Fire station No. 3 is already being credited with saving lives, but not all the work on the Warsaw building has been completed and action could be sought if it’s not addressed soon.
Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Station 3, which opened in October, is at 620 W. CR 200S, Warsaw. The building was designed by MartinRiley Architects, Fort Wayne, and constructed by Mosaic Building Solutions, Fort Wayne.
“So, we’ve talked about the ax that we’re going to take against Mosaic,” said Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer at the Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Protection Territory meeting Tuesday
He told Fire Chief Mike Wilson and attorney Andrew Grossnickle to mention what the fire territory did and the response they got.
Grossnickle said, “A demand letter was made on Mosaic in reference to some of the work that has not been completed on station 3, and I see they’ve finally responded. Now, what? Eight days later?”
He said Mosaic apologized for the delay and, weather pending, the balance of the work will be started in the next three weeks.
The letter states the fire department awarded Mosaic the contract to construct the new station in September 2017. On July 17, 2018, Rob Barker and MartinRiley created a “punch list” – work not conforming to contract specificiations that the contractor must complete before the final payment. The fire department took occupancy on Sept. 12, 2018.
“Since this time, Mosaic has made very little progress toward the completion of items on the punch list. MartinRiley ... has made several attempts to inquire as to the status of the punch list and the schedule for completion.”
The letter asks Mosaic to provide a detailed schedule for completion of the punch list items within five business days from receipt of the letter. “If an acceptable schedule is not received, we will consider Mosaic to be unresponsive and notify Hoch Insurance Agency of our intent to file a claim and begin the process of completing this work by other means.”
Wilson said MartinRiley was on site Monday with Wilson. He also said the agency that put windows in at the station has cleaned up its issue and the windows are done.
“The rest of it has not been touched,” he said. MartinRiley is reaching out to Mosaic, he said, to see what the timeframe will be and the attorney and city engineer James Emans will be updated.
Thallemer said he assumed a date was given to Mosaic in regard to the fire territory filing an insurance claim. “In talking with them, do they understand that?” he asked. Wilson said they did.
Thallemer said the fact Mosaic got back to them sounded fine, but the fire territory needs to stick to its dates and boundaries. “Beyond that, I can’t believe there is anything else we can do but turn it over,” he said.
“I would concur,” Wilson said.
Asked what the biggest issue on the building was, Wilson said the grouting of the outside was going to be handled by MartinRiley. They’re waiting for the temperature to stay normal before the grouting is done.
In the interior, tile work needs to be done in the bathrooms. A wall needs to be built from “top of the main floor wall that separates the living space from the atmosphere of the equipment bay ... that’s the biggest issue in the interior.”
Wilson said some landscaping and downspouts need to be repaired, and the floor needs to be sealed correctly.
During the review of March fire activity, Wilson said the fire territory had 250 responses. Of those, 138 were in district 1, 81 by station 2 and 31 were in the south district.
Thallemer asked if the calls station 3 was taking reduced the calls to station 1, and Wilson said it had.
That reminded City Councilman and board member Mike Klondaris of something a constituent told him.
“(He) ... told me he had a heart attack, and if that station 3 hadn’t been there with the ambulance, he would not have made it. His wife was very, very, very grateful and she couldn’t thank me enough. I think it’s worth noting that that station is already saving lives,” Klondaris said.
Thallemer said he heard the same testimony and similar accolades for the station.
Wilson said Lutheran EMS continues to get busier out of station 3, and the fire department run volume is going up.
Earlier in the meeting, Wilson gave the board an update on services for Winona Lake Fire Chief Mitch Titus, who died Sunday after a work-related accident on Friday.
“The county fire departments are getting ready for what we’re going to call the new normal,” he said. “Chief Titus, I know he touched every department in this county, one way or another.”
Visitation is today at Winona Heritage Room from 2 to 8 p.m., with firefighters having a walk-through for the memorial at 7 p.m. The funeral is at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. A procession to Oaklawn Cemetery for the burial will follow the service.
“The family has been very thankful for all the comments, Facebook posts, phone calls, text messages,” Wilson said. “I talked to (Titus’ wife) Jody last night and she’s preparing for her new normal with the children.”
