A number of items before the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday were for the Parks and Recreation Department.
Those included a professional services agreement for the concept development, design and documentation of improvements and limited construction administration services related to the airport park project.
Warsaw Community Economic and Development Director Jeremy Skinner, on behalf of City Planner Justin Taylor, presented the $46,300 contract between the city and DLZ Indiana LLC.
The new park is to be located north of the Warsaw Municipal Airport and bound to the east by North CR 100E and to the north by East CR 300N. The 66-acre site is currently agricultural with an area of woodland on the west side of the property, according to the contract.
Skinner said he, the Warsaw Planning Department, city engineer Aaron Ott, Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer and his team have been working on the park out by the airport.
“The initial part of this contract would be to do a lot of the preliminary engineering work and get us to a cost basis that we would be able to then start to segment what section of the park that we would want to start on first because it is a very large park,” Skinner explained.
The intent of the park is to provide additional recreational opportunities that are not otherwise provided in the city’s existing parks.
Among those “opportunities” will be a cricket field, a kickball field, an 18-hole disc golf course and a large walking trail that will allow animals.
Plummer said it is in his department’s five-year master plan to have some park and recreation north of U.S. 30, Skinner presented the idea that a cricket field was needed so the airport park serves both of those purposes.
“I’m sure this is something that will have to be done in phases. Sixty-two acres, it almost doubles our park system. We’re at about 80 acres now, so it’s a major, major undertaking that we’d deal with,” he said. “It’s something that I think could really benefit the community and provide that recreation to the north.”
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said at the recent YMCA groundbreaking for their Downtown YMCA facility, it was mentioned that 80% of the Y’s membership was from the north side of U.S. 30. “I think that speaks a little bit to the concerns folks have in crossing U.S. 30. It was eye-opening to me,” Thallemer said.
Plummer mentioned that dogs aren’t allowed in Warsaw parks, but the airport park will be dog-friendly, as long as they’re on leashes.
“That’s another benefit that we’ve heard in our five-year master plan, too, that the public does want that,” he said.
The Board of Works unanimously approved the contract.
Ott earlier in the meeting presented a request for payment in the amount of $156,568.55 from R. Yoder Construction for work they’ve completed on the Center Lake Recreational Trail up to Sept. 15, which was approved.
Plummer said R. Yoder did a lot of the “sidewalks going to the tennis courts, away from the pavilion, things like that. They’ve cut the pumphouse down, they’ve got it to grade. They did the electrical bases. They put the retaining wall in, in front of the north side of the pavilion. They’re forming up the 10-foot paths going to the south. They’re coming right along.”
Ott said R. Yoder has done all the foundational work and they should see the trail really come together in the next two weeks, including the patio.
“Once the steel is in to do the pumphouse deck, they’ll move over to that and that will probably be the final thing down. It’s going to clean itself up the next couple weeks and you’ll be able to see it really coming together,” he said.
Plummer said the trail could be completed by Dec. 8, but R. Yoder is ahead of schedule.
Thallemer said, “That trail project is going to interface a little bit with the pavilion project, right, at the front?”
“Absolutely,” Plummer said. “When we looked at this, the trail, the foundation on the lake side was kind of at a different level, so after discussing with Aaron, we thought it would be best that they tear out the asphalt and the concrete that went to the face of the pavilion there, and just poured all that in one pour, so the elevations and everything would line up and it would look good, the patio would look good, the stairs going down and everything.”
Ott said the patio area should be pretty impressive, and there will be steps down to the beach from the pavilion and landscaping. “It’s really going to enhance that pavilion,” he said.
The Sasso family donated $1 million toward the trail project. The Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion renovation was recently completed, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the Zimmer Biomet Foundation donated $2.5 million toward that $3 million project.
Ott also presented the Board with the next-to-last pay application on the pavilion renovation. It was for $27,187.73 from CME Corp., the contractor on the project.
“That basically finishes out the project, other than a 10% retainage that we’re holding. There’s a few punch list items that we’re resolving out there before we would release the almost $300,000 in retainage, so we’re very comfortable paying this out,” he said.
The Board approved the pay application.
Moving to change order No. 2 on the Kelly Park pond improvements, Thallemer said about a year ago they had talked about the project but there were some issues with it due to elevations. G & G Hauling & Excavating had been awarded the project, but it stalled while engineers tried to figure out how to proceed with it.
Ott said it took a little while to land on a solution that everyone felt comfortable with proceeding on. There had to be some additional surveying and investigation at the pond. Permits had to be modified.
“It took us a little bit of time to land on it, but finally through much negotiations with our contractor, G & G Excavating, and our engineers presenting some different options that we could still achieve the goals of the project as far as improving the sediments, runoffs and also securing a sanitary sewer that is exposed and being eroded near, we came to a project that is actually going to cost $105,588.85 less than the original contract. That’s because there’s a little less concrete pipe, little less excavation work that they’re going to have to do,” Ott explained.
He said the project they came up with will cost a little less but it’ll still accomplish the city’s goals, and G & G was willing to hold their prices firm and complete the project in spring and summer 2024.
With the change order, the pond project costs will be reduced from $602,654.55 to $497,065.70. The Board approved the change order.
In other Parks business, the Board approved:
• For Recreation Director Stephanie Schaefer to apply for a $7,000 grant from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. The grant, if awarded, will help support the Summer Concert Series.
• A contract for $500 with Firehouse Santa for Mr. and Mrs. Claus to attend Light up the Night Dec. 1, as requested by Schaefer. The Clauses will meet with children at Central Park Plaza from 6 to 8 p.m.
• A $600 contract with Firehouse Santa for Mr. and Mrs. Claus for Santa’s Workshop on Dec. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pete Thorn gym; and a $600 contract for Santa’s Workshop on Dec. 9 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Pete Thorn gym, as requested by Schaefer.
• A $300 contract with Macra-made by Kait to provide instruction for a Macrame class at the Firemen’s Building at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 3. The class will do a Macrame Christmas tree and is expected to sell out this year as it did in 2022, Schaefer said.