Perry Township, continued

Back to Part I

My reason for contrasting some townships with Perry Township is to highlight the fact that there are some local governments that "get it", while other governmental units are populated by employees who think their responsibilities end with "showing up and putting in their time".  I see no way to pressure their complacency other than by threatening their rice bowl.

My township is OK but not great.  According to the stories I heard Perry Township is great.

Yes, I know that one must be skeptical of stories because the details mutate in the telling.  So this next story is just a "story" because I am too lazy to verify it.  Some of the details are doubtlessly wrong but it will communicate the flavor of Perry Township.

The Story

A trucking company visited the Perry Township Hall and inquired about the availability of properties that met certain specifications....Class A road, within a mile of an entrance to I-69, a certain size footprint...and so on.  There was a property that met those specifications so the trucking company toured it and later bought it.

They were given their permitting package and case number.  After they thought they had their ducks in a row they brought their package into the hall so another set of eyes could look it over and possibly identify items that were missing or not completely done.

One of the reviewers strongly suggested that the company move the "office" portion of the repair area so it was behind a reinforced glass curtain wall.  When asked why the reviewer explained that the fire code laws require automated fire suppression (sprinklers) in areas that repair commercial vehicles when the area of said repair area exceeds 5000 square feet.  The plans showed a repair area a little bit in excess of 5000 square feet.  Moving the "office" to a separate area behind a fire resistant wall reduced the area to just less than 5000 square feet.  IIRC the reviewer at the Township Hall had experience in "industrial estimating". 

The reviewer also noted that the installation of an automated fire suppression system also forced a back-up power system if they facility was not served by a municipal water supply.  The review told the company that Perry Township Downtown Development Authority had access to funding for infrastructure, but that it would take a year to run a city-water stub out to their lot.

One year later the facility had city water.  They year after that the trucking company doubled the size of their facility at that site.

That company likes Perry Township.  The process saved them the time and money of retrofitting a fire suppression system and let them avoid the cost of an automatic generator system by simply moving an interior wall 15 feet and putting two offices behind it.  The township promised city water within a year and the township delivered city water.