Fillmore council grants new Liberty Trailers tax abatement

FILLMORE — With new technological developments in the works, Liberty Trailers will have another tax break as the company looks to continue growing.

The Fillmore Town Council passed Resolution 2021-5 granting a new 10-year tax abatement to the trailer manufacturer at its regular meeting Thursday evening. The approval was preceded by a hearing in which no public comments were offered.

Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center Executive Director Kristin Clary outlined that the abatement is for an estimated cost of $800,000 for manufacturing equipment and an estimated $200,000 for research and development. This is related to purchasing an autonomous robotic welding cell.

Meanwhile, there will be an estimated $500,000 for converting an existing shell into a 14,000 square-foot facility to house manufacturing. This will include adding insulation, electricity, concrete flooring, lighting and breezeways.

Liberty is set to receive a $100,000 matching grant for autonomous robotic welding and increasing its fabrication output. This grant will be facilitated through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s Manufacturing Readiness Grant program.

Liberty currently has 57 employees and is seeking to add five more full-time ones. This new request is the third one granted since president Mike Teso purchased Liberty in February 2020.

In other business:

• The council held its second reading of and adopted Ordinance 2021-4 establishing three voting wards in the town. The boundaries will be as follows:

­— Ward 1: North side of Hendricks Street to Old Right of Way Road west of Main Street, as well as the north side of East Cemetery Road to the railroad;

— Ward 2: South side of Hendricks Street to the north side of Hendricks Street west of Main Street, as well as all area from the south side of Cemetery Road to the town limit;

— Ward 3: South side of Putnam Street to Main Street, including all properties on west side of Main Street to the town limit.

The ordinance is an amendment to a change made in 2019, in which voting was opened to at-large candidates.

• The council heard from Tourism Director Eric Freeman about the Putnam County Park Board’s five-year plan. He explained that the board needed input from the community to complete the plan, which will be submitted for funding from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

• Town Attorney Jeff Boggess briefed the council on its proposal for funding through the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) dollars, in which it would have been used to alleviate the town’s water debts. He said it was determined that ARPA money cannot be used to pay off old debts.

This said, he added that the Putnam County Commissioners have expressed interest in helping find alternatives for funding other related issues such as a new water meter system.

With Utilities Operator Joe Cash absent, Clerk-Treasurer Jayna Haldeman and Town Marshal Darrel Bunten joined Boggess and the whole council for the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Fillmore Town Council is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Fillmore Town Hall.