A number of contracts were approved by the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday, including the city’s contracts with nonprofit agencies previously approved by the Common Council.
The 2025 contracts included $100,000 to the Animal Welfare League; $15,000, The Beaman Home; $20,000, Kosciusko Area Bus Service (KABS); $27,500, Kosciusko Community Senior Services; $25,000, Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams; $50,000 Main Street Warsaw; $50,000, Main Street Warsaw Facade Grant Program; and $35,000 to the Warsaw Housing Authority.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said, “All of the contracts that we recommend be awarded provide services that are needed for the city to function healthwise or safetywise, and that we do not have any current city department that is providing those services, so we are looking outside to contract those services that we feel would be necessary. So all of these contracts ... fit into that criteria.”
Two agreements for city ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds also were greenlighted. Those included $25,529.43 to the Beaman Home and $55,200 to Habitat for Humanities, both for roofing material and related roofing services.
City attorney Scott Reust said the grant awards came from the Common Council from the ARPA funding. Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen explained, “We had to do these two so we have something in writing before the end of the year when all of the monies are supposed to be committed.”
Reust said, “I think the four projects that were funded by the council this year, all four of them were major capital projects that will have long-term, lasting, necessary - three roofs and scoreboards, I think, was what ARPA funded and those will be giving back to those not-for-profits for a long time.”
Quance lauded Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins and Council President Jack Wilhite for their diligent work on handling the ARPA funding requests.
Another 2025 agreement approved by the board was with attorney Scott E. Reust, partner at Rockhill Pinnick LLP, for legal services for the city. The amount is for $110,000, payable in 12 monthly installments of $9,166.67 per month and $275 per hour for additional other services as needed.
As the Kosciusko County Commissioners did on Tuesday, the Board of Works approved the memorandum of understanding (MOU) Friday supporting a parking garage project.
The parking garage is estimated to cost $15 million, with $5 million expected to come from the Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative (OIRI). The city will contribute $2 million to $3 million, with the county making up any difference.
Jeremy Skinner, Warsaw Community and Economic Development director, said the MOU was just a framework “that would allow us to move forward with exploring how to develop a parking garage downtown. That framework kind of outlies OIRI’s participation ... as well as the county’s participation and the city’s participation in moving forward with a product that might result in a parking garage. It’s setting the stage, so there’s some work that will have to be done after this fact, but basically setting that stage by the $5 million request from OIRI, up to around $7 million for the county’s participation and $2-$3 million for the city’s participation in this MOU moving forward looking at developing or starting the design work for what a parking garage might look like.”
He said it doesn’t identify a location or partners for the parking garage.
In other business, the Board of Works:
• Approved the wastewater 2025 budget guideline totaling $9,445,284, and the stormwater 2025 budget guideline totaling $1,350,000. Utility Superintendent Brian Davison explained they are rate supported and not tax supported.
• Opened the sole bid for the Timber Ridge stormwater improvement project, which was from G & G Hauling & Excavating for $108,970.
The project includes the demolition of existing stormwater conveyance piping, grated road inlets, curb and gutter, and roadway and the construction of approximately 245 linear feet of stormwater conveyance piping ranging in size from 12 to 18 inches, a trench drain, several curb inlets, curb and gutter, roadway and seeding restoration, according to the invitation to bid.
Utility Superintendent Brian Davison requested the bid be tabled and taken under advisement, which the board did. A recommendation will be made to the board at their next meeting.
• Approved a 2025 agreement with BIT Computers Inc. for IT management and services, as requested by Staci Young, assistant to the mayor. Cost is $207,300.
Young said it’s an expanded agreement from what the city had with BIT Computers in the past, and it’s the next step in developing an IT department for the city.
“They will be more fully administering the IT for the city. They’ll be working with long-term planning, they’ll be doing some training, be more involved with city projects that are going on with our departments. So there’ll be some expanded responsibilities that they have not been as heavily involved with in the past that they’ll be doing for us moving forward,” she said. “Again, just trying to see what that IT department will look like for the city moving forward in the coming years.”
The board also approved a three-year agreement for email encryption with Virtru, as requested by Young. The cost is $11,491.20 per year.
• Approved Public Works Superintendent Dustin Dillon’s request to accept $146,421 in Highway Safety Improvement Program funding. The funding is for removal and replacement of various traffic signal heads and new wiring. The grant requires a 10% match so the city will pay the remainder of the approximate $161,000 project.
• Approved the owner-contractor agreement with Michiana Contracting for $360,642 for the traffic signal modernization of the intersection of Main and Lake streets, as requested by Dillon. Bids were opened at the Nov. 1 Board of Works meeting and the bid was awarded to Michiana Contracting at the Nov. 15 meeting.
• Approved the new hire and change in payroll report, as presented by Human Resource Director Denny Harlan. The report included the salary and wages for every city employee and board member for 2025.
Mayor Jeff Grose said there were 276 line items and “part of this process is that the public is aware of it. Public dollars, so here it is for the record.”
Harlan said it includes a 2.5% salary increase for 2025, as well as longevity pay.
As an example of the salaries listed, department heads in 2025 will receive biweekly pays of: Nick King, airport manager, $3,199.51; Justin Taylor, city planner, $3,028.52; Skinner, $3,713.80; Hal Heagy, Oakwood Cemetery sexton, $2,744.95; Lynne Christiansen, clerk-treasurer, $3,023.06; Aaron Ott, city engineer, $4,667.85; Joel Shilling, fire chief, $3,652.21; Harlan, $3,019.37; Jeff Grose, mayor, $3,321.18; Larry Plummer, parks superintendent, $3,104.51; Scott Whitaker, police chief, $4,331.05; Dillon, $3,225.66; and Brian Davison, $3,781.89.
• Approved a consulting agreement with web app developer Novotx for $11,000, as requested by Taylor. “This proposal would integrate multiple sign permit types into a single application,” he said.
• Approved pay app No. 1 for $3,107.50 from Wessler Engineering for the 2024 sanitary sewer and storm rehabilitation, as requested by Davison.
• Approved an agreement with Emans Engineering for on-call professional services. Rate is $160 per hour and it’s not to exceed $16,000 for 2025.