Downtown Warsaw Evolving, Board Of Works Hears
December 17, 2022 at 2:57 a.m.
By David [email protected]
City Planner Justin Taylor reminded the Board they saw the initial version of a contract with Cosby Tree Service LLC in October for tree trimming and removal services for $10,175, but there was a change order in the middle of the project so he wanted the Board’s final approval on that.
“The reason for the change was that the root balls of the trees that were ordered - the city ordered the trees for the project, they were a lot larger than they had anticipated. With the additional proposal, so that additional time and equipment needed to install the larger trees, reflects the change that you see before you,” he said.
The final contract increased by $4,750 for a new total of $14,925.
“They did an excellent job, so we’re really happy with the project overall and it was completed in a timely manner,” Taylor said, recommending the Board approve the change.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer asked Taylor to talk a little bit about the “multi-year project to replace the trees that were 20 years old and were growing too big, as far as I’m concerned, and a lot of folks had some problems with those, so we’ve been in the process of over a period of time, replacing trees. This is our third year and we still have a few left.”
Taylor said they have one or two more years of the project.
“We wanted to update the downtown streetscape by renewing these plants and keeping them pruned and looking good,” he said. “And also create bio-diversity in downtown. We had a monocal pear tree, so this project is really important. If there was any kind of blight that would come through and target one tree, it would wipe out every tree in downtown, so the intent of stretching this project over a span of about five or six years is to slowly phase-in those changes instead of making it look like all of downtown got wiped out with our trees.”
Taylor said it was really exciting to be closing in on the end of the project, but tree maintenance is always ongoing.
“We’re really happy with the pruning that they did this year,” he said, and they hope for that to continue as well.
Additionally, Thallemer said, the city will be replacing all the street lights downtown because of concerns with them.
“We’re also in the process of looking at altering our streetscapes, updating those. Changing the planters. Changing some of the pavers. Big projects ... but we are in the process of engineering that. We had a committee sit down and look at those changes, so downtown will be gradually evolving,” Thallemer said.
He said there’s been some issues with the pavers and planters downtown, so they’re going to be made a little more walker-friendly.
The Board approved the change order as presented by Taylor.
Thallemer thanked Taylor for his work on that and said, “It’s starting to really pay off and we’ll notice changes throughout the next few years.”
Later, Taylor presented a contract between the city and JPR for survey and preliminary engineering services related to the Market Street Multimodal Trail for $45,000.
“So this is another very exciting project that’s been in the works for a number of years. Phase I and Phase II of Market Street have been completed. The city’s been working on this corridor. It’s identified at about at least 10 years ago and been working towards completing this east-west connection for bike and pedestrian traffic to get through downtown and connect everybody to the parks systems and trail systems as they go out west to the Chinworth Bridge out there. So it’s just a really nice system as you go east, you can ride your bike all the way to Winona Lake and get there safely. So, we’re very excited to work on this very important half-mile stretch through downtown,” Taylor said.
The preliminary engineering study will put the schematic design that was done a few years ago “into the real world,” he said, and get dimensions and make sure everything’s going to work well. After that, Taylor said they’ll have a better understanding of the project costs and be able to take the next step.
In other business, the Board approved:
• A contract between the city and DLZ Engineering for professional planning services for $10,500 related to the U.S. 30 corridor. The purpose of the study is to develop a community vision for the quality of place that can be articulated to the Indiana Department of Transportation as they prepare to make enhancements to U.S. 30.
Taylor said they don’t know exactly what U.S. 30 will look like but the road is an important gateway to the city and the city wants to advise INDOT in any way it can on how the community’s values should be reflected in the corridor.
• A lease agreement between Michael Welborn, Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory and the city of Warsaw for the property at 119 W. Center St., Suite B, for one year with an option to renew in October for 2024.
The lease payment will be for $1,000 per month for an annual amount of no more or less than $12,000, which WWFT Chief Garrett Holderman said was already budgeted for in 2023.
Thallemer said the lease will provide for temporary office space for WWFT’s administration and CARES program as office space is very limited at fire stations 2 and 3 and there’s really no office space at station 1.
“We do have a long-term plan, but for now we’re going to get everybody a little more elbow room,” Thallemer said.
• The 2023 agreement between the city and the Animal Welfare League.
“It’s becoming a very critical service,” Thallemer said. “We’re really trying to look at other avenues of service, including trying to get the public to understand how important spay and neuter policy is in the community, and Animal Welfare League is a big part of that. We’ve got the problem of strays that we’re going to be looking at in the next few months, and, again, our partnership - this contract - with the Animal Welfare League is critical.”
He said there was no change in the contract from last year, which is for $35,000.
• A $100,000 service agreement with Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) for 2023.
Thallemer said the agreement was essentially for services with KEDCO for economic development. He said it was “basically” the same as last year, but includes $20,000 for provisional support of KEDCO’s accelerator studio project. The original amount remains the same at $80,000.
• An addendum to the KEDCO agreement to support the Warsaw Housing Revolving Loan Fund for $750,000, with the money coming out of the Economic Development Income Tax.
“This will support the land purchase and development of the Owen’s site,” Thallemer said. “... This is a critical project at a very critical concern for our housing that we’ve worked, collaborated well with the county and the Foundation and with KEDCO to develop housing opportunities for our workforce. This is the city doing its part.”
City Planner Justin Taylor reminded the Board they saw the initial version of a contract with Cosby Tree Service LLC in October for tree trimming and removal services for $10,175, but there was a change order in the middle of the project so he wanted the Board’s final approval on that.
“The reason for the change was that the root balls of the trees that were ordered - the city ordered the trees for the project, they were a lot larger than they had anticipated. With the additional proposal, so that additional time and equipment needed to install the larger trees, reflects the change that you see before you,” he said.
The final contract increased by $4,750 for a new total of $14,925.
“They did an excellent job, so we’re really happy with the project overall and it was completed in a timely manner,” Taylor said, recommending the Board approve the change.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer asked Taylor to talk a little bit about the “multi-year project to replace the trees that were 20 years old and were growing too big, as far as I’m concerned, and a lot of folks had some problems with those, so we’ve been in the process of over a period of time, replacing trees. This is our third year and we still have a few left.”
Taylor said they have one or two more years of the project.
“We wanted to update the downtown streetscape by renewing these plants and keeping them pruned and looking good,” he said. “And also create bio-diversity in downtown. We had a monocal pear tree, so this project is really important. If there was any kind of blight that would come through and target one tree, it would wipe out every tree in downtown, so the intent of stretching this project over a span of about five or six years is to slowly phase-in those changes instead of making it look like all of downtown got wiped out with our trees.”
Taylor said it was really exciting to be closing in on the end of the project, but tree maintenance is always ongoing.
“We’re really happy with the pruning that they did this year,” he said, and they hope for that to continue as well.
Additionally, Thallemer said, the city will be replacing all the street lights downtown because of concerns with them.
“We’re also in the process of looking at altering our streetscapes, updating those. Changing the planters. Changing some of the pavers. Big projects ... but we are in the process of engineering that. We had a committee sit down and look at those changes, so downtown will be gradually evolving,” Thallemer said.
He said there’s been some issues with the pavers and planters downtown, so they’re going to be made a little more walker-friendly.
The Board approved the change order as presented by Taylor.
Thallemer thanked Taylor for his work on that and said, “It’s starting to really pay off and we’ll notice changes throughout the next few years.”
Later, Taylor presented a contract between the city and JPR for survey and preliminary engineering services related to the Market Street Multimodal Trail for $45,000.
“So this is another very exciting project that’s been in the works for a number of years. Phase I and Phase II of Market Street have been completed. The city’s been working on this corridor. It’s identified at about at least 10 years ago and been working towards completing this east-west connection for bike and pedestrian traffic to get through downtown and connect everybody to the parks systems and trail systems as they go out west to the Chinworth Bridge out there. So it’s just a really nice system as you go east, you can ride your bike all the way to Winona Lake and get there safely. So, we’re very excited to work on this very important half-mile stretch through downtown,” Taylor said.
The preliminary engineering study will put the schematic design that was done a few years ago “into the real world,” he said, and get dimensions and make sure everything’s going to work well. After that, Taylor said they’ll have a better understanding of the project costs and be able to take the next step.
In other business, the Board approved:
• A contract between the city and DLZ Engineering for professional planning services for $10,500 related to the U.S. 30 corridor. The purpose of the study is to develop a community vision for the quality of place that can be articulated to the Indiana Department of Transportation as they prepare to make enhancements to U.S. 30.
Taylor said they don’t know exactly what U.S. 30 will look like but the road is an important gateway to the city and the city wants to advise INDOT in any way it can on how the community’s values should be reflected in the corridor.
• A lease agreement between Michael Welborn, Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory and the city of Warsaw for the property at 119 W. Center St., Suite B, for one year with an option to renew in October for 2024.
The lease payment will be for $1,000 per month for an annual amount of no more or less than $12,000, which WWFT Chief Garrett Holderman said was already budgeted for in 2023.
Thallemer said the lease will provide for temporary office space for WWFT’s administration and CARES program as office space is very limited at fire stations 2 and 3 and there’s really no office space at station 1.
“We do have a long-term plan, but for now we’re going to get everybody a little more elbow room,” Thallemer said.
• The 2023 agreement between the city and the Animal Welfare League.
“It’s becoming a very critical service,” Thallemer said. “We’re really trying to look at other avenues of service, including trying to get the public to understand how important spay and neuter policy is in the community, and Animal Welfare League is a big part of that. We’ve got the problem of strays that we’re going to be looking at in the next few months, and, again, our partnership - this contract - with the Animal Welfare League is critical.”
He said there was no change in the contract from last year, which is for $35,000.
• A $100,000 service agreement with Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) for 2023.
Thallemer said the agreement was essentially for services with KEDCO for economic development. He said it was “basically” the same as last year, but includes $20,000 for provisional support of KEDCO’s accelerator studio project. The original amount remains the same at $80,000.
• An addendum to the KEDCO agreement to support the Warsaw Housing Revolving Loan Fund for $750,000, with the money coming out of the Economic Development Income Tax.
“This will support the land purchase and development of the Owen’s site,” Thallemer said. “... This is a critical project at a very critical concern for our housing that we’ve worked, collaborated well with the county and the Foundation and with KEDCO to develop housing opportunities for our workforce. This is the city doing its part.”
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092