ANGOLA - The Steuben County Council unanimously voted upon a tentative $1 million engineering agreement with NIPSCO.

Steuben County Commissioner Wil Howard presented the engineering project to the Steuben County Council members on Tuesday, April 9 at the temporary location of the Steuben County Economic Development Corporation.

NIPSCO had their Manager of Public Affairs and Economic Development Dana Berkes and Project Manager Milissa Kirkilewski attend the meeting to represent the energy company.

Commissioner Howard explained he spearhead the many private meetings with NIPSCO, Steuben County Economic Executive Director Isaac Lee in order to come up with the proposal.

The council approved the $1 million proposal, noting they would pay approximately $550,000 and the other municipalities within Steuben County including Fremont, Hamilton, Orland, Hudson, Ashley and Clear Lake would also be ask to contribute the remaining amount.

Berkes said the idea is to have the central location within the engineering plan for natural gas.

The plan is estimated to take no longer than one year to conclude.

Commissioner Howard said the contract with NIPSCO for the engineering plan could be terminated within a two-days notice.