Money to remove the old pier at Center Lake has been found.
At the Warsaw Common Council meeting Monday night, Public Works Superintendent Dustin Dillon requested the council approved a resolution transferring $400,000 from street salaries into the street repairs and maintenance fund.
“As everybody is aware, this past winter was a pretty light one. I think we ended up with four different snow events. We’re usually within that 12 to 15 range. So we were able to save some significant amount of dollars from our street salaries appropriation due to the lack of overtime for use for snow removal,” he said.
As Dillon and Mayor Jeff Grose talked about what the street department wanted to do with the money, Dillon originally thought about the challenges his department would be affected by. Then they got to talking about the city’s challenges now and in the future. Dillon came up with four options for Grose by their next meeting, but Grose didn’t provide Dillon with much direction.
“We went back and forth and kind of came up with, in the end, on the four options of what the best scenario was and for the community citywide,” Dillon said.
Of the $400,000 he asked to be transferred, $250,000 will be set aside to remove the old pier at Center Lake.
“Funding for this project is not available currently. Probably would not be available for at least 12 to 18 months in order to do this,” Dillon said. “Again, without a light winter, these funds wouldn’t necessarily be available.”
The remaining $150,000 will go back in to the street department’s pavement preservation program, which the department has been doing since about 2016.
“We’ve had a great year with road construction and construction projects throughout the street department. Our crews have really excelled, really came a long way. I’m super, super proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish,” Dillon said. “So, this again is a unique opportunity for all of us on something that’s going to benefit the city for many years to come. At least get something accomplished with these dollars that we’ve already planned on spending as well.”
Bids are scheduled to be opened on Nov. 1 at the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, with the pier removed by April 2025 as that’s when the city’s Indiana Department of Natural Resources permit will expire.
Grose said the pier removal will be a wonderful thing for a lot of people, and Dillon deserved a lot of the credit.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said the old pier has affected the lake’s water quality and safety, and Center Lake beach had to be closed this past summer because of the pier. There’s also a safety concern in regards to children playing on and around it. She was excited that Dillon was willing to be a team player and use those funds to get the pier out of there.
Estimated cost for the pier removal is just over $200,000. If the cost holds, Dillon’s pledge of $250,000 should cover the entire cost of the pier removal.
Quance made the motion to approve the transfer resolution, Councilman Juergen Voss seconded it and it was approved unanimously.
In other business, the council approved:
• Approved the second reading of the 2025 budget ordinance as presented. The adopted budget totals $37,864,856, with the adopted tax levy of $18,922,627 and the adopted tax rate of $1.3311 per $100 of assessed valuation. The total of the home-ruled funds (not reviewed by the Department of Local Government Finance) is $11,557,177.
• A resolution reducing the 2024 budget by a total of $826,860. “That will just go into the reserve of each fund,” Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen said.
• On first reading, the general salary, police salary, fire salary and elected official salary ordinances. The second readings will be held at the council’s Oct. 21 meeting. Included in the ordinances are 2.5% wage increases across the board for all full-time city employees, as well as longevity pay, as presented by Human Resource Director Denny Harlan.
• Approved a resolution declaring the former Jomac buildings in the 1600 block of East Winona Avenue as blighted so the city, on behalf of Fellowship Missions, can apply for the Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ Blight Clearance Program for a second time to demolish the buildings.
The city was notified in August by OCRA that it was denied the $500,000 grant it had applied for earlier this year in the first grant cycle, missing it by only seven points, but was encouraged to reapply for the grant in the second round. The proposal is due Oct. 18, with the final proposal Dec. 20.
Total cost of the demolition of the buildings is estimated at $644,800. The minimum local match is $64,480, with Fellowship Missions providing $55,000 of that. The city will not be required to put up any of the cost, but City Planner Justin Taylor said they will try to make up the $9,480 shortage through in-kind donations.
Along with the resolution, a public hearing was held on the grant application but no one from the public spoke.
• A motion that the city’s purchasing agent may award a contract through a Request For Proposals procedure pursuant to Indiana code.
City engineer Aaron Ott explained how the RFP procedure will be used for City Hall’s HVAC replacement, but the procedure will also be potentially available for other city projects. The Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday approved the procedure for the HVAC replacement.
• Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling’s request to transfer $35,000 from fire protection territory health insurance to operating supplies to cover the remaining fuels costs and general operating costs through the end of the year.
Councilman Jerry Frush also presented Shilling with a new Indiana state flag for the fire station on Main Street.
• On first reading an ordinance approving the additional appropriation of $1,767,573.65 in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund.
Christiansen explained, “This is an additional appropriation to get the rest of the money for the ARPA fund into the budget so we can get PO’s issued before the end of year for everything that has to come together by the end of the year so we can have all the funds committed by the end of 2024.”
All ARPA funds have to be committed by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
The second reading and public hearing on the ordinance will take place at the council’s Oct. 21 meeting.