Rust in the water caused some problems for the splash pad at the Buffalo Street Plaza since it was completed earlier this year, but a second filter seems to have fixed the majority of that issue, according to Warsaw city officials.
At the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting Friday, Warsaw Community Economic and Development Director Jeremy Skinner presented pay application No. 15 for $15,300 to Selge Construction for the Buffalo Street Plaza after a change order. Skinner said it was the final pay application for the plaza project. The pay application also will go before the Redevelopment Commission since the funds will come out of the Redevelopment Allocation budget.
“Overall, we were under, as reported previously, by about $381,000. This will be the final pay application for that project,” Skinner said.
Warsaw Mayor and Board of Works member Joe Thallemer asked, “So this work has been done? The filter has been installed? I assume, obviously, that the splash pad has been closed for the summer?”
Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer said it hasn’t been closed as of Friday.
“It’s still working? Have you had any indication how that second filter is working?” Thallemer asked.
Plummer said they’ve ran that second filter for two to three weeks and “it seems to have helped a ton. There might be just a little bit of rust, but it’s been over weeks instead of days. So I think it’s really helped the situation.”
Skinner agreed the second filter has helped. “We’re still getting some, so we’re going to explore what other options we might have. ... I’m wondering how much was in the system, maybe cleaning out the filters. So, we’re still working on it. But it did help a lot. It cut it down by about 90%,” he said.
The pay application was then approved by Thallemer and George Clemens. Councilman Jeff Grose was absent from the meeting.
Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon presented a pay application for $363,813 from Hawk Enterprises Inc. for traffic signal modernization at the intersections of Center and Indiana streets and Center and Lake streets.
Dillon said the project is complete and he just received a bill for the second pay application on Thursday so the Board of Works will see that at their next meeting.
After the Board approved the pay application, Thallemer said, “This group did a far superior job, coming in and getting this done in a timely fashion, doing a good job. And I appreciate all the assistance that you gave them. ... It went pretty smoothly.”
Dillon said he completely agreed. “They were phenomenal to work with. When they came in, they didn’t come in to screw around. They got the work done at both intersections in almost half the time of the first one we had done. I’m super, super happy.”
Thallemer asked if it was all safe, and Dillon said yes.
Warsaw Utility Manager Brian Davison asked for the reconstruction of Country Club Lane and Country Club Lane extension intersection project be awarded to G & G Hauling & Excavating Inc. for $425,348.
He said Country Club Lane has had some flooding issues “right there on the curb where it’s extended out, if you’re familiar with the area.”
Clemens said, “I know all the people out in that area are very happy to see that it is being addressed.”
Davison said it’ll be improved quite a bit.
“I know in talking with (city engineer) James (Emans), the lake level’s changed from the dam structure, somewhat unavoidable. The DNR project impacted the lake levels a little bit. That’s things you have to contend with, and I appreciate you guys getting on that,” Thallemer said.
The Board approved awarding the bid to G & G.
Davison then requested the McKinley storm sewer improvement project be awarded to HRP Construction Inc. for $678,950. He said the project is down by where Winona Lake is getting ready to do their roundabout at the intersection of Argonne Road, Winona Avenue, Kings Highway and Park Avenue.
“We have a 36-inch storm line that runs right next to a condominium there on Winona Lake. This project will relocate that outfall away from that condominium,” Davison said. “This is a project that we looked at doing for quite a while, but with Winona Lake wanting to do this roundabout, now is the time to do it so we don’t have to tear up the roundabout at a later date.”
He said he needs to get the storm sewer project completed before Winona Lake starts its roundabout project in April 2022 or so.
Clemens asked how long the roundabout project would take from start to finish. Davison said he didn’t know for sure, but guessed most of 2022 for construction. Skinner guessed four to six months.
Thallemer said the city appreciated working with Winona Lake on the project and it will be a win-win for everyone.
“We are going to do some water quality features on this one, trying to remove some of the grit and stuff prior to getting in the lake. The land area we have to work with, we’re not going to be able to protect against some of the bigger rain events, but your more common rain events, we should be able to help improve the water quality going into Winona Lake from the storm run off,” Davison said.
The Board approved the bid being awarded to HRP and the agreement with HRP. The project won’t start until February or March.
In other business, the Board of Works approved:
• Pay application No. 24 for $20,351.19 to Structurepoint for work on the Anchorage Road project, as requested by Skinner. He said they’re working on the final engineering for the project, which is also in the right-of-way acquisition phase. It is hoped the project will be bid out in 2022 for construction in 2023.
• The Comcast business agreement, primarily for phones and internet, with the city and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory for service at fire station No. 3, 620 W. CR 200S. The previous contract expired, and station No. 3 doesn’t have access to MetroNet. Fire Chief Mike Wilson said there was a slight increase from the last three years. The cost will go from $362.40 monthly to $373.30 monthly. The Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory (WWFT) approved the agreement at its meeting Oct. 6.
• For the WWFT to apply for IPEP Safety Grants totaling $6,915. The Territory has to provide a 20% match ($1,383).
Wilson said the grants, if approved, will be for OSHA training on scaffolding for WWFT members and city employees ($295), OSHA fall protecting training for WWFT members and city employees ($1,450) and a rescue tripod for technical and confined space rescue ($4,975).
• For the WWFT to pursue the certification and local relationships to get the Mobile Integrated Healthcare program established at the fire department. The program will fall under the department’s CARES program. The WWFT Board heard and approved the request at their Oct. 6 meeting.
• For the Parks and Recreation Department to apply for a Kosciusko County Community Foundation grant for $5,000 to support the department’s Summer Concert Series.
The Board of Works also approved for the Parks Department to apply for a grant with Kosciusko REMC Operation Round-Up for $1,500 to help support the Family Carnival event July 29, 2022.
• A $15,881 change order for the wastewater plant expansion from Kokosing Industrial Inc. Davison said, “We had them install some alarm silencing buttons. We discovered once an alarm went off, there was no way to silence it so we had to work on it the whole time the alarm is screaming in your ears. So we added these silencer buttons (at the plant).”
• One Warsaw’s request to close Center Street between Lake and Buffalo streets April 30 from 1 to 9:30 p.m. for Celebrating Us. The event, which will be from 4 to 8 p.m. April 30, was postponed from Sept. 18 due to COVID.
