Hey Locals,

The iconic Three Rivers Festival returns on Friday with a new marketing strategy led by the NUP Guys on social media. We fill you in on what to know and a few must-attend events.

We also update you on the Allen County Jail saga, after a judge recently ruled that a citizen group's lawsuit against the new jail's funding plan can proceed in tax court without multi-million dollar fines. And we dish on a (potential) second location for Powers Hamburgers Downtown, as well as a public meeting about redesigning the entrance of Foster Park.

This month: we're partnering with Dirt Wain to bring all paid subscribers one FREE month of their basic food scrap composting plan (a $21.50 value). Did you know we give our paid members a freebie every month at a local business to cover the cost of membership? See what a paid membership is all about with this 30-day trial.

Now, let's get started.

NOTE: Links to Journal Gazette articles are marked(*) and may be behind a paywall.

A citizen group that filed a lawsuit against the new Allen County Jail's funding plan won't have to pay for delaying the project.

We fill you in on a judge's decision, and what's next for the controversial county jail project.

What's happening?

In late March, four members of the citizen group, Allen County Residents Against the Jail (ACRAJ), filed a lawsuit against the county's plan to pay for the controversial $316 million new jail using a lease back financial mechanism, involving the Allen County Courthouse. The lawsuit played a role in delaying the project's groundbreaking this spring, causing county commissioners to ask the presiding Indiana Tax Court Judge Heather Welch to make the citizen group pay for potential price increases to the project while the court case is resolved (a bond estimated at more than $90 million). On July 5, Judge Welch denied the commissioners' request, so the citizens' tax court case can proceed.

Here are a few quick things to know:

• The funding mechanism in question sounds complex, but WANE 15 breaks down the basics. Essentially, it "allows the county to use the courthouse to immediately pay interest on the bonds needed to pay for the new jail, rather than letting that interest pile up during the three years it would take to build the new jail." In order to do this, the county is setting up a building corporation, which it plans to lease the courthouse to because the courthouse is the only county property with a high enough assessed value as the new jail. County officials estimate this funding mechanism will help save taxpayers a potential $24 million dollar net increase on the project during its estimated three-year build. However, some citizens and county council reps have questioned the exorbitant price tag of the new jail, in general, noting the typical cost for a new jail in Indiana is $90,000-$140,000 per bed, which would be roughly $117 million-$182 million for the projected 1,300-bed new facility.
• A member of the new jail building corporation and former PFW public finance professor, John Stafford, says these types of funding mechanisms are "a very standard practice in Indiana.” He says variations have been used for decades for multiple reasons, including helping the City of Fort Wayne fund Electric Works and helping local school districts fund large projects. "The primary reason many local units of government use the rental lease back method of financing is to construct large projects that would otherwise exceed the Indiana constitutional debt limit of 2% of the respective unit’s assessed value of property located within its jurisdiction," he says. "Allen County’s proposal to temporarily include the courthouse in the lease is intended to reduce the amount of capitalized interest the county would have to pay to bondholders, and thereby reduce the cost burden on taxpayers. That, however, is not the primary reason the rental lease back vehicle is used in many instances. In the case of the jail financing proposal, the county is utilizing both features of the vehicle." One of his big questions is: "If the citizens are successful in their case, does that upset other school and project financing in the state that has used this funding mechanism?"
• What happens next? Commissioners have until July 15 to appeal Welch's bond denial to the Indiana Supreme Court. If they do, the state's Supreme Court can delay the denied bond order while they decide and set or modify the bond, The JG* reports. If county officials don't file, the case will proceed in tax court in early August, when Judge Welch will hear the citizens' case to decide whether the project’s lease purchase agreement is within what Indiana state law allows.
• If the case is not resolved quickly, the federal judge in the original lawsuit against the county could issue a prisoner release order to alleviate ongoing overcrowding at the current jail. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana (ACLU) recently warned county officials it might request a court-ordered prisoner release if the jail continues to be overcrowded and understaffed while the county attempts to build a new jail and resolve lawsuits. As of June 5, the jail's population was 733 – lower than the 900+ inmates it had when the county was originally sued, but still higher than its 622 or fewer capacity. The JG* explains: "A prisoner release order doesn’t mean jail inmates will be relieved of their sentences, but they would serve it elsewhere. Other options include home detention, the residential services program, probation restrictions and community corrections." An updated report on July 8* says a federal court hearing set for July 15 is where plaintiffs will report whether and when they will file a prisoner release order. "At this point it is unknown when, or even if, the new jail will be built,” it says.

Want more breakdowns of important local stories like this? Subscribe to our premium newsletter.

• A kitchen fire at Powers Hamburgers could result in a permanent second location Downtown – with enough community support. About two months ago, the iconic burger joint at 1402 S. Harrison St. sold to new owners, the Salvatori’s restaurant group, and on June 25, they experienced a fire, likely causing by old wiring in the 80-year-old building. Owners estimate it will be closed for repairs for 6-8 more weeks. In the meantime, Powers is operating out of a food truck and has a temporary second location Downtown in mind about "a mile west in a relatively new development." Owner Alex Richardson tells The JG*: “If the community is out there and supports us, we would love to be a permanent resident.” We'll keep you posted. Food truck hours are 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
• Foster Park's entrance is getting a makeover as work on the deep rock tunnel there nears completion, and park users can participate in two upcoming public input sessions to offer feedback. Some readers of The Local recently received an email from the Parks department and their subcontractors about public meetings to redesign the park's entrance. The email says: "The newly designed entrance will address not only infrastructure and maintenance needs..., but will also take into consideration recreational amenities, landscape enhancements, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, and the interface of a new plan with the existing beauty of Foster Park and its surroundings... I’m hopeful that you can help spread the word about these meetings so that we can gather as much input as possible from folks living nearby and from those who regularly use the park." Open house public meetings will be held July 18 at Foster Park Pavilion #1, 5-7 p.m., and July 30 at Indian Village Park Sears Pavilion, 6-8 p.m. Learn more on Engage Fort Wayne and the Parks Department's website.

Plus: a nationally unique school recycling program, a new event at Parkview Field and more. Read all about it in our premium newsletter.

The iconic 55th annual Three Rivers Festival is back July 12-20.

We talk with hosts, the NUP Guys, to fill you in.

What’s happening?

After a few years of rocky leadership transitions, the iconic Three Rivers Festival (TRF) is taking a new direction this summer, hosted by the NUP Guys on social media, three young friends and video-driven content creators, merging local stories with cyberculture and humor.

We sat down for a quick conversation with NUP’s marketing guy, Nacho, who filled us in on his team’s background, work with TRF and must-attend events this year, July 12-20.

Give us a little background on the NUP Guys and NUP Media. 

Nacho: We all graduated within a few years of each other from Huntington University (2017-2019 range). I’m the marketing guy, originally from Argentina. Gio is the economics and accounting guy (the boring one), originally from Mexico, and Max went to school for psychology. He’s originally from Fort Wayne, and we’ve all lived here for the past 10 years. We have a shared interest in content creation and a similar sense of humor, so we knew when we wanted to start NUP Media that we wanted to put humor into it. And it’s practical, too, because we’ve found that humor increases engagement. We also just have so much fun making videos together, it’s ridiculous.

What interested you in hosting TRF this year? 

Nacho: TRF is the second-biggest festival in Indiana with more than 500,000 attendees every summer. It has an incredible 55-year history, and we were contacted by the board of directors this year because they wanted to do something different. If you look at the way the festival has been marketed in the past, it’s very traditional marketing. This year, we’re collaborating with some amazingly talented local people to showcase the festival through lens of creativity that content creators bring to our city. Our goal for the festival is to be there every day ourselves, doing recaps of what’s happening and reviews, and then have other content creators doing their own reviews and promotions, so it will be like a live broadcast of the entire festival from multiple voices with their own audiences. Something we love about Fort Wayne that people might not know about is: There's such a collaborative spirit here. I absolutely adore it. We’ve enjoyed partnering with every local content creator we can find and doing fun stuff together.

What are some must-attend events at this year's festival?

Nacho: You have the usual people-pleasers, like Junk Food Alley, that have been destinations for years and years, but I think the entertainment this year is one of the best lineups in a long time. The Three Rivers Festival will have more exciting, nightlife-style concerts this year. That's a big differentiator and something people should check out. You’re going to see great local and national level acts, offering a little bit of everything from rock to country, comedy, worship music and a new EDM night on July 17 that should be cool. There’s a wide variety and truly something for everyone.

Check out the full calendar of events here!

• Enjoy: $5 Summer Nights concerts with food and cocktails every Wednesday in July and August at the Embassy Theatre’s multi-tier ballroom and rooftop patio. "A bar will offer specialty frozen cocktails, and the Embassy has collaborated with local restaurants to provide food for purchase." The event July 10, 5:30-9 p.m., features music by Sunny Taylor with Paul Kobylensky and food by Shigs In Pit.
• Cruise: the St. Marys River to live Irish folk music by Carrie White and Matt Katinsky as part of a special Sweet Breeze Canal Boat Cruise with apps from JK O'Donnell's Irish pub. The voyage is July 12, 8-9:30 p.m., and $60/person for up to 24 guests.
• Learn: about bioswales and how they benefit the environment at Promenade Park on a free tour July 12, 5:30-6:30 p.m., with Parks Landscape Supervisor Eric Ummel. You might remember Dirt Wain Compost's Brett Bloom recently told us bioswales could help better manage stormwater in Fort Wayne – perhaps better than the costly MamaJo Deep Rock Tunnel.

What else? Learn about more events in our premium newsletter.

Support The Local!

Our independent news publication is run by just two locals, Kara and Mike. We are 99% funded by our paid members, and we'd like to keep it that way. If you've enjoyed reading our newsletter so far and have found value in the service we provide, we'd love to have you become a paid subscriber. Help us keep going by upgrading today, and receive our premium newsletter and perks!

Got a story tip or idea?

Let us know at thelocalfortwayne@gmail.com.

Have a great week, Locals!

-Your Editor, Kara Hackett