WINONA LAKE - Despite protests from several citizens, the town council this morning passed a one-hour parking limit for boat trailers.

Jan Nelson, Dave Wolkins, Millicent Andrews and Denny Andrews disagreed with the ordinance.

Nelson said she was a retired schoolteacher and never saw a reason to keep the entire class from recess because one or two students were talking.

"One-third of the island residents are gone now," she said. "No one has told them about this ordinance. Why are you jumping to one hour?"

She suggested the time limit be 72 hours, the same as for motor vehicles.

The ordinance was met with resistance during the first reading Sept. 17. Because the new code carries a fine, it must be read in public twice.

Wolkins, a Winona Lake resident and the area's state representative, told the council the one-hour limit is like shooting a rabbit with an AK-47.

"It's overkill," he said. "People pay for a trailer license, the same as for a car. There are only three or four trailers parked on the island. I always get nervous when we make a new rule."

Wolkins asked if the ordinance was for aesthetics or because of a parking problem.

Councilman Rolly Ortega said there is less parking space than before. "The plan commission felt people could keep their boat trailers somewhere else."

Denny Andrews said the complaints were probably against him because he kept a trailer parked in front of his other property on the island. He also received a visit from a police officer asking him to move a trailer parked four inches on a neighbor's property.

"Boats take considerable maintenance," he said. "I think you're more concerned about how it's going to look when someone drives through. For the most part, all the neighbors cooperate, it's a 1,000 percent cooperative program with only one or two cranky, complaining people."

Councilman Jeff Carroll said the idea is to be able to enforce the removal of the trailers. "We don't want them to be there all summer. If it's 72 hours. they can be moved three or four inches and the 72 hours starts all over again.

"No one has ever complained about the trailers except one person. There has to be a reasonableness to the laws. Pretty soon it won't be fun to live here anymore."

Ortega suggested the one-hour restriction be changed to 72 hours and there was no second.

The ordinance passed 4 to 1, with Ortega casting the nay vote. The ordinance will be effective 30 days after legal advertisement in the Times-Union.

The board also:

• Approved an additional $1,500 in administrative costs to the Housing Authority of Warsaw.

• Heard from Bill Gray, an organizer for Light the Night, a Leukemia/Lymphoma Society fund-raiser, that the recent event raised more than $40,000. He said 97 cents of every dollar goes toward research. He thanked corporate sponsor Dane Miller, a Winona Lake resident, for his work.

• Heard from Jerry Nelson, who said he plans to ask for a vacation of the east side of Canal Street, across from his property at 902 Canal St. He asked for the town's costs to mow that strip of grass.

Ortega said since clerk Retha Hicks is in Evansville until Friday for an Indiana Association of Cities and Towns conference, that figure wasn't readily available.

• Heard paving on School Street is finished and the final layer of asphalt will go on King's Highway Wednesday.

• Heard the Park Avenue project will start Wednesday.

• Heard events in town include Oct. 9, Lakeland Community Concert Association "Simply Gershwin" concert, 7:30 p.m. in Rodeheaver Auditorium; Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Rodeheaver Auditorium is the start of the second Sunday concert series sponsored by the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship (MasterWorks), a recital and hymn sing; Oct. 16, Village at Winona fall festival; and Oct. 30, trick-or-treat hours are 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Town council members are Jerry Clevenger, David Delp, Jeff Carroll, John Boal and Rolly Ortega. [[In-content Ad]]