HIGHLAND | A $1.75 million loan to the city of Hammond is about to be repaid, the Town Council learned on Monday.
Council President Brian Novak, D-4th, said he had a conversation earlier in the day with Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr.
"They intend on paying that back in the very near future," Novak said.
Novak said he does not know where Hammond will get the money from, but said it could be from new development within the city.
The money was lent to the city in 2006 to fund demolition of the 22-acre River Park Apartments complex along the Little Calumet River near the Highland-Hammond border.
The loan was approved when the 2006 Town Council, temporarily acting as the Redevelopment Commission, voted 4-1 to arrange a bond issue to fund the loan.
The move was controversial with many Highland residents voicing their support or opposition to the loan.
The council has not yet had a chance to discuss how to use the money, but Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin noted that the 2006 council said the repayment would pay off any balance on the bond issue with any balance going to the capital fund of the Redevelopment Commission.
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