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The Ossian Health and Rehabilitation Center’s expansion plans received the approval of the Wells County Area Plan Commission Thursday night.

Josh Barkley, who represented the business’s owners before the APC, said the expansion would add 39,000 square feet to the facility on Ossian’s north side. Included will be a new welcome center, physical therapy facility, a small theater, office space, a small café with a grill, and 38 additional assisted living residences. Some of the new residences will have a studio floor plan and some will have one bedroom.

“It’s a great project for the owners and the town of Ossian,” said Barkley, who also serves on the Ossian Town Council.

There are some obstacles that need to be cleared before the addition is completed, however:

• Two land parcels need to be merged for the project to go forward. That will take some time to accomplish.

• The expansion requires the relocation of a legal drain, so the Wells County Drainage Board will have to give its approval.

• The town of Ossian has some concerns about a right-of-way issue. Included in the documents that the APC members looked over Thursday night was a letter from Ossian Town Manager Luann Martin, who said the issue is being researched.

Barkley said the amount of paperwork is more than he’s ever seen for an individual project. Construction will not start, he said, “until all of these things are in place.”

The APC members made their approval of the development plan Thursday night conditional on the three items being completed. All 11 APC members — Dan Baumgardner, Harry Baumgartner Jr., Tyson Brooks, Kip Bunch, Jarrod Hahn, Bill Horan, Jerome Markley, Mike Morrissey, Tim Rohr, John Schuhmacher, and Becky Stone-Smith — voted to approve the plan.

Ossian Health Care Holding Co. LLC is the owner of the Ossian Health and Rehabilitation Center. The facility is on 215 Davis Road in Ossian. 

Also Tuesday, the APC approved changes in the restrictive covenants for The Bridges subdivision in Ossian. Larry Heckler, who represented the subdivision owners before the APC, asked for the APC’s approval on four changes — changing the wording to de-emphasize the development of villas, clarifying that swales should be put in at the edge of the properties for drainage purposes, and changing dates until Dec. 31, 2025, in two other places in the covenants. The reason for the date change, he said, is that the developers “would like to be in control a little longer” as sales have been slower than originally expected.

The changes were OK’d 11-0.

Article by Dave Shultz, Courtesy of the News-Banner