Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
City of Warsaw Parks and Recreation Board heard updates on the new community skate park during a Tuesday, Feb. 17 meeting.
Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer updated the board on the progress. Plummer stated that he had a final reading with the K21 Health Foundation the week prior, and the board will meet on March 19 and will let Plummer know if they have received the funding or not.
“We’ve secured $40,000 from the DEKKO Foundation, and $19,985 from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation,” stated Plummer.
He said they have been in contact with American Ramp Company and are on their schedule for May for a start date. Plummer stated that a lot of other communities are putting in skate parks, and the American Ramp Company now has a two-year waitlist.
“Due to the skate park project, our project matrix is down a little this year. Not because of funding, but in projects,” Plummer stated.
Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner also gave his report. Gardner remarked they have been moving a lot of snow in the past month and cleaned the entrances to the rental properties along with helping City Hall clean their sidewalks.
Gardner stated that they went through the inventory list and got it up to date, along with creating that list.
“We wanted to create that list so we would have a better way of tracking where things are,” stated Gardner. “We labeled what everything is, marked locations and created the list for the staff. Hopefully this will make us more efficient.”
The board also recognized the passing of former Board President Steve Haines, who died on Feb. 4. Haines served on the board for 20 years, with 10 of those years as president.
"On behalf of the board, we would like to express our condolences to Pat Haines and the Haines family on the passing of Steve,” Board President Larry Ladd stated. “It came as a shock to us, but he’s in a far better place. His impact will be felt for many, many years.”
The parks department has also been busy with:
• The upkeep and maintenance on rentals.
• Refurbishing the large picnic tables. They are halfway done.
• Going through the saw-horse tables.
• The carpenters made a wood rack where the picnic table shop is to help with efficiency.
• Repairing a leaky water line in the Pete Thorn Gym.
• Helping Recreation Director Stephanie Schaefer set up and tear down for events.
Plummer gave Schaefer’s recreation report and events that happened were:
• Lego Mania on Jan. 28.
• Daddy’s Little Sweetheart Dance from Feb. 6-7, which saw around 157 participants.
• Imagination station was Feb. 10, and had 35 participants.
• The first karaoke night was Feb. 13, and saw 56 participants.
Upcoming events are:
• Free Arts and Crafts day is March 11, which is using the leftover materials from past events for participants to use.
• Bob Ross paint class is March 14, and is already full.
• Imagination Station will be March 17, with a St. Patrick’s Day theme.
• Senior Paint Class will be March 18, and 19 of the 25 reservations have been taken.
• Mommy and son dance will be on May 1.
It was also shown to the board the proposed program and event fees, to which only four out of the 12 recurring events have changed prices. This was changed based on supply increase. The board approved the fees.
The team member of the month for January was Travis Thomas. Plummer stated that Thomas has continued to step up and be a great teammate. Gardner stated that it came down to three team members that they could not decide on and left the vote to the employees.
“Travis was the one that I challenged with the picnic table process, and he’s stepped up. He’s shown great leadership skills and kept the ball rolling with it,” stated Gardner.
Ladd closed out the meeting by once again welcoming Ryan Burgher to the Parks and Recreation Board.
The next meeting will be 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 18 back in the City Council Chambers.
