Instead of seeking quotes separately for three Bobcat E60 excavators with accessories, the Warsaw Public Works and Wastewater Utility departments and Oakwood Cemetery went through the process together.

It saved the city about $150,000.

Friday, Public Works Superintendent Dustin Dillon asked the Board of Public Works and Safety, on behalf of the Public Works and Wastewater departments and Oakwood, for permission to purchase three excavators with accessories.

“This is kind of a collaboration of effort between all three departments on keeping continuity with the equipment. It was important to keep compatibility from the Street Department’s perspective, as well as the cemetery, as we’ve had a Bobcat excavator for the last 10-plus years so we have a lot of attachments and things that are special fit to those,” Dillon said.

Each machine was quoted through Sourcewell contracts, which meet State Board of Accounts requirements. Dillon said each of the machines were offered at a significant discount, which meets Indiana code as “a special purchase when there exists a unique opportunity to obtain supplies at a substantial savings to the governmental body.”

Dillon said the Public Works Department is trading in a 2023 Bobcat E-55 excavator. The total price with trade-in is $50,529.52. The total savings with trade-in and discount is over $63,000 off the retail price.

Oakwood Cemetery is trading in a 2017 Bobcat E-50 excavator and bucket. Their total price with trade-in is $36,625.58. Their total savings with trade-in and discount is over $75,000.

The Wastewater Department did not have a trade-in, but it has a savings of $33,600 off the retail price. The final cost for their excavator is $84,506.82.

“It was important for us to do this as a joint collaboration,” Dillon said. “We ended up getting much better pricing.”

Mayor Joe Thallemer asked city attorney Scott Reust if he was OK with the way it was put together. Reust said he thought it was great and they were saving “hundreds of thousands of dollars. ... I think they did a really, really good job.”

The board approved the three purchases.

Only one bid was received Friday for the Warsaw Public Works Department for sealed quotes for up to five 2022 and/or 2023 Ford F-550 4x2 chassis.

The sealed bid came from Pyramid Equipment Inc., Rolling Prairie. The quote was for up to four 2022 Ford F-550s for $65,280 each. The Board approved the purchase of four chassis at $65,280 each.

Staci Young, assistant to the mayor, presented an annual agreement with Language Matters LLC for $6,000 for ongoing language and consulting services.

“Last year, we contracted with them to kind of bring us up to speed with translating all of our documents at that point in time, and to set up the Spanish call center for us. This is to provide ongoing support as we have changes to forms, new forms, new documents. We’ve got to make sure those are always staying up to date through Language Matters,” she said. “It also provides support for me to have social media posts translated as needed, and then if we have forms that are turned back into city departments that have been filled out in Spanish, they would help to translate those forms for our departments to use that information as well.”

There are a few optional items built in, she said, such as marketing campaigns.

Thallemer said he and Young worked with Language Matters this past year and spent a lot of time and energy to try to come up with a program that would allow access to those who speak Spanish to understand city documents.

“That’s been set up. It’s done well. This is primarily the ongoing maintenance of that. The call center has proven to be useful. It’s rather new, but we’ve had several calls, and again it makes a lot of sense to be able to have that opportunity if someone has a question,” Thallemer said.

Board member George Clemens asked Thallemer if he was impressed by the work Language Matters did. Thallemer said they’ve done “very good work.”

In other business, the Board of Works approved:

• Pay application No. 33 for project engineering for $2,795 from Structurepoint for the Anchorage Road project, which is an 80/20 Indiana Department of Transportation-funded project, as requested by Warsaw Community Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner. The city will pay 20% throughout the project and be reimbursed 80% for each phase over the next four years by INDOT. The funds for the pay application will come out of the Economic Development Income Tax.

• Pay application No. 13 for right-of-way services for $1,230 from Structurepoint for the Anchorage Road project. The funds also will come out of EDIT.

“The good news is, with Scott’s help, we’ve finally acquired, or have been approved to acquire, the last piece of right-of-way that we needed. So that will be coming before the Board of Works and that will be the last parcel of right-of-way that we needed to acquire to move this project forward,” Skinner said.

Thallemer asked Skinner for a quick update on the timeline for the project. Skinner replied the intent is to go out for bid sometime in 2024, with construction primarily in 2025.

• The release of a 2013 $100,000 performance bond provided by Zayo to run fiber optic lines within the city’s right-of-way. Skinner said the work has been done “for some time.” The performance bond was supposed to be in place for a year, and that time period obviously has expired, he said. “I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t release it at this point,” he stated.

• The payment of $81,470.80 to Kokosing Industrial Inc., Greenfield, for lift station work on the wastewater collections system.

• An agreement between the Warsaw Parks Department and Kensington Digital Media to promote the annual rock and country concerts in Central Park.

• A contract between the Parks Department and Blue Holler Band for the bluegrass band to perform May 26 as part of the Summer Concert Series for $900.

• A contract between the Parks Department and Moonshots for the band to perform June 9 as part of the Summer Concert Series for $1,800. The band plays music from the 1950s to today’s hits.

• A contract between the Parks Department and Tuxedo Junction for the band to perform June 2 as part of the Summer Concert Series for $1,200. The band plays Big Band hits from the Swing era.

• A contract with watercolor artist Terry Armstrong to provide a painting class on March 10 for $350.

• Accepting a $7,000 grant from the Richard, Evelyn and Jane Glover Charitable Endowment through the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. The funds will be used to support musical artists for the 2023 Summer Concert Series.