WINONA LAKE – The town of Winona Lake is moving forward in finding a new town manager.
Town Manager Craig Allebach announced his retirement earlier this year for the end of October 2024 or when the town found a new town manager.
On Monday, Allebach said there are five or six applicants for the town manager position. He told the council they may want to think about what they want to do about interviewing the applicants.
Council President Jim Lancaster said Allebach has been very courteous about continuing in the town manager position until the town found a replacement.
The council will have an executive session at 6 p.m. Jan. 7 to look at the applications.
Earlier in the meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Heather James said all of the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funds need to contracted out before the end of 2024. Winona Lake has $35,968.44 left of its ARPA funds. It was decided the money will go toward the water main bond. James said that will allow for Economic Development Income Tax funds to be freed up for the town.
Also during the meeting, the council approved for Allebach to apply for Community Crossing Matching Grants in 2025. Allebach said there are two windows of applications for the CCMG for a maximum of $1.5 million for the year.
After the meeting, Allebach said there is no list of streets that would be worked on if the town is awarded the grants in 2025 as of right now. Work would be determined later on.
In other business, the council:
• Heard from Park Director Holly Hummitch the town will receive a biannual payment of $30,000 from the Wayne Township 2025 Agreement for Parks and Recreation to support park programming in Winona Lake.
• Approved a quote of $10,990 for engineering services from A & Z Engineering for engineering services for the second wave of Community Crossing grants the town was awarded in 2024.
• Approved the contracts for town attorney Adam Turner and town engineer Aaron Carl for 2025.
• Approved a bid of $10,500 from SiteWorx for the street department’s Mack truck.
• Tabled a decision for a waiver/reduction of utilities for a resident who recently died. The council has discussed the topic for several months. James said the K21 Health Foundation payment of $500 has been received. Councilman Jason Zaugg brought up his concerns about there being no precedent for waiving or reducing utility bills, along with there being no payment from the resident this year. Lancaster said he would reach out to the resident’s spouse about the situation and bring information to the next council meeting.
• Heard the Winter Market at Limitless Park will be Jan. 4 and 18 from 9 a.m. to noon.
• Approved a resolution to clean up language in the town’s employee handbook.
• Tabled a decision on a dress code policy for employees at the Miller Sunset Pavilion. Council Vice President Austin Reynolds said he didn’t think Turner was able to take a look at the policy yet and wanted to wait for Turner to do so.