City Hears Concerns About Neighborhood Appearances

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Jennifer [email protected]

Resident Jim Alexander expressed concerns with the appearance of several neighborhoods during Monday night’s Warsaw City Council meeting.
Alexander, a Main Street resident, attended the meeting with other Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association members.
“There are properties that look like there are yard sales in the front and back, but there is nothing for sale,” Alexander said.
Alexander said he would like the city to encourage residents to take pride in the appearance of their property.
“We are proud to live here, but our pride is starting to diminish because of the properties we live near, drive by and walk by,” Alexander said.
He said city ordinances are not being upheld to the standards the group would like to see.
“Citizens are forced to complain about and tattle on their neighbors which complicates relationships and divides neighbors,” Alexander said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the city is in the process of trying to form a rental registration program with plans for rental inspections.
Thallemer said several rental property owners have asked to be involved in the  program.
Jeremy Skinner, city planner, said the city’s goal is to have great neighborhoods and that this year the city will complete a Market Street neighborhood study.
The council will go to the other neighborhoods to do planning to get pride and ownership back by implementing a rental registration program and property maintenance codes the city does not currently have.
Skinner said the city will work on an ordinance that the council will need to approve for rental registrations.
Diane Quance, council woman, suggested the homeowners come up with a consistent list of properties they are concerned about.
In other business, the council on second reading approved stormwater rates and charges.
The cost for stormwater charges was proposed at $2.95 per residential unit per month. For non-residential real estate properties, each business would pay based on the equivalent residential units they have.
The bill for non-residential real estate is to be based on actual measures of the amount of impervious, or “hard surface,” that is on the property. It is billed at a $1.05 base fee plus $1.90 per each 3,500 square feet of hard surface on a property.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer read a proclamation declaring this week as “Chamber Of Commerce Week.”
The council approved compliance review forms for tax abatements for Flexaust Company for its seventh year of tax abatement and continuing another tax abatement for Flexaust that is in its second year of the tax abatement.
The council approved a compliance review form for Whimet Inc. that is in its fourth year of abatement.[[In-content Ad]]

Resident Jim Alexander expressed concerns with the appearance of several neighborhoods during Monday night’s Warsaw City Council meeting.
Alexander, a Main Street resident, attended the meeting with other Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association members.
“There are properties that look like there are yard sales in the front and back, but there is nothing for sale,” Alexander said.
Alexander said he would like the city to encourage residents to take pride in the appearance of their property.
“We are proud to live here, but our pride is starting to diminish because of the properties we live near, drive by and walk by,” Alexander said.
He said city ordinances are not being upheld to the standards the group would like to see.
“Citizens are forced to complain about and tattle on their neighbors which complicates relationships and divides neighbors,” Alexander said.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said the city is in the process of trying to form a rental registration program with plans for rental inspections.
Thallemer said several rental property owners have asked to be involved in the  program.
Jeremy Skinner, city planner, said the city’s goal is to have great neighborhoods and that this year the city will complete a Market Street neighborhood study.
The council will go to the other neighborhoods to do planning to get pride and ownership back by implementing a rental registration program and property maintenance codes the city does not currently have.
Skinner said the city will work on an ordinance that the council will need to approve for rental registrations.
Diane Quance, council woman, suggested the homeowners come up with a consistent list of properties they are concerned about.
In other business, the council on second reading approved stormwater rates and charges.
The cost for stormwater charges was proposed at $2.95 per residential unit per month. For non-residential real estate properties, each business would pay based on the equivalent residential units they have.
The bill for non-residential real estate is to be based on actual measures of the amount of impervious, or “hard surface,” that is on the property. It is billed at a $1.05 base fee plus $1.90 per each 3,500 square feet of hard surface on a property.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer read a proclamation declaring this week as “Chamber Of Commerce Week.”
The council approved compliance review forms for tax abatements for Flexaust Company for its seventh year of tax abatement and continuing another tax abatement for Flexaust that is in its second year of the tax abatement.
The council approved a compliance review form for Whimet Inc. that is in its fourth year of abatement.[[In-content Ad]]
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