Porte, IN) - It appears the checkered flag is now waving in the journey by the City of La Porte to annex the 39 North Conservancy District without a legal fight. 

 

Mayor Tom Dermody said a Memorandum of Understanding was approved Friday by the 39 North Conservancy District Board.

 

The MOU will go before the city council for its consideration Wednesday night where, If approved, Dermody said the city and conservancy district board will be partners through the process of peacefully completing the annexation.
 

“We’re very thankful to the board and look forward to working with them,” he said.

 

The MOU approved by the conservancy district board declares intent to allow the city to annex.

 

Conservancy District Board Attorney Shaw Friedman said the city agreed to pay two million dollars for the existing water lines the district installed more than 20 years ago and replaced the lines with larger ones to increase the amount of water that can be delivered to existing and future property owners.

 

Friedman said the conservancy district board will remain intact to make sure the city lives up to its promises, which are in the process of being transferred to official legal documents so as to meet the requirements for annexation.

 

Friedman said the odds of stopping the city from annexing in court are likely slim, because 57 percent of the stakeholders in the district signed a petition requesting annexation. He said the money from the sale of the infrastructure will go to property owners in the district in the form of discounts on their utility bills.

 

Dermody said he expects the annexation to become official sometime before the end of the year.

 

Future growth in the district could not happen because of the inability of the existing water lines to take on more demand.

 

“The county has even been involved to see what land can be developed by the interested parties and see how we can move that forward once they know there will be upgrades made to the water system,” Dermody said.