Booze Banned In Parks
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
The vote was unanimous and will go into effect Jan. 1.
That means alcohol will no longer be allowed at wedding receptions, birthday parties or any other events at park facilities beginning Jan. 1.[[In-content Ad]]The board, at its Sept. 16 meeting, unanimously approved recommending to the Warsaw City Council that alcohol be banned at all park property except campgrounds effective Jan 1. The recommendation resulted from a series of incidents where the Center Lake Pavilion was damaged during events when alcohol was present.
The city council, at its Nov. 3 meeting, rejected the recommendation to ban alcohol at park property. The council instead provided a list of 15 recommendations for the board to review to deal with the alcohol issue.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, during Tuesday's meeting, said he spoke with Indiana Association of Cities and Towns counsel who informed him Indiana code states decisions on park policies rests with the park board.
Warsaw City Councilman Joe Thallemer said Center Lake Pavilion has been used by citizens for many years, and that the city is committed to the safety of the park's facilities.
"I think the overriding majority of the council really felt like creating a more comprehensive protocol for alcohol use in the park than what we have right now would be a step to giving it one more chance," Thallemer said.
Councilman Kyle Babcock said he still supported the council's decision to not ban alcohol at the park facilities.
"We understand that the park board makes the final decision, but we, as a city council, would like you to reconsider banning alcohol and look into suggestions we have made," Babcock said before the vote.
Park board members said they still agreed with the original recommendation to ban alcohol at park facilities.
"I'm going to go with our decision. I really think we need to ban alcohol due to the problems we've had," said park board member Tammy Dalton.
Park board member Toby Sumpter agreed with banning alcohol.
"Unfortunately, we have been dealing with this so long, and it got to the point where either we would have to bust the party up or arrest some people to protect our building or else ban alcohol," Sumpter said.
She said she didn't think banning alcohol would completely alleviate problems at the park facilities, but said severe damage has not happened in the past when alcohol was not involved.
Park Board President Bill Baldwin said he conducted a survey with 150 people, and said people were split on the decision to ban or allow alcohol.
Park Superintendent Jon Garber said he spoke with city attorney Mike Valentine who suggested contacting people who have lease agreements in 2009 and let them know of the alcohol policy. He said they would have a choice to opt out of their agreements.
"If they still want to have their event after Jan. 1, they will have to abide by the no-alcohol rule. If they can't do that and have paid the security deposit, we'd have to refund it to them," Garber said.
In other business, Brian Smith, Northern Lakes Skating Association, requested the association be allowed to use Liz Frazier Field on Market Street for ice skating if they could not find another location.
He said Kosciusko Leadership Academy and the association have merged to look into bringing an indoor seasonal ice skating facility to Warsaw.
The park board approved the association being allowed to use Liz Frazier Field if they could not find another location.
Also during the meeting, Janelle Wilson, parks department activities director, said she has worked on a five-minute video on park activities that will be distributed in sponsorship packets.
The video is posted on the park department's Web site under the donations section. The Web site is at www.warsawcity.net
The vote was unanimous and will go into effect Jan. 1.
That means alcohol will no longer be allowed at wedding receptions, birthday parties or any other events at park facilities beginning Jan. 1.[[In-content Ad]]The board, at its Sept. 16 meeting, unanimously approved recommending to the Warsaw City Council that alcohol be banned at all park property except campgrounds effective Jan 1. The recommendation resulted from a series of incidents where the Center Lake Pavilion was damaged during events when alcohol was present.
The city council, at its Nov. 3 meeting, rejected the recommendation to ban alcohol at park property. The council instead provided a list of 15 recommendations for the board to review to deal with the alcohol issue.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, during Tuesday's meeting, said he spoke with Indiana Association of Cities and Towns counsel who informed him Indiana code states decisions on park policies rests with the park board.
Warsaw City Councilman Joe Thallemer said Center Lake Pavilion has been used by citizens for many years, and that the city is committed to the safety of the park's facilities.
"I think the overriding majority of the council really felt like creating a more comprehensive protocol for alcohol use in the park than what we have right now would be a step to giving it one more chance," Thallemer said.
Councilman Kyle Babcock said he still supported the council's decision to not ban alcohol at the park facilities.
"We understand that the park board makes the final decision, but we, as a city council, would like you to reconsider banning alcohol and look into suggestions we have made," Babcock said before the vote.
Park board members said they still agreed with the original recommendation to ban alcohol at park facilities.
"I'm going to go with our decision. I really think we need to ban alcohol due to the problems we've had," said park board member Tammy Dalton.
Park board member Toby Sumpter agreed with banning alcohol.
"Unfortunately, we have been dealing with this so long, and it got to the point where either we would have to bust the party up or arrest some people to protect our building or else ban alcohol," Sumpter said.
She said she didn't think banning alcohol would completely alleviate problems at the park facilities, but said severe damage has not happened in the past when alcohol was not involved.
Park Board President Bill Baldwin said he conducted a survey with 150 people, and said people were split on the decision to ban or allow alcohol.
Park Superintendent Jon Garber said he spoke with city attorney Mike Valentine who suggested contacting people who have lease agreements in 2009 and let them know of the alcohol policy. He said they would have a choice to opt out of their agreements.
"If they still want to have their event after Jan. 1, they will have to abide by the no-alcohol rule. If they can't do that and have paid the security deposit, we'd have to refund it to them," Garber said.
In other business, Brian Smith, Northern Lakes Skating Association, requested the association be allowed to use Liz Frazier Field on Market Street for ice skating if they could not find another location.
He said Kosciusko Leadership Academy and the association have merged to look into bringing an indoor seasonal ice skating facility to Warsaw.
The park board approved the association being allowed to use Liz Frazier Field if they could not find another location.
Also during the meeting, Janelle Wilson, parks department activities director, said she has worked on a five-minute video on park activities that will be distributed in sponsorship packets.
The video is posted on the park department's Web site under the donations section. The Web site is at www.warsawcity.net
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