Waterloo gets $250,000 gift for water line
By Dave Kurtz | KPC News - The Star
Waterloo -
The new owner of Waterloo’s truck stop is giving the town $250,000 to help bring a water line to its property.
The gift would pay half the estimated cost of extending water service to the truck stop on the northwest corner of U.S. 6 and Interstate 69, said Town Manager Tena Woenker.
The Waterloo Town Council voted to accept the gift at its meeting Tuesday night in the Waterloo Grant Township Public Library.
American Petroleum Inc. of Middlebury wants to build a bigger and better truck stop at the site, Woenker said. Water service from the town is crucial to the project.
A 12-inch water line also could serve several other properties near the truck stop. The town is looking to annex properties west of I-69 near C.R. 27.
Woenker intends to distribute annexation petitions to the property owners this week. She said owners of 11 of the 12 properties have agreed verbally to be annexed.
“These property owners now see the benefit of why it’s important to be part of us if they want our services,” she said.
With the owners’ support, a “super-voluntary” annexation could move quickly and be accomplished by April or May, Woenker said.
“We would like to have water there by October,” she said. The Waterloo Redevelopment Commission would pay for the rest of the water line’s cost.
Woenker said American Petroleum operates a truck stop with a castle-like building near Middlebury. The truck stop lies just north of the Middlebury interchange on the Indiana Toll Road.
“This is a big leg up, because we saw some staggering numbers” in the cost estimate for a water line to the site, Councilman Alex McConnehey said about the truck stop owner’s contribution. “I highly recommend that we use it and thank him for it.”
Town officials said adding the truck stop as a major utility customer would help keep water rates low.
“I hope that the people in the town see that all these plans are coming together,” said Town Council President David Bolton. “We were approached about annexation by the owners out there. I think this shows where private business and government can work together to accomplish a greater goal, It’s a win-win.”
