Jasper EDC Elects Officers, Reviews Comprehensive Plan at First 2026 Meeting

Andrew Seger, Kurt Vonderheide, and Mark Schmidt now control the commission that decides which Jasper businesses qualify for tax incentives. The three were elected as officers of the Jasper Economic Development Commission at the board's April 8 meeting at City Hall, with Seger continuing as president, Vonderheide as vice president, and Schmidt elevated to secretary.

Schmidt's new role carries an immediate practical obligation. City Attorney Renee Kabrick reminded the board that the EDC secretary must be present whenever official signatures are required on commission documents. Schmidt fills the seat previously held by Mike Pfau, who had served since 2022. Ryan Kramer joined as a new board member to replace Pfau entirely.

The offices matter because the EDC holds direct authority over economic incentives. Under Indiana Code 6-1.1-12.1-1, property owners making improvements or installing equipment in a designated Economic Revitalization Area can apply for tax abatement, structured as a deduction from assessed valuation. The EDC scores each application and forwards a recommendation to the Jasper Common Council, which creates the ERA and votes on the incentive. The board's composition determines which business investments get that pathway to a tax break and which do not.

Community Development Director Josh Gunselman told the board there were no active economic development projects ready for public discussion at the April 8 session, but reported that revisions to the city's Comprehensive Plan were nearly complete. That document is the product of a 14-month planning process launched in early 2025 with consultancy Future iQ, updating the city's 2019 "Impact Jasper" plan, which itself took 14 months to develop after launching in June 2018.

The current process has included substantial community input. A two-session Think-Tank Workshop on October 31 and November 1, 2025, produced four scenarios for Jasper's future before stakeholders selected a consensus "Preferred Future" that now anchors the draft.

The public gets its clearest look at that document on Saturday, April 25, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the River Centre, Door 9, on 3rd Avenue along the Patoka River. The open house will display the Draft Comprehensive Plan alongside the Draft Land Use Map, which together will govern where housing is permitted to be built, which parcels are designated for industrial and commercial use, and how the city targets road and infrastructure spending in the years ahead. Comments submitted at the open house enter the official record reviewed by the 11-member Jasper Plan Commission, the body responsible for adopting the final plan and executing any rezoning and subdivision actions that follow.

Once the JPC moves toward a formal adoption vote, opportunities for public input narrow considerably.