Mayor Joe Thallemer got a big hug Friday from Tristan Pass, one of two Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighters given the oath of office at the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.
Before giving the firefighters the oath of office, Thallemer said, “This is always a very special day. Families. Support of the department. It’s just my honor to be able to give these gentlemen their oaths of office. So appreciative of their service to the community.”
Logan Keener took his oath first, with his grandfather Jack Keener standing beside him. Jack also pinned Logan’s badge on his uniform.
When Tristan was called up to take his oath, that’s when he gave Thallemer the hug.
“Tristan will be carrying on the family tradition of working for the city of Warsaw. His dad, Damian, is just a fabulous asset for the community. I’m sure, Tristan, this is your special day and we’re very excited to welcome you into the city of Warsaw and most notably the fire territory,” Thallemer said.
Damian Pass works for the Warsaw Street Department.

    Logan Keener (R) has his badge pinned on his uniform Friday by his grandfather, Jack Keener, at the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety meeting after taking the oath of office. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

After Tristan took his oath, with his family surrounding him, including his father, his wife Kaylee pinned Tristan’s badge on him.
Under new business of the board’s agenda Friday, Fire Chief Brian Mayo made a couple requests, with the first being to enter a contract and scope of work with One Solution Freedom-Fire.
“It’s just a request to basically put a new app that’s going to go on the iPads in the staff vehicles for the fire department. It’s from Central Square/One Solution,” he said.
The common terminology for it is Freedom-Fire. Mayo said Freedom-Law is already used by Kosciusko County and Warsaw Police Department quite frequently and has been for over 10 years. The cost is about $160 per device, which is why the cost for his request was $1,600.
“It will allow us to do real-time status buttons inside the apparatus when they respond, versus radio communications. And the goal is to cut down communications. Plus, it’s not quite EBL locations, but wherever the iPad is, we’ll actually have real-time locations for our vehicles, so the battalion chief and the chief officers will be better to utilize where our apparatus are during calls. So, to me, this is a huge game-changer for us,” Mayo explained.

    Tristan Pass (R) has his badge pinned on his uniform Friday by his wife, Kaylee Pass, at the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety meeting after taking the oath of office. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Thallemer asked if the Freedom-Fire was taking the place of anything the fire department was currently using. Mayo said no, it was an addition.
He said the app will provide the firefighters with many things, including real-time CAD (computer-aided dispatch) information.
“So when a call comes out ... this will give us real-time location. It’ll also give us the CAD information that comes right out of Central Square, goes right into the vehicles. And it has status buttons. Status buttons is probably one of the biggest advantages to having this program because we won’t have to mark up on the air anymore, which will eliminate a lot of dispatch time,” Mayo said.
Thallemer asked for an explanation of what the status buttons will do.
“You can mark en route. When a call comes in, you can mark on scene, and then you can mark back in service. Just those three functions alone will probably reduce 50% of our radio traffic,” Mayo stated.
He said it also will be a benefit to central dispatch because the largest fire department in the county will be eliminating 50% of its radio traffic.
Mayo said he ran it by the city’s IT Committee and there shouldn’t be any issues.
After the contract and work was unanimously approved by the Board of Works, Thallemer noted that it normally would have gone through the fire territory board first and then they would have made a recommendation to the Board of Works, which makes the final decisions. However, with the Board of Works meeting before the fire territory board in September, the Board of Works got the contract first, but the fire territory board will hear about it at their meeting Tuesday.
Mayo also requested to close Canal Street from North Indiana Street to the east parking lots on Sept. 16 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Family Safety Day. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

    Pictured (L to R) are Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Brian Mayo, firefighters Logan Keener and Tristan Pass and Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer. Keener and Pass took the oath of office Friday during the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

According to a flyer for Family Safety Day, which will take place at Central Park, 119 E. Canal St., there will be K9, Kosciusko REMC high voltage and JAWS demonstrations.
Other activities will include a bicycle rodeo, junior firefighter challenge, dive team boat rides, Lutheran gummy worm surgery, Kasey the Fire Dog, emergency vehicles, Red Cross Blood Mobile, mobile mammography, and bicycle and car seat drawings. New in 2023 will be a community resources tent and Center Lake eco-tours by Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams.
Another person who received the oath of office Friday was new Board of Works member Councilwoman Diane Quance. She replaces mayor-elect and Councilman Jeff Grose, who announced at the last Board of Works meeting that he was stepping down due to his teaching schedule.
In other business, the board approved:
• Kosciusko County Historic Society’s request to close Indiana Street from Main to Center streets from 2 to 9 p.m. Sept. 15 for the Native American Gathering on Third Friday.
• Pay application No. 15 for $4,605.30 for right-of-way services by Structurepoint for the Anchorage Road project, as requested by Community Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner. As it is an 80/20 project with the Indiana Department of Transportation, the city will be reimbursed 80% of what they pay out.
• A contract with Language Matters LLC for two cultural sensitivity training sessions for a total cost of $1,500, as presented by Thallemer and Staci Young, assistant to the mayor. The training sessions will be one hour each, with a total of about 100-150 city employees taking the sessions.
• A $4,450 contract with Wellable, as requested by the Human Resource Department, for software for city employee wellness.
• A contract with The Bowling Alley for the 2023 city employee holiday party for an estimated total cost of $6,805.13, as presented by Thallemer and Young. The cost is based on the 2022 head count, but the city will be charged with whatever headcount they end up with, Young said. It includes food and bowling.
• WPD Capt. Joel Beam’s request to apply for the 2024 Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE) grant for approximately $7,000 and the 2024 Comprehensive Hoosier Highways Injury Reduction Program (CHHIRP) for approximately $20,000. They are non-matching grants.
• A $705 pay application to Wessler Engineering for the wastewater treatment plant expansion manual review, as presented by Utility Superintendent Brian Davison.
• The new hire/change in payroll report, as presented by Montana Gardner, Warsaw Human Resources Department administrative assistant. It includes probationary Warsaw Police Department patrol officer Danielle Kirkdorffer being assigned to third shift, beginning Sept. 8, full time at a biweekly pay of $2,392.46; and Noah Knepp, part-time line technician with the airport, receiving a merit increase in pay, to an hourly wage of $20, as of Aug. 20.