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Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
City council approves $117M bond request to assist Valparaiso University plan for financial rescue
The Valparaiso City Council agreed unanimously to be the gateway for struggling Valparaiso University to have access to up to $117 million in issued bonds to help refinance existing debt and finance new projects, including building renovations. Ordinance No. 9 2025 passed with a second reading during a special council meeting Friday. At the council's May meeting when the ordinance was first introduced, Valparaiso University officials emphasized the need for the city's support by the first week of June to allow time for the bonds to be purchased. Council members Diana Reed, 1st District, Robert Cotton, 2nd District, Barbara Domer, D-3rd, Jack Pupillo, R-4th, and Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, attended Friday's meeting in person and voted in favor of the ordinance, as did Peter Anderson, R-5th, who joined the meeting remotely. Council member Emilie Hunt, D-At-large, was not able to attend, and nor was Mayor Jon Costas or Clerk-Treasurer Holly Taylor. City Attorney Patrick Lyp opened the special meeting by recapping the discussion and direction of Wednesday's Economic Development Commission. 'It's the recommendation of the Economic Development Commission that the City Council support and pass this ordinance in the best interest of the community,' Lyp said. 'And as I have continued to emphasize, the City Council is only serving as the needed conduit in order for VU to have access to these bonds in this timely manner. There is not any financial obligation or impact from the bonds being issued which would affect the city or taxpayers.' Lyp and Valparaiso University officials have also emphasized it is likely that even though the window of funds can extend up to $117 million in general obligation bonds, the latest calculations indicate that it is around $55 million which will likely be used by the university for financial needs. Mark Volpatti, the university's senior vice president for finance and chief financial officer, once again represented the university at Friday's council meeting and fielded what were only a few follow-up general questions. When Volpatti attended the May meeting when the ordinance was first introduced, he announced the university has sold or is concluding the sale of the three paintings, a topic which has drawn much public debate and criticism about the fate of the valued works, including Georgia O'Keeffe's 'Rust Red Hills.' He said the university is moving forward with its freshman village, noting the renovation work was being done without taking on debt and through 'the proceeds from the artwork.' The other artwork being sold are 'The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate' by Childe Hassam and Frederic E. Church's 'Mountain Landscape.' Among those from the public to speak during the public hearing portion of Friday's meeting was Valparaiso University Senior Professor John Ruff, who has invested years caring for the collection of works at the Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University. He presented the council with a letter with more than 50 signatures representing a stance against the sale of any artwork. Ruff admonished the university for keeping the sale of the O'Keeffe painting 'secret' until it was reported by the media in mid-May. Volpatti addressed Ruff's remarks. 'My thoughts do turn to Richard Brauer and John Ruff and I can't imagine the emotions they've had the past two years,' Volpatti said. 'I respect and admire them and their passion for their career. If more people had such passion for their careers the world would be a better place. We have two camps about whether the sale of artwork should be used for the purchase of new artwork or let's look at the university as a whole and use the sale's funds where they are needed at this time. This is a philosophical question and one that won't be answered today.'
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Valparaiso officials: City can keep ARPA funds used to buy land for now-defunct plans for sports complex
As part of the sweeping controversy over a now-defunct proposal for a data center on Valparaiso's north side, one question that remained after the brouhaha seems to have subsided is whether the city has to pay back the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that were used for what was initially proposed as a sports and park complex. City officials say no, a point they emphasized during Monday's City Council meeting, which stretched almost five hours and drew hundreds of people to City Hall with concerns about the potential data center. Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, called the issue a 'red flag' during the council meeting, adding it led to a lot of questions, including whether the city would be on the hook for repaying the funds. 'Is this legal?' she asked Patrick Lyp, the city attorney. 'The simple answer is yes,' he said, adding an outside law firm from Indianapolis helped the city work through the details. If the Redevelopment Commission sells the property, he said, 'there would be no prohibition or covenant on the money.' The funds, he added, would return to the RDC. The tenets of ARPA funding offer exemptions for paybacks of funds under $10 million, as long as they are used for public purposes, Lyp said. There also is no prohibition on the sale or use of the property. 'There's no obligation that would be tied to ARPA funds,' said Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd. The city received $7,681,979.52, according to an amended resolution for ARPA spending passed by the City Council on July 25, 2022. That included $4,717,278.92 for land acquisition 'for future Park related activities,' according to the resolution, and includes the parcels for the proposed sports complex. The breakdown on the use of the rest of the funding, according to the resolution, included $1 million for the demolition of the former Whispering Pines facility and two adjacent residential structures on North Calumet Avenue, as well as site remediation, for a then-proposed adult enrichment center; $663,147.68 in premium pay for eligible city employees; $575,000 for several nonprofit agencies; $500,000 for the replacement of sidewalks, walking paths and other infrastructure; $40,000 for consultant fees and reserve funds for future audits, all related to disbursement of the ARPA funds; and $25,000 each to the police and fire departments, for various upgrades. The brunt of the spending, including the parkland purchase, fell under ARPA's 'Provision of Governmental Services using Revenue Loss Funds,' per the council's resolution, which is the most flexible of categories for ARPA spending. In emails to the Post-Tribune before the City Council meeting and Mayor Jon Costas' statement that the city would no longer pursue the data center proposal because of the public outcry, Lyp and George Douglas, the city's development director, offered further insight into the transfer of funds before the 248 acres, comprised of four parcels between County Roads 500 North and 400 North east of Indiana 49, was purchased for parkland. According to the option agreement signed in January between the RDC and the data center developer, Agincourt Investments LLC, the RDC would have sold 180 acres of that property for just over $9 million, almost twice what the RDC paid for the land. 'The Valparaiso Redevelopment purchased the properties in 2022 with available cash funds. The City Council did approve the use of ARPA funds to reimburse the RDC for the full purchase price in August of 2022,' Douglas said in his email. He added he didn't believe anything happens to the ARPA funds once they have been used to reimburse the RDC for the land purchase and if the RDC were to sell the property, the commission could use the proceeds for any of its permissible expenditures. 'The ARPA funds were used for an allowed purpose when the City reimbursed the RDC,' Lyp said in his email. 'If the land is sold, the proceeds would be paid to the RDC and used by the RDC consistent with Indiana law.' Jennifer Hora, a political science professor at Valparaiso University who focuses on state and local government, agreed that the ARPA funds come with flexibility but said that flexibility is supposed to come with accountability and responsibility. She summed up her concerns as 'the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law.' City officials dropped the plans for the park when, according to then-Mayor Matt Murphy, bids for the project, slated for $30 million, came in $7 million over budget. Costas said in an interview with the Post-Tribune last month that the city was going to invest more in its current parks instead and scuttle the plans for the sports complex. City officials, Hora said, 'threw their hands up' and walked away from the sports complex proposal when it came in over budget and proposed using that land for the data center. The future of the land purchased with those funds is unknown. 'This is not transparency,' she said. 'This is definitely not the spirit of ARPA law.' alavalley@
Chicago Tribune
15-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Valparaiso officials: City can keep ARPA funds used to buy land for now-defunct plans for sports complex
As part of the sweeping controversy over a now-defunct proposal for a data center on Valparaiso's north side, one question that remained after the brouhaha seems to have subsided is whether the city has to pay back the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that were used for what was initially proposed as a sports and park complex. City officials say no, a point they emphasized during Monday's City Council meeting, which stretched almost five hours and drew hundreds of people to City Hall with concerns about the potential data center. Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, called the issue a 'red flag' during the council meeting, adding it led to a lot of questions, including whether the city would be on the hook for repaying the funds. 'Is this legal?' she asked Patrick Lyp, the city attorney. 'The simple answer is yes,' he said, adding an outside law firm from Indianapolis helped the city work through the details. If the Redevelopment Commission sells the property, he said, 'there would be no prohibition or covenant on the money.' The funds, he added, would return to the RDC. The tenets of ARPA funding offer exemptions for paybacks of funds under $10 million, as long as they are used for public purposes, Lyp said. There also is no prohibition on the sale or use of the property. 'There's no obligation that would be tied to ARPA funds,' said Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2nd. The city received $7,681,979.52, according to an amended resolution for ARPA spending passed by the City Council on July 25, 2022. That included $4,717,278.92 for land acquisition 'for future Park related activities,' according to the resolution, and includes the parcels for the proposed sports complex. The breakdown on the use of the rest of the funding, according to the resolution, included $1 million for the demolition of the former Whispering Pines facility and two adjacent residential structures on North Calumet Avenue, as well as site remediation, for a then-proposed adult enrichment center; $663,147.68 in premium pay for eligible city employees; $575,000 for several nonprofit agencies; $500,000 for the replacement of sidewalks, walking paths and other infrastructure; $40,000 for consultant fees and reserve funds for future audits, all related to disbursement of the ARPA funds; and $25,000 each to the police and fire departments, for various upgrades. The brunt of the spending, including the parkland purchase, fell under ARPA's 'Provision of Governmental Services using Revenue Loss Funds,' per the council's resolution, which is the most flexible of categories for ARPA spending. In emails to the Post-Tribune before the City Council meeting and Mayor Jon Costas' statement that the city would no longer pursue the data center proposal because of the public outcry, Lyp and George Douglas, the city's development director, offered further insight into the transfer of funds before the 248 acres, comprised of four parcels between County Roads 500 North and 400 North east of Indiana 49, was purchased for parkland. According to the option agreement signed in January between the RDC and the data center developer, Agincourt Investments LLC, the RDC would have sold 180 acres of that property for just over $9 million, almost twice what the RDC paid for the land. 'The Valparaiso Redevelopment purchased the properties in 2022 with available cash funds. The City Council did approve the use of ARPA funds to reimburse the RDC for the full purchase price in August of 2022,' Douglas said in his email. He added he didn't believe anything happens to the ARPA funds once they have been used to reimburse the RDC for the land purchase and if the RDC were to sell the property, the commission could use the proceeds for any of its permissible expenditures. 'The ARPA funds were used for an allowed purpose when the City reimbursed the RDC,' Lyp said in his email. 'If the land is sold, the proceeds would be paid to the RDC and used by the RDC consistent with Indiana law.' Jennifer Hora, a political science professor at Valparaiso University who focuses on state and local government, agreed that the ARPA funds come with flexibility but said that flexibility is supposed to come with accountability and responsibility. She summed up her concerns as 'the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law.' City officials dropped the plans for the park when, according to then-Mayor Matt Murphy, bids for the project, slated for $30 million, came in $7 million over budget. Costas said in an interview with the Post-Tribune last month that the city was going to invest more in its current parks instead and scuttle the plans for the sports complex. City officials, Hora said, 'threw their hands up' and walked away from the sports complex proposal when it came in over budget and proposed using that land for the data center. The future of the land purchased with those funds is unknown. 'This is not transparency,' she said. 'This is definitely not the spirit of ARPA law.'
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Valparaiso woman who had stroke wants to raise awareness, particularly for first responders
Pat Ingram remembers leaving a Valparaiso Noon Kiwanis meeting held at First Christian Church a little more than a year ago but after that, things got fuzzy. The Valparaiso woman, 67, has vague memories of someone tapping on the window of her car, which she pulled into a snow bank in the parking lot of a pediatrician's office a few blocks west of the church. She recalls the cold of metal handcuffs around her wrists and seeing her husband Steve and son Aaron when she was placed in an ambulance. And Ingram remembers waking up hours later, early the morning of Jan. 18, 2024, at Community Hospital in Munster and subsequently finding out that she had had a stroke and undergone emergency brain surgery. For the most part, Ingram has recovered from the stroke and has been able to piece together what happened on Jan. 17 of last year. What she and her husband Steve are still unable to understand is why Valparaiso Police officers who responded to the scene spent so much time focusing on whether she was intoxicated without evaluating her for a stroke. 'We would have loved to meet with the city two weeks after this happened,' Steve Ingram said, adding they would have liked an apology and assurance from officials that police were properly trained to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Per an email from Patrick Lyp, Valparaiso's city attorney, all of the city's police officers receive 'general first aid training and basic life support as part of their initial recruitment and basic training instruction,' as well as training on CPR, the use of AEDs and the administration of the opioid antidote naloxone, and other measures. 'Many officers decide to extend their basic medical response knowledge, to include the certifications of Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) or Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). The Valparaiso Police Department currently has 16 EMR-certified officers and three EMT-certified officers,' Lyp said in the email. The training, which ranges from 80 to 160 hours depending on the level of certification, addresses patients suffering from strokes. 'Within the past year, the Valparaiso Police Department has completed refresher training in medical response, to include CPR, AED, and patient assessment,' Lyp said in the email. 'Additional officers have been added to the Emergency Medical Response team, as certification in this area is extremely important to the well-being of our community. VPD continues to offer training courses biennially to increase the number of officers who have this expertise.' Police officers in Indiana are required to have training in Basic Life Support and Basic First Aid as part of their initial training, Lyp said, adding that training is set forth by department and may include specialty training and/or refresher training in those basic skills. 'VPD was the first law enforcement agency in Porter County to incorporate an emergency medical specialty, starting the program in 2020,' Lyp said. Because Pat Ingram filed a tort claim notice, indicating the possible filing of a lawsuit, Lyp said there were limitations on how the city could respond to media questions. Attorney Jessica Smithey filed the tort claim notice on June 4. 'Patricia's No. 1 goal has always been to have a conversation about what occurred and what she went through,' Smithey said, adding she filed a notice of tort claim act 'to preserve Patricia's rights moving forward.' The Ingrams note that Pat's car came to rest in a physician's parking lot and the Valparaiso Medical Center, a facility that's part of the Northwest Health system, was directly across the street. 'This would have turned out differently if a firefighter had pulled up instead of a cop,' Steve Ingram said. The Ingrams have lived in Valparaiso since 1987 and have long been active in the community. 'I dislike doing this because I love this city,' Pat Ingram said. Ingram's ordeal was captured on police body and squad car cameras; the couple paid the requisite fee of $150 per video, for a total of $750, per the invoice, to the police department to get the footage a week after she had the stroke. One of those videos is about an hour long and begins as an officer is on his way to the parking lot of Associated Pediatricians at 1111 E. Glendale Boulevard for a call of 'a possibly intoxicated subject,' according to the police report, and ends when she is placed in an ambulance headed to Northwest Health-Porter. She was later transported by medical helicopter to Munster. Throughout much of the video, Pat Ingram speaks so softly that when she speaks at all, she is difficult to hear or understand. She appears confused by instructions she receives from police to lower her car radio and step out of her car, and is unsteady on her feet. When police transport her to the sallyport at the police station and take her out of the squad car to again try to assess what's going on, an officer hands her a pad of paper and a pen to write down where she had been before she crashed into the snowbank on but Ingram is unable to hold the objects in her right hand. Sometimes, she sighs and closes her eyes instead of responding to officers. They ask her numerous times if she's had a drink; she answers yes then later says no. They ask if she's on any medication and she says no, unable to communicate that, according to her and her husband, she's on an assortment of medications for various health issues. Police ask if Pat Ingram is diabetic; again, she is not able to articulate what's going on. Police appear genuinely puzzled by her condition. Once they make contact with Steve Ingram and call for an ambulance while they're in the police department's sallyport, first responders deduce she's having a stroke. Pat Ingram told her husband she was getting groceries ahead of a predicted snowstorm after the Kiwanis meeting, which wrapped up around 1:15 p.m. or so. When Steve Ingram couldn't reach her on her cellphone after repeated attempts, he called their son. At 4:48 p.m., according to the police report, Valparaiso Police were called to the Associated Pediatricians parking lot for a call of a suspicious person with a possible medical issue. Per that report, Pat Ingram was never charged with a crime, nor was she formally taken into custody. Steve Ingram contacted police at 5:09 p.m. that afternoon, according to a timeline put together by the Ingrams. About 24 minutes later, police told Steve Ingram they were taking Pat to the police station. Steve Ingram's conversation with police is captured on the body camera video. He told police his wife had previously had a stroke and from her symptoms, it sounded as though she was having another one. Around 5:41 p.m., police told Steve Ingram they were calling an ambulance; Steve and Aaron Ingram arrived at the station a few minutes later, at the same time as the ambulance. When Pat Ingram was in the hospital in Munster, her then-fifth grade granddaughter, who had first aid training in Girl Scouts, asked Pat why police didn't ask her to stick her tongue out or smile, two actions, or inability to do so, that would have revealed she was having a stroke. According to the American Stroke Association website, people can use FAST to determine whether someone is having a stroke. The letters stand for face drooping; arm weakness; speech difficulty; and time to call 911. Other symptoms include numbness; confusion; trouble seeing; trouble walking; and severe headache. Pat Ingram said her speech is still somewhat impacted by the stroke, particularly when she's recounting her ordeal. 'I'm getting over it. I'm working on it,' she said. 'But it's just like, I don't want anybody else to go through this, but your first responders should be your first advocate.' alavalley@
Chicago Tribune
26-01-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Valparaiso woman who had stroke wants to raise awareness, particularly for first responders
Pat Ingram remembers leaving a Valparaiso Noon Kiwanis meeting held at First Christian Church a little more than a year ago but after that, things got fuzzy. The Valparaiso woman, 67, has vague memories of someone tapping on the window of her car, which she pulled into a snow bank in the parking lot of a pediatrician's office a few blocks west of the church. She recalls the cold of metal handcuffs around her wrists and seeing her husband Steve and son Aaron when she was placed in an ambulance. And Ingram remembers waking up hours later, early the morning of Jan. 18, 2024, at Community Hospital in Munster and subsequently finding out that she had had a stroke and undergone emergency brain surgery. For the most part, Ingram has recovered from the stroke and has been able to piece together what happened on Jan. 17 of last year. What she and her husband Steve are still unable to understand is why Valparaiso Police officers who responded to the scene spent so much time focusing on whether she was intoxicated without evaluating her for a stroke. 'We would have loved to meet with the city two weeks after this happened,' Steve Ingram said, adding they would have liked an apology and assurance from officials that police were properly trained to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Per an email from Patrick Lyp, Valparaiso's city attorney, all of the city's police officers receive 'general first aid training and basic life support as part of their initial recruitment and basic training instruction,' as well as training on CPR, the use of AEDs and the administration of the opioid antidote naloxone, and other measures. 'Many officers decide to extend their basic medical response knowledge, to include the certifications of Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) or Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). The Valparaiso Police Department currently has 16 EMR-certified officers and three EMT-certified officers,' Lyp said in the email. The training, which ranges from 80 to 160 hours depending on the level of certification, addresses patients suffering from strokes. 'Within the past year, the Valparaiso Police Department has completed refresher training in medical response, to include CPR, AED, and patient assessment,' Lyp said in the email. 'Additional officers have been added to the Emergency Medical Response team, as certification in this area is extremely important to the well-being of our community. VPD continues to offer training courses biennially to increase the number of officers who have this expertise.' Police officers in Indiana are required to have training in Basic Life Support and Basic First Aid as part of their initial training, Lyp said, adding that training is set forth by department and may include specialty training and/or refresher training in those basic skills. 'VPD was the first law enforcement agency in Porter County to incorporate an emergency medical specialty, starting the program in 2020,' Lyp said. Because Pat Ingram filed a tort claim notice, indicating the possible filing of a lawsuit, Lyp said there were limitations on how the city could respond to media questions. Attorney Jessica Smithey filed the tort claim notice on June 4. 'Patricia's No. 1 goal has always been to have a conversation about what occurred and what she went through,' Smithey said, adding she filed a notice of tort claim act 'to preserve Patricia's rights moving forward.' The Ingrams note that Pat's car came to rest in a physician's parking lot and the Valparaiso Medical Center, a facility that's part of the Northwest Health system, was directly across the street. 'This would have turned out differently if a firefighter had pulled up instead of a cop,' Steve Ingram said. The Ingrams have lived in Valparaiso since 1987 and have long been active in the community. 'I dislike doing this because I love this city,' Pat Ingram said. Ingram's ordeal was captured on police body and squad car cameras; the couple paid the requisite fee of $150 per video, for a total of $750, per the invoice, to the police department to get the footage a week after she had the stroke. One of those videos is about an hour long and begins as an officer is on his way to the parking lot of Associated Pediatricians at 1111 E. Glendale Boulevard for a call of 'a possibly intoxicated subject,' according to the police report, and ends when she is placed in an ambulance headed to Northwest Health-Porter. She was later transported by medical helicopter to Munster. Throughout much of the video, Pat Ingram speaks so softly that when she speaks at all, she is difficult to hear or understand. She appears confused by instructions she receives from police to lower her car radio and step out of her car, and is unsteady on her feet. When police transport her to the sallyport at the police station and take her out of the squad car to again try to assess what's going on, an officer hands her a pad of paper and a pen to write down where she had been before she crashed into the snowbank on but Ingram is unable to hold the objects in her right hand. Sometimes, she sighs and closes her eyes instead of responding to officers. They ask her numerous times if she's had a drink; she answers yes then later says no. They ask if she's on any medication and she says no, unable to communicate that, according to her and her husband, she's on an assortment of medications for various health issues. Police ask if Pat Ingram is diabetic; again, she is not able to articulate what's going on. Police appear genuinely puzzled by her condition. Once they make contact with Steve Ingram and call for an ambulance while they're in the police department's sallyport, first responders deduce she's having a stroke. Pat Ingram told her husband she was getting groceries ahead of a predicted snowstorm after the Kiwanis meeting, which wrapped up around 1:15 p.m. or so. When Steve Ingram couldn't reach her on her cellphone after repeated attempts, he called their son. At 4:48 p.m., according to the police report, Valparaiso Police were called to the Associated Pediatricians parking lot for a call of a suspicious person with a possible medical issue. Per that report, Pat Ingram was never charged with a crime, nor was she formally taken into custody. Steve Ingram contacted police at 5:09 p.m. that afternoon, according to a timeline put together by the Ingrams. About 24 minutes later, police told Steve Ingram they were taking Pat to the police station. Steve Ingram's conversation with police is captured on the body camera video. He told police his wife had previously had a stroke and from her symptoms, it sounded as though she was having another one. Around 5:41 p.m., police told Steve Ingram they were calling an ambulance; Steve and Aaron Ingram arrived at the station a few minutes later, at the same time as the ambulance. When Pat Ingram was in the hospital in Munster, her then-fifth grade granddaughter, who had first aid training in Girl Scouts, asked Pat why police didn't ask her to stick her tongue out or smile, two actions, or inability to do so, that would have revealed she was having a stroke. According to the American Stroke Association website, people can use FAST to determine whether someone is having a stroke. The letters stand for face drooping; arm weakness; speech difficulty; and time to call 911. Other symptoms include numbness; confusion; trouble seeing; trouble walking; and severe headache. Pat Ingram said her speech is still somewhat impacted by the stroke, particularly when she's recounting her ordeal. 'I'm getting over it. I'm working on it,' she said. 'But it's just like, I don't want anybody else to go through this, but your first responders should be your first advocate.'
