Common council members held off approving bylaws by which the Gary Port District’s board will operate, yet Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said the concept of a port district already is showing potential for economic benefit to the city.
The port district, which technically was created in the late 1970s but had no appointed board members until last year, approved its bylaws in September, but they need common council approval.
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Some last-minute changes were being contemplated Tuesday, June 19, by council members, causing them to vote to defer action until at least their next regularly-scheduled meeting July 2 at city hall.
But the mayor pointed out that the port district, covering the Buffington Harbor port in Gary’s far northwest corner, has a business with equipment capable of removing goods from ships in the harbor, transferring them to trucks where they can then be transported via the interstate highways leading out of Gary to various points around the Midwest.
While admitting the financial benefits to Gary government are miniscule, Freeman-Wilson said, “This shows the benefit of having a functioning port. This shows the opportunity for development throughout the area.”
She said the council’s delay in approving bylaws will not impact the authority’s ability to take actions, particularly since she expects council members to give final approval in July.
“What the council is doing is reasonable,” the mayor said. “They have questions they want answered, and they want to make sure the bylaws are correct.”
Allison L. Bergman, an attorney representing the port district board, called the changes “administrative matters” that do not differ significantly from the bylaws approved by the port board.
In other business, councilmembers voted without opposition to grant a variance from city zoning laws to allow a used car lot to be developed in the 4500 block of Broadway.
Mohammed Y Al Azzah of Schererville, who was raised in Gary and is an alumnus of Lew Wallace High School, already owns an auto repair shop in the area and wants to have a car lot on adjacent property.
The Gary Board of Zoning Appeals recommended against the project on the grounds that long-range development plans called for large-scale retail-type businesses for the site. But council members said they liked the idea of someone willing to develop a business on the now-vacant site.
The council also gave unanimous support to two ordinances that transfer funds around the city budget. Officials said the money came from state and federal grants that require the money be spent in full by July 31 or returned. Money will go to city programs helping the homeless find permanent residences and to meet payroll within the Blight Elimination Fund.
James Nowacki, a Gary resident who is an oft-outspoken critic of municipal government, was ejected by police from the meeting after council president Ronald Brewer was offended at his comment that Freeman-Wilson was a “double dipper” who took multiple salaries for her government work.
Brewer said he was cutting off Nowacki’s ability to make public comments, but ordered him removed after Nowacki mockingly asked, “Is that final?”
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.