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Indiana Street, between East Market and East Center streets, will be closed from May 18 to 29 for water line work as part of the Lake City Bank ongoing renovation project at 122 E. Center St.
Warsaw Public Works Director Dustin Dillon presented the road closure request, on behalf of Weigand Construction, to the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday.
“The road closure has been requested and deemed necessary to install the water line for the fire suppression system. The road closure will be May 18 through May 29. Weigand Construction has been notified of downtown events for the area, just prior to this closure, and determined the schedule to work around those public events,” Dillon said.
Third Friday is Friday, May 15, with the Fat + Skinny Tire Festival starting in downtown Warsaw on May 15.
In the documentation to the Board of Works, Dillon provided the communication with the neighboring businesses as requested by the city and a map of the closure.
“In our attempt to continually improve protocol of road construction closure requests, Weigand has submitted the proper form depicting the timeline and need, communication with all the surrounding stakeholders and they also provided a map of the closure,” Dillon stated.
Board member George Clemens said it was quite a while to have that road closure, but it seemed necessary and it’s “quite a project.”
Dillon said the water is on the east side of the road and has to cut across Indiana Street, so the road has to be cut open for the work, to be completed by G & G Hauling & Excavating.
Councilwoman Diane Quance made the motion to approve the road closure request, Clemens seconded it and the motion passed 3-0.
AOD
Airport Manager Nick King, on behalf of himself and City Planner Justin Taylor, presented to the Board of Works an agreement between the Warsaw Municipal Airport Board of Aviation Commissioners and HWC Engineering Inc., Indianapolis, for legal services for the Airport Overlay Zoning District (AOD). The cost is not to exceed $22,800.
“We’ve been working for the better part of six months to try and put together an Airport Overlay District, and while my engineering firm (CHA Consulting) has done a majority of the heavy lifting for the technical data, when it came down to writing the actual ordinance that would adopt this Airport Overlay District into place, working with (city attorney) Mr. (Scott) Reust, the airport’s attorney, Mr. (Don) Tribbett, and sitting down and looking at it, it was a little bit too complex of a task for us to do locally because the ordinance has to be passed both by the city council and the county council,” King explained.
An AOD will “streamline and alleviate a lot of headaches and time wasted” for local developers, he said. Currently, if someone wants to develop a site in Warsaw, if it requires an FAA airspace study, King said that can take anywhere from 45 to 180 days, depending on the project.
“An Airport Overlay District, once approved by the FAA ... this would give us an overhead map that we could overlay on Beacon, and any parcel in the community would know exactly what the heights are that could be developable, which ones would need further study,” King said. “It should streamline a lot of work.”
Reust and Tribbett have spoken with HWC’s project manager and King said he was confident in the final product that HWC would provide, which would be presented to the city and county councils.
Reust stated aviation laws are a very specific thing, especially with an AOD. “We need to have someone, other than me, address that and I think they found the right people,” he said.
It’s not yet a requirement from the FAA that airports have to have an AOD, King said, but there are “a lot of rumors” that these requirements may be coming in a couple years. With that, services and expenses related to an AOD may become more expensive and delayed in the future. Warsaw is ahead of the curve, he said.
“So we would be one of the first general aviation airports that would have an overlay district. Again, the entire goal for this is to streamline the planning process and streamline the developers’ permitting process and make it quicker for them,” King stated.
Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose said it’s been a huge exercise and he appreciated King’s and Taylor’s efforts. King said Kosciusko County Area Plan Director Matt Sandy has been great to work with.
“It’s a step for me toward good government. It’s good government,” Grose said. “It’s not been easy, but here we are.”
The Board of Works approved the agreement 3-0. King said the Board of Aviation Commissioners also approved it at their previous meeting.
Other Business
In other business:
• The Board approved a $7,324.12 pay application from G & G, as requested by Utility Manager Brian Davison, for the Prairie and Lake streets storm improvements; a pay application for $88,043.35, the final pay application from G & G for the improvements work; and a pay application from G & G for $20,458.44, the retainage for the project.
A change order from G & G for a deduction of $6,000 from the improvements project cost also was approved. Davison said there weren’t as many bad soils as they thought there would be.
• Grose gave the ceremonial oath of office to Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighter Keegan McCawley, who’s completed his probationary year. Keegan’s parents, Kevin and Erin McCawley, pinned his badge on his uniform.
• Human Resource Director Denny Harlan recognized two city employees who are celebrating their five-year milestone anniversaries.
Kelsey Chanley started out at the Warsaw Police Department in records and then transferred out to the airport to be the administrative assistant.
Robert Hurford is the building inspector with the Warsaw Building & Planning Department.
• The Board approved six travel requests, as presented by Harlan.
• Warsaw Assistant City Planner Leah Parker presented three outdoor seating permit applications, all of which were approved by the Board. They were for 108 E. Market St., 109 E. Center St. and 112 N. Buffalo St.
• A take-home vehicle request for Larry Hyden, Warsaw Wastewater assistant utility manager, as presented by Harlan, was approved. Harlan said Hyden has a new vehicle - a 2026 Ford F-350 - so the request was just updating Hyden’s already-approved take-home vehicle request for a new vehicle.
• The Board approved the new hire and change in payroll report, as presented by Harlan.
It adds the new city engineer, Kyle Alger, to the Plan Commission Board; adds seasonal new hires at the cemetery, parks and wastewater departments; merit increases for employees who have completed some certifications; adds two new maintenance technicians for the wastewater treatment utility, which fills the department’s staff; adds a new firefighter, Miles Waters who is actually returning to the city and that will fill all the opened positions at the fire department; and adds longevity pay to McCawley’s pay now that he’s reached the end of his probationary period.
• Grose said the city meetings will continue to meet at the Warsaw Police Department in May as the HVAC work at City Hall continues.
