Robert Cotton

"Senate Bill 1 has been the talk of city hall now and municipal governments for four months," City Administrator Bill Oeding told the city council Monday. "And, like it or hate it, we've got it, and so we've got to figure out what we're going to do with it and how we're going to make it work in the city."

"This project is focused specifically on families," Project Neighbors Executive Director Carmen Vincent told the city council Monday. "These will be long-term, stable homes. Each unit is designed to support family life with space, dignity and affordability in mind."

"This proposal, very simply, ensures implementation of our city's code, not any one individual's interpretation of it," said council member Emilie Hunt during Monday's city council meeting.

"People have had an equal amount of time to engage with us, but don't engage outside of us and then come to this body as though our responsibility, our role, isn't prominent and most important in this whole discussion," said council member Robert Cotton.

The Valparaiso City Council has adjusted its leadership.

Two longtime Valparaiso businesses are planning to expand, but only one appears to be getting the help it wanted from the city.

"The concern was that these projects, many of which benefited from significant taxpayer-funded incentives, lacked companies employing skilled workers at prevailing wages," said Council President Robert Cotton.

"It seems to me like we only have part of the picture right now, with the information given to us, but our job is to see where taxpayer funds are going and make sure that they're needed," council member Emilie Hunt said during Monday's meeting.

Valparaiso home buyers may soon be able to take part in a down payment assistance program.

The Valparaiso City Council has voted to give $343,976 of its opioid settlement money to organizations helping those with substance use disorder.