Sakbun says more than $18 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds are available to be allocated.
On this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun addresses these issues and more Tuesday from city hall. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: I see you took a trip to the statehouse for ISU day and talked about partnering with the university for research, updating city ordinances, what do you mean by that?
Sakbun: The easiest example is take the Human Relations Commission, right, they're charged with looking at discriminatory practices and housing, zoning code, as well as a plethora of other problems throughout city ordinances. And a lot of haven't been updated in decades, some almost 100 years.
So who's going to sort through and read all of that and update each one, you'd be doing it two to three a day. And we started a partnership with the University to look at portions of our city code and graduate students are very invested in it. You're kind of getting that free consulting, almost utilizing some of your university partners.
Hren: You're working with ISU - I am sure it's really important that the city and the university are really on the same page - town and gown so to speak.
Sakbun: I just bring strong community partners with our all of our large employers in town, not just Indiana State, right. That includes Union Hospital, Rose Holman, St. Mary of the Woods and just having that community presence in the statehouse.
A lot of times you see legislation passed at the state level and you know, gonna be a little bit frustrating. You're like, hey folks, you got to come here, you got to live here, you got to experience that, just because our area code isn't 317, it's a little bit different here. And so sometimes you got to go to them and have some fun conversations.
Hren: A couple of weeks ago the EPA approved a permit for the construction of the controversial project to store carbon emissions underground in Vigo and Vermillion counties. Have you learned anything new, are residents still concerned?
Sakbun: Yes, a lot are in the county or surrounding counties. I attended the legislative Cracker Barrel sessions and a lot do call the office and I do provide them the right contact information but I also take time to listen to their concerns and some of the research that they've done. And so it's approved through the EPA and we'll likely see that project moving forward.
And I know I look at what mitigation do we need to do on the site. At standpoint, do we have the right public services when it comes to police and fire and Lord forbid a tough incident happens? Are we prepared within the city to assist our county neighbors? Or if it spills into the city? Are we prepared for that? So that's kind of the boat that I'm in now. And I've had some private conversations with legislators about what they can do or where they can go next and always seeking feedback from them as well.
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Hren: Let's talk a little bit about the ARPA American Rescue Plan Act about $19 million left to be allocated. And you're leveraging those funds with federal and state grants.
Sakbun: It's the concept of capital stacking, you have two people adding their buying power together to be able to make a larger purchase. So if you look at all of our projects, except for actually one, we are getting state and additional federal dollars on top of that. One project alone is an eight to one investment. So these are record breaking partnerships with taxpayer dollars, and folks have already paid their taxes in 2020-2021. And they're now at the local level.
Hren: One of those projects is the American Water Project for $2 million. There are still pockets in the city that aren't getting city water.
Sakbun: Absolutely. It does get us a large portion of the way there for the total city numbers. But it is just the start. And the dream is to create a pilot program so we can analyze additional neighborhoods and over time sequentially get to the other neighborhoods across the city of Terre Haute do not have access to Indiana, American Water.
Hren: Another is $1 million for a child care facility. When you think about all the new jobs coming in to Terre Haute, across the board, it's like the chicken and the egg what comes first, because you want the jobs you need housing, childcare. It just goes on and on and on.
Sakbun: Let's take Entek, starting construction coming up 2026-2027. Well, that shot clocks on to get homes and facilities ready for 652 new Hoosiers, new taxpaying families. And some of our other companies that are adding expansion. They're increasing their capabilities and in manufacturing. Okay, so do we have the upskill programs like a Goodwill Excel Center like Ivy Tech to to get folks into those current jobs that we already have before? 2027? Right.
Are we surging in housing? Which neighborhoods are we surging it? Well, we did a housing study turns out, we are short on housing across the board. And that's why we partnered with Thrive West Central to to unveil our housing plan, and we changed that plan. Now it used to be developers can apply for $245,000. If they're a company for five years or more, we've kind of created four programs, inside of that. Nonprofit carve out, rehabilitation carve out, and a newer builder carve out which is 150 instead of 250. And these funds are helping us get rid of vacant lots that the city is really surging on that.
Hren: One more I wanted to get to as well. $3 million for a $14 million combined hotel. What's that money going for?
Sakbun: It's not just a hotel, but there are two hotels that will go up on the property. It also connects it to a nearby parking garage, as well as to other hotels through pedestrian skywalks. We've got a convention center here in Terre Haute and we are turning some folks away because we don't have the appropriate hotel space. So it satisfies that need.
It takes a dilapidated office building and turns it into something else. There's also room for two first floor commercial retail opportunities, they're repurposing an old parking garage. I mean, it's gonna look almost like a downtown Indianapolis or some of the improvements that a city like Columbus has done right here in Terre Haute, Indiana and it's addressing sidewalks, addressing stormwater as well and it's not what you see sometimes right? It's underneath the ground or it's some enhancements here or there but it is a true public private partnership.
