Shelbyville Common Council takes step forward to purchase land for new police headquarters

The need for a new police headquarters is not in question. What the cost will be to move the Shelbyville Police Department out of its shared location with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department is under scrutiny.

The former Hubler Auto Collision Center at 1805 S. Miller Avenue (photo) had been identified as the potential new home for SPD. The City of Shelbyville has received two vastly different appraisals for the 5.7-acre site on the city’s west side.

One appraisal came in at $4.5 million while another was for $1,910,000. The city is offering Bradley Realty LLC $2.1 million for the property.

That bid has not yet been accepted, according to the council.

Councilwoman Betsy Means-Davis questioned both the site and the expense. Shelbyville Police Chief Louie Koch expressed no concerns over the location and reiterated the need for its own space to help alleviate the overcrowded working conditions at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center at 107 W. Taylor St.

On Thursday, the Shelbyville Redevelopment Commission approved giving the city $2.1 million for the purchase. That amount would be reimbursed to the commission once the bonds financing the project were approved.

The resolution passed on first reading 5-1 with Means-Davis voting no after asking for the resolution to be tabled but not getting a second council member to follow suit.

Councilman Denny Harrold was not in attendance at Monday’s meeting.

In other council business Monday, the rezone petition request from Attica Partners, LLC, was approved for the property at 759 St. Joseph St. (photo), adjacent to Blue River Career Programs, who sold the property to Attica for just over $300,000.

“That land we sold had restrictive covenants on it. We weren’t even going to be allowed to put anything on it,” said Blue River Career Programs Director Jeremy Powers in an interview with the Shelby County Post. “We could not use it for any kind of childhood setting. It got to the point where the (BRCP) board and I felt like it was best to move on completely from it.

“It had become difficult for us over the last several years. The testing (on the land) had continued, and we weren’t getting any clear understanding of when it would be wrapped up. There was a mutual desire between all of us to sell it and hopefully have something productive go in on that land.”

The land is the former site of a gas stove manufacturing facility. Attica’s proposal for the site is residential apartments, but it needs the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to approve the land safe for use.

To get IDEM to move forward with the remediation process, the land had to be rezoned from Institutional to Business Neighborhood.

In addition, the council approved the rezone request from Alt Development Holdings, LLC, for the property at 2818 E. Michigan Road.

Alt Development wants to develop the site with contractor garages for small businesses to utilize. Multiple buildings, varying in size from 900 to 1,500 square feet, would serve as office and storage space for businesses operating on the property.

The rezone request changes the zoning designation for the approximate five acres from Business General to Light Industrial.

Before the conclusion of the meeting, council president Mike Johnson read a proclamation declaring November as Indiana Working Women’s Recognition Month.

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