Winona Lake To Break Ground On Ice Rink FridayWINONA LAKE – The Winona Lake Town Council Tuesday signed a build operate transfer agreement with Winona Lake Ice, which means ground for the new ice rink will be broken at noon Friday.
The agreement finally came to be after several governmental hoops had to be jumped through to make it happen that included attorneys, the Redevelopment Commission and input from the public.
WL Ice LLC was the lone bidder in November who will develop the multi-use pavilion and ice rink, operate it for as little as 48 hours and then transfer the entire project over to the town to operate. The site is across from the Boathouse restaurant on Park Avenue in the grassy area and will have a pavilion that houses the ice rink, along with restrooms and a maintenance building.
Estimated cost is $6.5 million, and the town received $1.5 million from the K21 Health Foundation. Town Manager Craig Allebach said at a public hearing in February the town will pay for the balance of the project using tax increment finance (TIF) money captured and will rely heavily on community funding. A fundraising committee will be put together that will seek partnerships with the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, along with area businesses.
A public groundbreaking ceremony is planned for noon Friday there. Officials hope to have the rink open for skating by Thanksgiving weekend.
Also Tuesday, the Council approved the town’s Parks and Recreation Department five-year master plan. The plan was presented during a public input meeting earlier this month and lays out projects and the funding of those projects through 2026. Allebach said approving the plan is “a key piece to our future and our plan, and it’s something the state looks at when it comes to grants. We have to have a plan in place.”
The entire plan can be found on winonalake.net.
Moving on with the topic of planning, the Council approved a bid from Niblock Excavating for work on the Heritage Trail east segments at a cost of $208,400.50. Allebach said the town’s engineering firm, A&Z Engineering, estimated the cost at 33% higher than Niblock’s bid, which means nearly the entire project of trail east from Miller Field to Christ Covenant Church will be paid for by the Dr. Dane and Mary Louise Foundation and K21 Health Foundation.
Also Tuesday, the Council:
• Heard from Whitney Wright, a woman who wanted to park a camper on a lot on the island in Winona Lake for people to use as an Air BnB-type situation.
She said her family is restoring a 1983 34-foot-long camper and they wanted the Council’s approval to break from the ordinance that doesn’t allow campers on property.
Allebach said the town ordinance banning campers on lots or in people’s side yards has been in place since 1966. The Council said they will take it under advisement. Allebach said he doesn’t think the ordinance will be changed, however.
“You can’t allow an exception when it’s an ordinance. That’s a slippery slope,” he said. “It’s like we have an ordinance saying you can’t drive more than 25 miles per hour in a residential area but we’re gonna say you can drive 35. Then everyone will come and want to do that. I’ll let the Council speak for themselves.”
• Approved Winona Lake Fire Chief Kevin Gelbaugh’s request to apply for a $150,000 grant for new radios.
• Heard from Town Marshal Joe Hawn his department is patrolling the town parks more now that spring weather has arrived.
“We’re just keeping an eye on the park, making sure we don’t have any troubles down there, which usually in the spring we have a little bit but then they weed themselves out,” he said.
• Heard from Street Superintendent Tom Miller that on Saturday his department will celebrate its 16th year of no loss time incident with the staff.
“That’s significant because, obviously, insurance purposes, but also these guys are out working everything in the public and being safe and courteous and understanding of the public’s needs, so I want to congratulate those guys. That’s a true achievement considering the type of work they do, heavy lifting, in and out of trucks and all of the things they do and have done for all those years, so I congratulate them on that,” he said.
• Heard from Parks and Recreation Department Director Holly Hummitch one of the projects the department is working on now is a suggestion that came from the public input meeting earlier this month about adding sunscreen stations.
Hummitch also said she’s been fielding a lot of questions about if the park will have programming and lifeguards this summer, to which she said yes, but how that will look yet is not finalized. A summer park and recreation guide will come out in April, she said.
• Heard about upcomings events in the town that include the NCCAA Basketball National Championships at the MOCC at Grace College starting today through Saturday; a WCN run/walk for hunger is 10 a.m. March 27; 7 p.m. April 12 at the Senior Center is the first Friends of the Park meeting; 9 a.m. April 18 are Earth Day runs at Green Earth in the Village.
The next Winona Lake Town Council meeting is 6 p.m. April 20 at Town Hall.
