For the fifth time since 2013, the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory will be hosting classes this summer with Dive Rescue International.
Capt. Drew Shilling, the assistant dive commander for the Warsaw Dive Team, on behalf of the dive team, asked the Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday for permission to host another series of classes from Dive Rescue International.
“(It’s) something we’ve done. This will be our fifth time,” he said. WWFT hosted classes in Warsaw in 2013, 2021, 2022 and 2024. “DRI is a company out of Colorado. It’s a good way for our dive team to get good quality training without having to send them out and pay for hotels and travel and everything else.”
This year, he said they’re hoping to have a Critical Skills class July 28-29; Evidence Recovery Operations, July 30-31; and Light Salvage & Recovery, Aug. 1-3.
For the Evidence Recovery Operations and Light Salvage & Recovery classes, Capt. Shilling said they will need to use the boat ramp at Center Lake, which they’ve done in the past.
“We get a vehicle that we make environmentally clean - pull the motor, all the fluids - and we’ll put the vehicle in the lake so we can practice lifting it. And there will be notices put out that the boat ramp will be used. The last time we did it, we had notices out a month in advance so everybody’s clear,” he explained.
The classes bring a lot of people from out of state, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York and others.
The board approved for WWFT to host the classes.
Mikaela Bixler, CARES (Community Assistance, Resources, Emergency Services) coordinator, asked the board for permission for the WWFT to accept a $2,472 grant from the K21 Health Foundation to purchase 1,000 training books from The QPR Institute.
The books will be used for suicide prevention training. CARES offers the evidence-based QPR (Question Persuade Refer) Gatekeeper training to nonprofit and government agencies, as well as community members, in Warsaw and Kosciusko County.
The board approved accepting the grant.
Fire Chief Joel Shilling presented the last two requests from the fire department. Both were approved by the board and approved by the WWFT Board on Jan. 7.
The first was a preventative maintenance agreement with Zoll Medical Corp. for $1,360 for 2025 for required maintenance of four Zoll monitors. The Zoll monitors are used on the majority of WWFT’s medical calls.
The second request was to enter into a three-year contract with Fire Catt for fire hose testing. For the first year, the cost is $8,190; year two, $8,580; and year three, $8,970. WWFT has 19,500 feet of hose that has to be inspected annually.
In other business, the board:
• Approved three permits for L & L Taxi, as presented by Warsaw Police Department Deputy Chief Bryan Sherwin. He said the three vehicles did pass the mechanical portion for the inspection, the drivers are all licensed and the vehicles are all insured.
L & L Taxi did have a fourth vehicle, but Sherwin said it did not pass inspection at this time.
• Approved a contract amendment for $18,500 on the construction inspection contract with The Troyer Group for the Lincoln Neighborhood Sidewalk project, as requested by City Planner Justin Taylor.
• Approved the yearly contract with Thomas Earhart to serve as the administrative law judge for the city’s code enforcement hearings, as requested by Taylor. Earhart will serve as the hearing officer for a minimum of nine sessions in 2025 at $900 for each session.
• Approved an engagement letter agreement between the city and Baker Tilly Advisory Group, as presented by Mayor Jeff Grose.
They also gave the OK for Baker Tilly to assist the city in the development of a long-term financial plan for an amount not to exceed $35,000.
• Approved the $9,110.60 pay application from American Structurepoint Inc. for right-of-way services for the Anchorage Road project, as presented by Whitney Shilling, administrative assistant for Community & Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner. Being an Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT)-funded project, the city will be reimbursed 80%.
Whitney Shilling also presented, and the board approved, a $600 pay application from American Structurepoint for engineering for the Anchorage Road Project.
• Approved a contract between the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department and Core Mechanical Services for $3,185, as requested by Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer. He said it was their annual service agreement for the parks department’s furnaces, AC units and direct water heater.
• Approved the travel requests and new hire/change in payroll report as presented by Human Resource Director Denny Harlan.
The new hire/change in payroll report includes Zach Tucker as a new member of the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals; longevity pay added to new Warsaw Police Department probationary patrol officers Huntley Davis and Ever Guiterrez-Franco’s salaries; and four new part-time firefighters - Branson Bryer, Jordan Rish, Corbin Benzing and Paul Tafoya.
Harlan also presented a take-home vehicle request for Justin Ousley for 2025 for emergency and after-hour call-ins, which was approved. The vehicle is a 2017 Ford F-350. Ousley was promoted to a supervisor at the street department.
• Approved a contract between the street department and Ace Pest Control for $70 monthly for 2025, as well as spring and fall exterior treatment for $122 each, as requested by Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon.
• Approved a change order for an increase of $2,087.57 from G & G Hauling & Excavating for Park Avenue storm sewer improvements, as requested by Stormwater Utility Superintendent Brian Davison.
Pay application #3 for $130,319.12, including the change order, also was greenlighted by the board. Davison said, “This pays out everything except for retainage at this point.” The retainage totals $12,604.39.
• Approved a contract between the wastewater treatment and stormwater utilities and Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors for semi-annual financial management reports, as requested by Davison. Each report will cost $9,200.
• Witnessed city attorney Scott Reust give the oath of office to Wayne Township Trustee Jeanie Stackhouse for the Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Territory board.