An Open Letter to St. John Residents
St. John Residents,
As Town Council President, I would like to address two important topics that have been circulating in our community.
The first is the State Line Annexation. At our July 9, 2025 Town Council meeting, the Council unanimously voted to consider Ordinance 1870 on first reading. This process is required to allow the ordinance to work through the necessary steps and to open it up for public comment through a public hearing. A first reading is simply the introduction of an ordinance, not its passage. It opens it up for consideration and discussion. It does not commit the Town Council to approve its final passage. On the July 23, 2025 Town Council meeting, the Council unanimously voted to accept a water rights agreement associated with the State Line Annexation. This agreement was part of the process of acquiring four new wells, a water filtration system, and a water tower for St. John, all measures designed to secure St. John’s long-term water needs looking 15–20 years into the future. On September 9, 2025, just one day before the scheduled public hearing, the Town received a development plan proposing 958 houses on the 167 acres of land proposed to be annexed. We weren’t naïve to the fact that a residential development would be proposed, but all five council members were floored that this was the plan being presented. Not only was the proposal outrageous, but receiving it just one day before the public hearing was completely unacceptable. On September 24, 2025, Councilman Pondinas made a motion to deny the annexation, which was seconded by Councilwoman Oster. The motion to deny the annexation passed 4–1. Unfortunately, because the item was not formally placed on that meeting’s agenda, our Town Attorney advised that the Council must vote again, which we will do to put this matter to rest. While property owners have the right to present development proposals, the Town is under no obligation to accept them. St. John will continue to grow, both commercially and residentially, but we have a duty to ensure that development or growth aligns with the best interests of our residents. While the idea of securing long-term water infrastructure is appealing and will be necessary, the proposed development tied to that water is not in the Town’s best interest and will be denied.
I also want to emphasize that St. John is not facing a water shortage. With Wells 8 and 9 coming online this fall, along with filtration upgrades completed last year, we are producing ample water to meet both current and near-future demand. In fact, for the first time in years, we no longer need to purchase supplemental water from the Town of Schererville during the summer months.
The second item I’d like to address is a Data Center in St. John. St. John is not getting a Data Center. Like many other Northwest Indiana communities (Hammond, Valparaiso, Chesterton, Portage, Hobart, Merrillville, and others) a data center project was pitched to the Town of St. John. Data centers often spark strong opinions, with some residents supporting them for their potential to increase tax revenue, and others voicing concern about their heavy use of electricity and water. We are all aware of recent dramatic increases in NIPSCO rates that some have speculated are tied to the growth of data centers. While there may have been potential to generate $2-$3 million in property tax revenue annually, as details unfolded, it became clear that the project was not in the Town’s best interest. NIPSCO could not guarantee the electricity required to support the facility, and there were too many unanswered questions regarding water usage. Regardless, I want to be perfectly clear that a data center is not coming to St. John.
I hope this provides clarity on these issues and helps reassure residents. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.
Respectfully,
Michael Bouvat
Town Council President