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ON THE AGENDA: A LOADED TUESDAY FOR CITIES, COUNTY
Here are a few highlights looking ahead to what’s lining up to be a busy Tuesday, with packed agendas in a string of local city and county meetings. That includes Lafayette and West Lafayette city council sessions bumped back a day from the usual first Monday of the month, to make way for Labor Day.
Lafayette City Council
Tax incentives for $890 million plans at Caterpillar: The city council will get its first look at requested, 10-year property tax abatements on $890 million in equipment and renovations at Caterpillar’s Large Engine at 3701 South St. In documents filed with its tax abatement request through the city Aug. 19, the company indicated a plan that would put $350 million into renovations and upgrades at its Lafayette plant. Another $540 million is listed under manufacturing equipment at the facility, which produces diesel and natural gas engines used in oil and gas, mining, electric power, locomotive and marine industries, among others.
The plans come two years after Caterpillar started a $725 million expansion and additional machinery, which also received multi-year tax abatements.
The company hasn’t publicly outlined what’s driving the latest investment, releasing this statement to Based in Lafayette as the Lafayette Redevelopment Commission gave unanimous recommendation for the tax abatement request Aug. 27: “In 2024, Caterpillar launched a significant, multi-year capital investment in our facilities to support growing customer demand and make strategic enhancements across our operations. As part of that effort, Caterpillar has made substantial improvements to its Lafayette campus and is evaluating plans for continued investment.”
A final vote on backyard chicken regulations: A one-year test of Lafayette animal control regulations that allow flocks of up to five hens in residential backyards would become permanent if approved Tuesday night by the city council. The council voted 7-0 in August in the first of two votes required on the measure.
The rules on keeping chickens in the city limits – something West Lafayette has allowed – won narrow approval in 2025 after the council included a one-year sunset provision, forcing the city to consider in 2026 to see whether things were working. In August, the city animal control reported that 45 permits had been issued to residents in the past year, with and estimated 20 chicken-related calls since the permit process went into place.
“We haven’t been inundated with chickens in town, so it really does seem like it was mostly people that legitimately just wanted a small flock in their backyard and that’s what they got,” Sarah Goans, the city’s chief animal control officer, told city council members in August.
For more on the backyard chickens regulations in Lafayette:
False alarm fines ordinance: The city council will consider a second and final vote on a new set of fines that cover false alarms, including those that bring a Lafayette Fire Department response. The proposed fine structure is set up on the number of false alarms in a calendar year. The first violation would warrant a written warning. After that, the fines would be $50 for a second violation, $100 for a third, $150 for a fourth and $200 for fifth violations and beyond. Lafayette Fire Chief Brian Alkire told council members in August that the ordinance would not cover residential fire alarms. The proposal offers ways for alarm businesses time to make a case that corrective action had happened to prevent ongoing false alarms, that the alarm was activated “based upon a reasonable good faith believe that an emergency existed” or that the alarm was triggered by “severe atmospheric conditions or other circumstances not reasonably under the control” of the alarm provider. The council voted unanimously for the false alarm fines in its first vote in August.
Riverfront district expansion: The city council will consider redrawing the boundaries of its Riverfront Development District so it includes Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette on North Fifth Street. The move would allow Civic to obtain a Riverfront liquor license, similar to ones available across much of downtown Lafayette, Dennis Carson, the city’s economic development director, said.
