November’s first City Council meeting on the 10th coincided with the season’s first snow, Mayor Jon Costas began the meeting by thanking our Department of Public Works for their crews out tirelessly working to keep the streets safe. It was a relatively short meeting compared to some of late with two council members absent. The meeting started a couple minutes after 6:00, Councilman Robert Cotton was stuck on Rt 30 and attempted to attend via zoom link, which was unsuccessful.
     There was only one ordinance before council and it was the ratification of Ordinance No. 20. This was Councilwoman Barbara Domer’s ordinance for a citizen led redistricting committee that was passed by council last meeting. Rather than table the ordinance at the last meeting to finalize the language of the amendments the council decided to pass it and then ratify it at this meeting. The Ratified ordinance passed 4 to 1, with Barb Domer again being the sole no vote.
     Under Other Business on the agenda there were two items. The first was the Environmental Advisory Board’s (EAB) advisory presentation on environmental concerns and best practices for fueling stations in Valparaiso. This was presented by Council President Ellen Kapitan who is also on the EAB. The EAB was asked by council to look into the environmental factors of gas stations after concerns arose about newly proposed stations given the number Valpo already has.
     The report went over “What are the environmental concerns/ dangers with fueling stations? What are the Sustainability related best practices for a fueling station location and building requirements?” and provided evidence of concerns about risks such as “Petroleum based fuels contain substances hazardous to human health and the environment. Fuel can include up to 150 chemicals that when combined are highly flammable, potentially explosive and contain known carcinogens.” Some of the items, like “Installing stormwater pre-treatment prior to discharge to the sewer system.” are already included in Valparaiso’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) (Article 7) and its companion Stormwater Technical Standards Manual (2024) which cover gas-station (fueling) runoff. The City’s Technical Standards list gas stations as hot spots that need pre-treatment before runoff reaches the system.
     The main concern I believe for the council members who are seeking to limit or restrict gas stations is location. There is a desire to limit their proximity to residential property. Next council meeting the council will bring forth a motion and vote on whether to make a recommendation for the planning commission to look at this issue and draft an ordinance for council. Changes to the city’s UDO must come from The Planning Commission. It will be up to them to act on this now or wait till they redo the UDO which is a process that has just begun and won’t be completed for two years.
     A Valpo REC update was given by Parks Director Kevin Nuppnau. Valpo REC is the proposed recreation facility that will be at the old McGill factory on Lafayette St. Nuppnau described his last meeting with the design build team and highlighted the key functions of the space. He listed; “hard surface courts, turf with batting cages, interactive play area i. e. a children’s museum and indoor playground, an active adult area which would be considered the senior center, the youth enrichment area which would be our former preschool discovery cottage, community rental spaces, office space, and then a cafe or concession stand to serve those using the facility.” The project’s final completion is set for the end of 2027 with public engagement planned for the future inside the facility. The McGill transformation was announced in June of 2025 here.
    During Council Liaison Reports it was noted that an extension has been added to the survey for public feedback on the Eastside Master Plan till December 5th. This is the proposed development of the land that was first going to be a sports complex, which was canceled, then a data center, which was also cancelled, and now is set for residential, business, and light industrial. The survey can be found on the City Of Valparaiso home page.

       There is an article about the options for the Eastside Master Plan, (Shown Above) where you click on that and the article has a link to the
conceptual plans and the survey is on that page also. The next City Council is 6:00 November 24, 2025. Open to the public.

 The next Valparaiso City Council meeting is November 24th at 6:00pm. 
Valparaiso City Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. 
Meeting Time: The meetings begin at 6:00 PM. 
Location: The meetings are held in the City Council chambers at City Hall. 
Public Access: The meetings are open to the public, and citizens can attend in person. 
Meetings are Recorded:  Watch City Council Meetings Online here

Read Post Tribune Article about the 30 million dollar sportplex from 2022 here
Inside INdiana Business Article about the Sports Plex here

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Sue Baxter

Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.