By a vote of 31 to 5, eligible Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighters voted Monday morning in favor of a resolution to not go to a merit board system.
Warsaw Human Resource Director Denny Harlan explained to the Common Council Monday night, “This morning, all the members of the Warsaw Fire Department came in. We discussed what the law said, the way the vote had to be taken. After everybody turned their votes in, we did a tally and the fire department voted 31 to 5 to agree with the resolution that you guys passed and have voted that we will not have a merit system at this time.”
He said he thinks it’s a “huge statement” for Fire Chief Joel Shilling the department’s firefighters know they can trust him and Shilling has their back and best interests in mind.
“It was a huge vote for Chief Shilling,” Harlan said.
Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen asked if it was just the sworn firefighters that could vote. Harlan said that was correct, it was just the sworn 77 Fund member firefighters.
“We can not revisit it again for at least 12 months. So 12 months from now, if you decide or they decide that they want to try again, then we can try again. But, there will be no action for the next 12 months,” Harlan explained.
In previous meetings, the Warsaw Common Council, the Board of Public Works and Safety and the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Board all approved resolutions rejecting the merit board system for the fire department. The firefighters were the last body to vote on the matter, but had they voted in favor of the merit board system, there would be one regardless of the other votes.
In 2023, the Indiana House passed House Enrolled Act 1016, which was signed into law May 4, 2023. By the law, any department that has 12 members and serves a population of 20,000 is mandated to have a merit board unless a resolution is approved rejecting the merit board. If any of the involved parties decides to have a merit board, then the merit board has to be put into place.
Mayor Jeff Grose brought up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that he said the county commissioners will be entertaining at their meeting Tuesday morning, Dec. 3, connected to the Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative (OIRI) funds that state Rep. Craig Snow was able to bring to the community from the state.
“One of the items that was approved by the state was $5 million toward a parking garage within the city limits of Warsaw, specifically to help not only the downtown, but, as important, the county and some of the issues that they have with parking. The county will be entertaining an MOU that (city attorney) Scott (Reust) and I, along with (Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director) Jeremy Skinner have worked with them on,” Grose said.
He said they’ll wait and see what, if any, action the county takes on the MOU and then the city will react.
Reust said in speaking with the county commissioners and county attorney, they would like to move forward with getting an agreement in principle so that they can capture the OIRI money, funding from the city and the county, and “ultimately, I think it’s going to lead to there being a parking garage being built here downtown. It’s going to be owned and operated probably by the county, and the city will have parking spots allocated to it in proportion to the amount of our contribution to the cost of the building of the parking facility.”
The next steps would include finding someone to manage the parking garage, as well as a vendor to manage other downtown parking.
“Hopefully, that’s all going to be coordinated together with the county, the county garage and the city street parking. So there’s some big developments there, but I think one of the big emphasizes is getting the commitment from the OIRI money, as well as us making a commitment and the county making a commitment. I see that moving forward pretty quickly once these commitments are made,” Reust said.
Grose said it’s all very exciting, but all the details still have to be worked out.
In other business, the council approved three ordinances on second reading. The ordinances were approved on first reading at the council’s Nov. 18 meeting.
The first ordinance came from Oakwood Cemetery sexton Hal Heagy and increased fees for the sale of burial lots and services rendered. The approximate 4% increase came about four years after the last increase.
Harlan presented the second ordinance on the employee handbook update and the third ordinance on the police salary ordinance amendment.
With the employee handbook update ordinance, Harlan said it was amended since the Nov. 18 meeting to better define the jury duty portion a little bit better. As amended, it now states, “Because the city wishes to promote civic duty, all employees will receive their normal pay less any jury fees received for hours serving jury duty. You must present proof of the amount of jury pay received. No use of benefit time will be required.”
Mike Loher, organizer of A Country Christmas, invited the council to attend the 11th annual concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at Lakeview Middle School, Warsaw. Doors open at 6 p.m. The concert is free, but people are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to be donated to Toys for Tots.
Nonperishable food items also will be accepted this year for World Compassion Network for hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina.
Performers will include Susie McEntire, Linda Davis, Keenie and Janie Fricke.
Grose promised he and his wife definitely will be in attendance.
McEntire’s “Pamper Me” event for women also will take place Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online through www.countrychristmaswarsaw.com for that specific event.