ST. JOSEPH -- St. Joseph is moving forward on the development of a new industrial park. "Industrial Park East" is about 100 acres in total just to the north of County Road 75 and to the east of County Road 133.

During Monday night's meeting, the city council approved the preparation of the plans and going out for bids to bring city services out to the area. Phase 1 will include installing sewer, water, and streets to 54 acres.

City Administrator Judy Weyrens says St. Joseph has two other industrial parks, but they are pretty much filled to capacity.

Ours and the other cities as well.  We've been told by developers that there are very few small lots for industrial people to develop.  This has been identified as a need in the region and we just happened to secure a grant and have a developer.

The total cost for the improvements to the park is nearly $4.2 million, with the state grant covering $1.24 million of it and the landowner paying the rest through property assessments. Weyrens says there's no cost to the city.

Installation of the city services could start as soon as mid-to-late May.

Weyrens says the St. Joseph Economic Development Authority will work with the developer to market and sell off the lots once they are ready. One business has already committed to building in the industrial park and they'd also like to start building this year.

St. Joseph's first industrial park, which is just to the west of the new park, was built in 1992.

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