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City of Warsaw officially approved an agreement Friday with Denison Parking Inc. for downtown parking operations management.
The Warsaw Common Council had a public meeting with Denison representatives at their April 21 meeting, but the Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday finally approved the agreement with Denison.
City Planner Justin Taylor presented the agreement to the Board of Works on Friday.
“We’ve been working towards this over the last year to find a better solution for our downtown parking enforcement. Right now, we’ve reviewed this quite a few times in different meetings so I won’t go into a lot of detail, but this is the first step into implementing what we’ve been discussing,” he said. “... Again, this would be the first step and then the ordinance component would be addressed as we start implementing and ordering the equipment we need to manage the parking this way. There’s about a 90-day ramp-up period for this, so we were just trying to get this under contract so that we can take those next steps and roll this out this fall.”
According to a memo on the agreement to the board from Taylor, the agreement will cover the management of on-street and off-street parking facilities for a five-year term (March 1, 2025, to Feb. 28, 2030), with the option to extend for two additional one-year terms. Fine amounts and the parameters of the parking regulations downtown will be under the full control of the city, who will be able to adjust the regulations as needed.
Mayor Jeff Grose said there’s been a lot of work to get the city to this point. He said at previous meetings, the city council was wanting to move forward with the downtown parking change.
“It’s a positive way to improve parking in the downtown. And, it’s been very difficult, a lot of work, there’s been a lot of help by the individuals who are going to be working with this,” Grose said, noting the parking changes may start this year in the fall. “We can continue to make adjustments and learn from behavior and what’s liked and not and make adjustments. I give a lot of credit to Justin.”
C. Perry Griffith III, president, Denison Parking said to Grose, “I think your comments are well said in the sense that this will be ... one of learning, of getting feedback from the community and really implementing what is at the core for your constituents and the citizens of Warsaw. So we are an extension of you in that effort, and we’ll be taking your feedback, community’s feedback, to heart as we try to support the businesses in the community in that effort.”
Dalis Owens, parking enforcement officer, told the board, “Parking looks a lot different than it did two years when I first took over. We’ve got more job duties assigned to us now in code enforcement so I think this is going to be the way to make everything run smoothly, for lack of better terms.”
He said it’ll allow them to be more productive and use their time a little more wisely. “Instead of getting out and spending 45 minutes walking every two hours, we can just kind of go through and scan as we go. So I think, all in all, this is going to be the best route to go for, not only me, to be a little selfish here, but also for the community and the city,” Owens stated.
Taylor concluded by saying he appreciated all the conversations they’ve had with community members and business owners about their concerns.
“I think we’ve been able to address most of those with what we’re proposing to council and, as far as ordinance changes, we’re going to roll this system out, so I really appreciate the community feedback,” Taylor said.
Board member George Clemens made the motion to approve the agreement, Grose seconded it and it was approved 2-0. Councilwoman Diane Quance was absent.
In other business, the board approved:
• A distribution request from Union Station Lofts for $419,276.08, as presented by Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner. This is the fifth distribution request for the project at the site of the former Gatke Corp. being developed by Rebar Warsaw LLC. Skinner said the distribution will be paid out of the bond issuance a few months ago for the Union Station Lofts.
• A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city of Warsaw and town of Winona Lake regarding the ownership and maintenance of a sanitary sewer line at the intersection of Winona Avenue and South McKinley Street, as presented by Taylor.
“This is due to a unique configuration of the sewer system on the border of Winona Lake and Warsaw where a new development was occurring in Warsaw and then it would tie into a sanitary sewer system owned by Winona Lake, and then be pumped back to Warsaw,” Taylor said. “So to lessen that ambiguity and figure out how to build the development and manage that connection, we proposed this MOU for your review and approval, where the city would take ownership of that stretch of sewer to maintain it, and then we would work out an agreement to build the development accordingly or credit Winona Lake for the building of that new development.’
• Pay application no. 46 from American Structurepoint for professional engineering services in the amount of $4,920 for the Anchorage Road project, as presented by Skinner. It is an 80/20 Indiana Department of Transportation-funded project, meaning the city will pay 20% throughout the project and be reimbursed 80% for each phase.
Skinner said they’re hoping to bid the project out in October.
• Pay application for $8,421 from Lynn Douglas Inc. for ongoing environmental services in regards to the Warsaw Chemical groundwater cleanup, as presented by Skinner.
He said, “We refinanced the wastewater bond to take advantage of some additional funding to clean up the Warsaw Chemical site.”
• Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory’s request to apply for a reimbursement grant for $20,000 through the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, as presented by Fire Chief Joel Shilling and firefighter Tyler Scott. The grant funds, if approved, will be used for the purchase of three True Gravity Plus treadmills, with one placed at each of the three fire stations. The WWFT Board approved the request at their meeting Tuesday.
• The closure of East Clark Street, between North Lincoln Street and North Lindberg Drive, on Oct. 11 from 4 to 11:59 p.m. for a neighborhood block party, as requested by Patrick Loebs. The party is scheduled for 5 to 11 p.m.
• The closure of the alley behind Generous Coffee Roastery, East Center Street, downtown Warsaw, on July 14 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. for a community block party, as requested by Erica Deuel. The event will be from 6 to 8 p.m.
• The closure of West Island View Drive from 1323 to 1319 W. Island View Drive on July 3 from 7 p.m. to midnight for a Country Club neighborhood Fourth of July Celebration, as requested by Blaine Stookey. The event will be from 8 to 11 p.m.
• Signing the contract between the city and Lassus Brothers for 2026 fuel prices, as requested by the Warsaw Police Department. The board opened and approved the bid at their last meeting, which was for 85,000 gallons of 87 Octane at a fixed price of $2.489 per gallon.
• The travel requests and new hire/change in payroll report, as presented by Warsaw Human Resource Director Denny Harlan.
