Profile: Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission, Indiana

Historic Library Renovation

The Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission (K-IRPC), an Economic Development Administration (EDA) funded district in Indiana, has been successfully providing technical assistance and development services for the past 27 years to its six-county region of northwest Indiana. K-IRPC describes itself as “a voluntary public partnership aimed at brokering resources for area benefits.”

K-IRPC’s Executive Director Chris Larson has been very involved in the organization’s gradual expansion from being primarily focused on infrastructure planning to offering more social and cultural services. “Our mission has always been to provide technical assistance to local governments and communities, enabling them to leverage local dollars. We have just broadened our scope of projects to meet the shift in demands. We now also provide assistance for developing the soft side of services, like planning community facilities and leveraging funds for social program operations. We’re in the business of making things happen for this region and if that means we need to take on planning and operating a program like Head Start, then we’re there,” says Larson.

Rural Transportation Planning and Economic Linkages

Rural transportation planning is one area where K-IRPC’s technical assistance continues to be in high demand. With K-IRPC’s assistance, the region is focusing more on comprehensive planning by linking transportation planning with economic development. One recent example of K-IRPC’s positive impact using a comprehensive focus can be found in downtown Brookston.

The main street in the rural town of Brookston (population 1,935) sits in a slight depression. Intersecting side roads were draining into the main street and creating dangerous high water areas and street flooding. This interfered with economic development, making it difficult for the town’s predominately agricultural-based industries to ship products. K-IRPC, acting in its role as an Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) rural transportation planning organization (RPO) pilot, assisted by planning and leveraging funds to build a drainage system to correct the problem and preserve the environment.

The regional commission assisted by addressing economic impacts including infrastructure. Larson explains, “Planning often seems one dimensional or, in this case, just infrastructure-based, but it isn’t. The other side of planning a project like this involves looking at the regional benefits, like a safer and more economically efficient transportation route for citizens and industry. Leveraging funds means you plan with an eye on implementation. It means making area assessments for items like household and industry income levels and accident reports.” Based on K-IRPC’s assessments, they were able to leverage funds, attracting an INDOT grant to meet the project’s budget of $294,000.

The planning commission is using the nexus between transportation planning and economic development as a key to unlocking other sectors of the region for economic growth. The most notable project is K-IRPC’s effort to propose the development of a highway interchange near local mega-dairies, where an average of 35,000 cows produce milk everyday. The proposal focuses on relieving local roads of wear and tear, improving traffic safety and patterns, and encouraging more dairy industry growth.

“We recently took several state and federal decision-makers on a bus tour of mega-dairy operations, so they would understand the linkage between the industry, our economy and transportation,” Larson reports. The mega-dairy industry has room to grow based on land availability. The current mega-dairies development location was once slated to be an alternate airport to Chicago O'Hare, which is less than a hundred miles north of the region.

Cost Sharing and Partnerships

Larson credits cost-sharing among local partners as key to the success and completion of most projects. “Without cooperation and in-kind service from local groups, like the Natural Resources Conservation Service councils, we would not be able to thoroughly address all the issues involved in implementation,” he noted.

The regional organization has a long list of projects in which cost-sharing is or has been critical to successful completion, partnering and leveraging of funds. These projects include:

• Development of a bicycle path
• Renovation of several historically significant libraries
• Water tower repairs and renovations
• Construction of several “multi-generational” facilities which offer services to infants, youth, seniors, Head Start programs and serve as a meeting place for English as a Second Language courses
• Transit services for Head Start and the Area Agency on Aging
• Downtown street revitalizations
• Extending public water services to address the problem of e-coli in drinking water
• Relocation of a city’s well field to resolve water contamination issues
• Land use planning for update of zoning and subdivision ordinances.

The planning commission has the ability to develop necessary partnerships because its 44 board members represent local governments, the governor’s office and local appointees. Their board and community development meetings allow the commission to hear from local leaders about their communities’ wants and needs. “Board discussions give us opportunities to prioritize needs by looking at regional impacts. Most importantly, these discussions provide a forum for all to learn about our assets, so we can use them more effectively and develop more assets,” says Larson.

Kankakee-Iroquois RPC Profile

Budget	$2.1 million total; 15% local; 29% state; 56% federal
Staff	32 total: 26 full-time/full year; 6 full-time/part year
Office	Owned by Kankakee-Iroquois RPC
Programs	Grant administration; Community/economic development: Rural public transportation; Rural transportation planning; Head Start
Board	44 total: 12-member Executive Board; three mayors; six county commissioners; five county councilmen; 20 town council members; nine locally appointed and one governor’s representatives
Advisory Committees	Transit; RPO; Head Start
GIS/GPS Activities	In-house operation used for economic development and land use planning, census district designation
Voluntary Dues	Annual 30˘ per person in region
Region Population	116,000

Working for Local Governments

The commission receives requests weekly from the area’s communities, asking them for assistance. Most requests are easily satisfied because K-IRPC has technology equipment, like geographic information systems, a new traffic counter and the region’s census data affiliate depository. Commission Board Member and Town Council President of Francesville Doug Gutwein noted K-IRPC’s assistance to his community, “We’re a small community, with a population of about 1,000. So, we needed K-IRPC’s manpower to get community development block grants and private funding for our library renovation. We have other campaigns we could use help on too, like recycling.”

The organization already has a list of future initiatives under evaluation for development. “We consider ourselves public servants. We try to answer all requests. Sometimes issues can be too politically charged or not feasible, but we can revisit the request if the need is there,” Larson explains. K-IRPC is committed to continue providing valuable technical assistance and services to communities in its region.

By Kelly Novak, NADO Research Foundation Research Manager

For more information, contact Chris Larson at Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission at (219)253-6658.

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