VALPARAISO | The Porter County Plan Commission on Wednesday approved construction of the new $225 million Porter hospital at the northwest corner of Ind. 49 and U.S. 6.
All that stands in the way of next month's planned groundbreaking is the completion of an archeological and bat survey required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hospital officials said.
"We've been waiting for this facility a long time," said Plan Commission member Rita Stevenson, who also serves on the County Council.
Faced with the huge project, Stevenson and others said they were putting their trust in the hospital and the various professions hired that all was in order.
"Porter County is going to trust you," she said.
Voting against the project were Plan Commission members Elizabeth Marshall and Herb Read.
Marshall said she is not opposed to a new hospital but had many concerns about the site chosen for the project.
Topping her list of concerns were drainage and its impact on neighboring landowners.
"I don't know how you're going to control that amount of water," she said.
Attorney William Ferngren, who was representing the hospital, defended the drainage plans, saying much time was spent on the work and it won approval from an independent engineering firm as is required by the county.
Read also raised concerns about drainage and objected when he was not allowed to ask Porter hospital CEO Jonathan Nalli for a commitment to mitigate any wetlands disturbed on the site.
Ferngren said the plans in question for the 104-acre site call for the construction of a 450,000-square-foot, five-story building housing between 225 and 250 beds.
The County Council helped pave the way for the project by granting Porter hospital $12.4 million in tax breaks, despite the hospital's obligation to build as part of its purchase of the facility from the county in 2007.
Plan Commission member Kris Parker said Wednesday she was pleased with the central location of the site, which will be convenient for Portage.
"I feel very good about the plan," she said.
Plan Commission member and County Commissioner Bob Harper credited the new and updated ordinances put in place over the last several years for providing a safeguard for projects such as this.
