Wednesday, October 1, 2014

10012014 - News Article - Feds subpoena more Valparaiso records



Feds subpoena more Valparaiso records 
Post-Tribune 
October 1, 2014 1:32PM 
Updated: October 2, 2014 2:04AM

VALPARAISO -- Clerk-Treasurer Sharon Swihart has been served with a federal subpoena for records, City Economic Development Director Patrick Lyp said Wednesday.

“This is the only subpoena received by any entity associated with the City and no other subpoenas were served on anyone, nor have the FBI agents interview(ed) (or asked to interview) anyone associated with the City,” Lyp stated in an email Wednesday.

The subpoena ordered that the city turn over documents related to the Eastgate project, now known as University Promenade, a pair of condominium complexes.

The complexes sit on either side of University Drive between Lincolnway and Valparaiso University.

The FBI requested all documents on the sale of the land to Al Krygier, the developer who bought the land, from January 2008 through July 2014.

This included minutes from the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission meetings, records of bids and requests for proposals, all contracts and purchase agreements and records for advertising the sale.

In a statement Wednesday, Lyp and the city stated Valparaiso’s policy of full cooperation with the FBI remains.

The city adopted this police in August when FBI agents requested information on University Promenade from the Porter County Assessor’s office. At that time, the city gave FBI agents a seven-page narrative of the project from 2006 on, including information on the original Eastgate project.

Some of the documents the subpoena requested were ones the city handed over already, according to the statement.

The Assistant United States Attorney in the case “apologized for the unnecessary public action,” according to the city’s statements.

When the city originally handed the seven-page narrative to the FBI in August, it also released a press release stating the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission and its staff would “fully cooperate with the FBI.”

Lyp said the city did that because “it seemed pretty apparent they’d want to request documents from us.”

Eastgate was a project to beautify east Lincolnway by razing older buildings and offering grants for new facades in 2006.

The block now has seven university-style apartment buildings and with retail stores on the bottom and a Horizon Bank branch.

The Plan Commission currently has a request for a four-lot subdivision of the University Promenade property.

No comments:

Post a Comment