The Valparaiso City Council meeting on March 9th 2026 was all city business, the simple city business that keeps Valparaiso going with one resolution and four ordinances. Contrasted against the last few council meetings that highlighted national partisan issues that have divided our council and this community.
First on the agenda was Resolution No. 5, 2026, a resolution appropriating funds in the general fund. This resolution deals with paying our new city attorney, Joe Sventanoff. Instead of being paid a salary from the attorney budget he will be paid for services rendered from the professional services fund and this resolution just moves funds from salaries into professional services.
Next was Ordinance No. 4, 2026, this ordinance already passed last month but was brought back with suspension of rules for procedural reasons. The Indiana legislators passed a rule for appropriations of tax funds changing how they were to be advertised for public hearings effective January 1st of this year. Instead of advertising these ordinances and public hearings in the newspaper they are now required to be advertised on the Indiana Gateway website. This will save the city a little bit of advertising money and it only applies to appropriations of tax funds. The ordinance was brought back so it could be advertised in accordance with the new rules. The suspension of rules was so that it could have first and second reading with public hearing in one council meeting. Suspension of rules requires a unanimous vote and with one council member absent this was tabled till next meeting.
Paving funds for 2026 were passed on second reading with a paving budget of just over 5.3 million this year. Indiana’s Community Crossing grant is also back on the table for municipalities this year and Valpo is working on getting bids for the one million dollar grant to add additional streets to this year’s paving.
Ordinance No. 7, 2026 passed on its second reading. This ordinance concerns the vacating of platted alleyways by the city in preparation for the sale and redevelopment of the Banta Center once the new REC center is finished and the programs that are being held at the Banta Center are moved there.
Ordinance No. 8, 2026 was the last ordinance before council and was on the agenda for the first reading. This ordinance just appropriates funds for part time work concerning meeting minutes preparation.
During public comment there was mention of current court litigation concerning the Valparaiso Lakes Conservancy Board being reformed. The head of Valpo Utilities made a statement to clear up what was going on. From my understanding of the situation the Conservancy Board is a group of homes north of city limits that use Valparaiso’s water and sewer services as a group. The current litigation in Porter County court is to reform this group to have each individual home or business be a customer of Valpo Utilities rather than the conservancy being the sole customer.
There are some noteworthy events coming up for citizen input and community engagement in Valparaiso. Interactive Map the Vision Night is being held at Harre Union Hall at Valparaiso University Wednesday, March 18 from 5:30 to 7:30. This event is for the citizens of Valpo to give input on Valpo’s new Comprehensive Plan which covers; transportation, networks, neighborhoods, work environments, community events and more. Tuesday, March 31st at City Hall will be an open house for the Eastside Master Plan.
The Valparaiso Community Conference will be Thursday, April 23rd at the Harre Union Hall on the Valparaiso University campus and will include guest speakers, interactive workshops, and community networking opportunities. This event requires registration with purchase of a 25$ ticket, link for purchase can be found through the Valpo city website.
The next city council meeting is 6:00pm March 23, 2026 at city hall.
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