City May Replace Center Lake Pavilion With Ice Rink, Park Offices
October 11, 2016 at 6:06 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The Board of Public Works and Safety approved a $15,000 contract with MAI Architects Inc., which Assistant City Planner Justin Taylor said would allow for the firm to do the preliminary site design and investigation of potential costs and costs analysis of the project.
Parks & Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer said there’s been talk about an ice skating rink in the Parks’ five-year master plan, and a Kosciusko Leadership Academy group did their white paper project on an ice skating rink in Warsaw.
“We were first looking into Central Park. The Park Board and (Mayor) Joe (Thallemer) and I have sat down and talked about this. We feel that it would be better to have this at Center Lake, along with our offices,”?Plummer said.
He said the study will provide the costs, cost effectiveness and some other ideas.
“It’s kind of a preliminary step to see where we can go from here,”?Plummer said.
Thallemer said he thought it was important to get the Parks Board involved because of the planning involved.
“There’s been a lot of community support that came up when this KLA project was suggested,”?Thallemer said.
“We’ve actually taken a visit to Valparaiso. They have a nice facility in their downtown. We’ve been made aware of other communities that have the same thing, and we feel like this is a prudent way to start out, again, if we can incorporate a nice outdoor ice rink with potentially a cover, then have a building that could function as a programmed (space) for the ice skating as well as also housing park offices. It made sense to look at that. That type of planning, I think, it’s important to look at the footprint that we have down at the park, and take some preliminary recommendations, costs, footprints.”
He said no decision has been made, but the study will give the city good information.
Plummer said the money will come from the Park budget, and the study will give the Parks an opportunity to see what other programs could be done in the facility throughout the entire year and they wanted to do it right.
“... We’re looking at a programmable space 365 days a year,” Thallemer said.
During the summer, he said Valparaiso uses their rink for activities like a farmers market. Between it and an adjacent amphitheater, Thallemer said Valparaiso has 160 events a year programmed in that space.
Another matter before the board Monday concerned writing off $117.33 because any legal recourse would be cost prohibitive.
Mary Lou Plummer, wastewater office manager, said in October 2014, Windgate Properties bought the house at 704 W. Market St. at a sheriff’s sale, but didn’t pay any of the sewage bills during the redemption period.
“The homeowner has a year to redeem the property, but the bill keeps continuing to be billed,” she said.
That didn’t get paid, so Plummer put liens on the property. When Windgate did get the deed in May 2016, it had to pay those liens, but there was a three-month period that Plummer had not gotten a lien for yet and Windgate refused to pay that, she said.
Plummer spoke with city attorney Mike Valentine who advised that it would cost more money to pursue payment. The city can’t put a lien on the property now because it was sold. She said it wouldn’t be fair to the new owner to incur that cost.
She asked the Board of Works to write it off.
Board of Works member George Clemens said if there’s a redemption period, it probably wasn’t a sheriff’s sale but a tax sale.
Valentine said, “The problem is just the timing of all these various – when a bill accrues, when you can file the lien, when they can take ownership of a tax deed, and they don’t really mesh very well. We captured some of them when we were able to file the lien. That captured that, and that got paid. But then afterwards, there’s that three-month thing and that’s part of the problem. It’s a good system, but not the best.”
Thallemer said going after the $117 would cost the city a lot more.
“Mike’s got the right idea. It’s really not worth going after someone,” Clemens stated, and then made the motion to write off the $117.33.
In other business, the board approved:
• Road closings in downtown Warsaw for the Spooktacular from 3 to 9 p.m. Oct. 28. The roads include Buffalo Street from Main Street to Rex’s Rendezvous; Center Street from Lake to Indiana streets; and Market Street from Lake to Indiana streets.
• A contract for the Parks & Recreation Department to have a Santa and Mrs. Claus at this year’s Light Up the Night, First Friday Twinkle Parade at 7 p.m. to Central Park, then the meet-and-greet until 8:30 p.m. Dec. 2. The contract is for $200.
• A contract between the parks department and Ice Creations for $400 for a pumpkin carving demonstration during Fall Family Fun Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lucerne Park.
Recreation Director Sheila Wieringa said the new things for the event this year are the pumpkin carving and a straw maze in one of the cabins. The staples of the event also are returning, including a story teller, FFA with animals, s’mores, a campfire, hay rides and a live bat display.
• A contract with A & Z Engineering for $3,400 for right of way staking for the Husky Trail project. In order to relocate the various utilities throughout the Husky Trail corridor, the new rights of way need to be staked out so utility companies can relocate their infrastructure.
• A supplemental agreement with A & Z Engineering for $13,144 for additional engineering services related to utility relocations and additional crosswalk design requirements for the Husky Trail project.
Federal ADA requirements for crosswalks and utility coordination have increased since the original contract with A & Z was signed four years ago, according to Taylor.
• A contract with NIPSCO to increase the gas line size running to the new wastewater treatment plant, 2056 N. CR 150W, from 1 inch to 2 inches. Waste Water Treatment Utility Manager Brian Davison said the increase was needed to get more gas to the plant to run everything during the winter. NIPSCO requires the city to pay 51 percent of the construction costs, which is $6,582.20.
Davison said 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches would have been sufficient, but it was increased to 2 inches for potential future growth.
• An annual maintenance agreement with American Elevator for the elevator at city hall. The agreement is for Nov. 1 to Oct. 31, 2017, and the city will be billed annually at $2,163, a 3 percent increase of $63.
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The Board of Public Works and Safety approved a $15,000 contract with MAI Architects Inc., which Assistant City Planner Justin Taylor said would allow for the firm to do the preliminary site design and investigation of potential costs and costs analysis of the project.
Parks & Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer said there’s been talk about an ice skating rink in the Parks’ five-year master plan, and a Kosciusko Leadership Academy group did their white paper project on an ice skating rink in Warsaw.
“We were first looking into Central Park. The Park Board and (Mayor) Joe (Thallemer) and I have sat down and talked about this. We feel that it would be better to have this at Center Lake, along with our offices,”?Plummer said.
He said the study will provide the costs, cost effectiveness and some other ideas.
“It’s kind of a preliminary step to see where we can go from here,”?Plummer said.
Thallemer said he thought it was important to get the Parks Board involved because of the planning involved.
“There’s been a lot of community support that came up when this KLA project was suggested,”?Thallemer said.
“We’ve actually taken a visit to Valparaiso. They have a nice facility in their downtown. We’ve been made aware of other communities that have the same thing, and we feel like this is a prudent way to start out, again, if we can incorporate a nice outdoor ice rink with potentially a cover, then have a building that could function as a programmed (space) for the ice skating as well as also housing park offices. It made sense to look at that. That type of planning, I think, it’s important to look at the footprint that we have down at the park, and take some preliminary recommendations, costs, footprints.”
He said no decision has been made, but the study will give the city good information.
Plummer said the money will come from the Park budget, and the study will give the Parks an opportunity to see what other programs could be done in the facility throughout the entire year and they wanted to do it right.
“... We’re looking at a programmable space 365 days a year,” Thallemer said.
During the summer, he said Valparaiso uses their rink for activities like a farmers market. Between it and an adjacent amphitheater, Thallemer said Valparaiso has 160 events a year programmed in that space.
Another matter before the board Monday concerned writing off $117.33 because any legal recourse would be cost prohibitive.
Mary Lou Plummer, wastewater office manager, said in October 2014, Windgate Properties bought the house at 704 W. Market St. at a sheriff’s sale, but didn’t pay any of the sewage bills during the redemption period.
“The homeowner has a year to redeem the property, but the bill keeps continuing to be billed,” she said.
That didn’t get paid, so Plummer put liens on the property. When Windgate did get the deed in May 2016, it had to pay those liens, but there was a three-month period that Plummer had not gotten a lien for yet and Windgate refused to pay that, she said.
Plummer spoke with city attorney Mike Valentine who advised that it would cost more money to pursue payment. The city can’t put a lien on the property now because it was sold. She said it wouldn’t be fair to the new owner to incur that cost.
She asked the Board of Works to write it off.
Board of Works member George Clemens said if there’s a redemption period, it probably wasn’t a sheriff’s sale but a tax sale.
Valentine said, “The problem is just the timing of all these various – when a bill accrues, when you can file the lien, when they can take ownership of a tax deed, and they don’t really mesh very well. We captured some of them when we were able to file the lien. That captured that, and that got paid. But then afterwards, there’s that three-month thing and that’s part of the problem. It’s a good system, but not the best.”
Thallemer said going after the $117 would cost the city a lot more.
“Mike’s got the right idea. It’s really not worth going after someone,” Clemens stated, and then made the motion to write off the $117.33.
In other business, the board approved:
• Road closings in downtown Warsaw for the Spooktacular from 3 to 9 p.m. Oct. 28. The roads include Buffalo Street from Main Street to Rex’s Rendezvous; Center Street from Lake to Indiana streets; and Market Street from Lake to Indiana streets.
• A contract for the Parks & Recreation Department to have a Santa and Mrs. Claus at this year’s Light Up the Night, First Friday Twinkle Parade at 7 p.m. to Central Park, then the meet-and-greet until 8:30 p.m. Dec. 2. The contract is for $200.
• A contract between the parks department and Ice Creations for $400 for a pumpkin carving demonstration during Fall Family Fun Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lucerne Park.
Recreation Director Sheila Wieringa said the new things for the event this year are the pumpkin carving and a straw maze in one of the cabins. The staples of the event also are returning, including a story teller, FFA with animals, s’mores, a campfire, hay rides and a live bat display.
• A contract with A & Z Engineering for $3,400 for right of way staking for the Husky Trail project. In order to relocate the various utilities throughout the Husky Trail corridor, the new rights of way need to be staked out so utility companies can relocate their infrastructure.
• A supplemental agreement with A & Z Engineering for $13,144 for additional engineering services related to utility relocations and additional crosswalk design requirements for the Husky Trail project.
Federal ADA requirements for crosswalks and utility coordination have increased since the original contract with A & Z was signed four years ago, according to Taylor.
• A contract with NIPSCO to increase the gas line size running to the new wastewater treatment plant, 2056 N. CR 150W, from 1 inch to 2 inches. Waste Water Treatment Utility Manager Brian Davison said the increase was needed to get more gas to the plant to run everything during the winter. NIPSCO requires the city to pay 51 percent of the construction costs, which is $6,582.20.
Davison said 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches would have been sufficient, but it was increased to 2 inches for potential future growth.
• An annual maintenance agreement with American Elevator for the elevator at city hall. The agreement is for Nov. 1 to Oct. 31, 2017, and the city will be billed annually at $2,163, a 3 percent increase of $63.
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