One of the three road closure requests approved by the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday was for a Pre-Prom Arrive Alive mock crash scene the day before Warsaw Community High School’s prom.
Pre-Prom Arrive Alive is a safety campaign focused on ensuring students reach prom and after-prom events safely.
Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Fire Marshal Jeremy Williams requested that Logan Street, between Rozella Road and the first driveway into the WCHS parking lot, be closed from 8:15 to 11 a.m. May 2, with the mock crash scene taking place from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
“It’s a program we’re trying to bring to Warsaw. This is the first-time ever for Warsaw High School,” Williams said. “Our plan is to bring a couple cars in, crash them up. We’re going to do a real-life scenario in front of the junior and senior high school kids. We’ve got the police officers involved. We plan on doing the whole DUI thing, and then the principal is going to do a talk afterwards.”
He said they’re excited to bring the program to Warsaw this year.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said with her and Mayor Jeff Grose having worked at the high school for a number of years, there have been crash scenarios at the fairgrounds, but having it at Logan Street will make it “really real” for the students.
Williams agreed that putting it in the middle of the roadway will make it more realistic and better.
Grose said it was very powerful at the fairgrounds, but doing it on Logan Street close to the school will be a good reminder for everyone.
Williams gave a shoutout to WCHS Principal Troy Akers, saying he’s been amazing to work with.
Another road closure request was made by Kim Bussard, Bussard Automotive, for his business’ open house and classic car cruise-in on June 28 from 3 p.m. to midnight. The second annual open house, open to the public, starts at 4 p.m. The road to be closed is Smith Street, between Maple Avenue and Bronson Street.
Bussard said his son’s band will play during the event, and the high school’s band boosters will supply food for the program.
The final road closure request was made by Terry Sweeney, Main Street Warsaw director of development, for the 2025 season of the Kosciusko County Farms and Artisan Market. The road closures include Center Street between Buffalo and Lake streets and Buffalo Street from Center to Market streets from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturdays from May 3 to Sept. 27. The farmers and artisan market will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The road closure is a change from the past in that it incorporates Buffalo Street now, too.
“We’re kind of excited,” Sweeney said. “We’re working with Lisa (Hawley), market manager. The (Kosciusko) Chamber (of Commerce) and Main Street are trying to support their efforts and help them grow. We’ve had good discussions to begin with, and working towards that. But, we’re kind of excited that there’s an opportunity for this footprint, for the market to engage the retail stores more. So there’ll be a little more activity, and so we’re excited for that.”
After the road closures were approved, Hawley asked about their request for the City Hall parking lot on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for their Wednesday evening market. She didn’t know if that got turned in, but it starts May 7 and runs through September.
Grose said they didn’t have that request Friday, but would take care of that at the next Board of Works meeting.
One of the travel requests presented to the board by Human Resource Director Denny Harlan was for four Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighters to travel March 23-25 to look at the new fire truck and make sure the specifications are correct on it.
Quance asked Fire Chief Joel Shilling when is that fire apparatus going to arrive.
“I don’t have a set deadline, but typically at least a month after the final inspection,” he said. “So this inspection is for them to go down there. These are the four members that are on the apparatus committee that help build it, so they just have to make sure that the manufacturer built what we asked. They go through line by line item, check it all off. If it gets okayed, then it has to be delivered to Hoosier Fire. It has to have some equipment installed on it that are required by NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) to make it be in service - some lettering, some graphics.”
Shilling said he was hoping that by the beginning of June the fire truck will arrive. It was ordered in June 2022.
“There were some supply issues, is what we were told,” he stated.
All the travel requests were approved.
In other business, the board:
• Accepted the Community Crossings Matching 50/50 Grant for a total of $929,526 from the Indiana Department of Transportation, as requested by Public Works Superintendent Dustin Dillon.
The two projects that the grant dollars will be used for include the full reconstruction of Airport Road; as well as milling, resurfacing and full-depth patching on Old 30 East (from U.S. 30 east to Cheyenne Road), Zimmer Road, Provident Drive and CR 150W.
With the city’s match, there will be over $1.8 million in improvements to the city’s infrastructure.
Dillon said the opening of the bids for the projects is tentatively set for April 17.
Quance said she’s received a lot of questions about potholes and asked Dillon to comment.
“So we run crews out daily. We have somebody out patching daily. We have two different hot boxes to address that,” he said. The asphalt plants are close to opening up, so Dillon said they’re trying to milk things through to where the plants are open so more permanent repairs can be done instead of just patching. “We’re getting close. A couple more weeks away and hopefully we’ll be there. Unfortunately, northern Indiana, with the amount of moisture we’ve had and the severe cold temperatures we’ve had, then going the opposite to warming up - spring time is always a tough point of the year, but we’ll get through it.”
• Approved the agreement between the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department and Kensington Digital Media for the promotion of the department’s summer concerts, as requested by Recreation Director Stephanie Schaefer. The Rockin’ Concert for Riley will be June 20, and the Country Concert for St. Jude will be July 18, with the headlining acts to be announced on the radio April 1.
• Approved two contracts with Brian Fravel, doing business as Pro Audio Service, for production for the country and rock concerts at Glover Pavilion. He will receive $1,920 for the country concert, and $7,370 for the rock concert.
• Approved the five-year contract between the parks department and Rent Fun LLC for the installation of a kiosk servicing the volleyball court and cornhole boards at Center Lake Recreational Trail for $3,000, as requested by Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer.
• Approved for the Warsaw Police Department to apply for a 2026 Comprehensive Highway Injury Reduction Program 80/20 matching grant for $88,000 through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, as requested by WPD Capt. Paul Heaton. The grant funds allow for officer overtime to enforce different highway traffic laws. All the programs within CHIRP include Click It to Live It, Driving Under the Influence Task Force Project, Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (SAVE) Project and PEDBIKE Project.
• Approved pay application #4 to Wessler Engineering for $5,387.88 for professional services for the 2024 sanitary sewer and storm line rehabilitation, as requested by Utility Superintendent Brian Davison.
• Approved the outdoor seating application for The River Coffeeshop, as presented by Warsaw Assistant Planner Jackson Longenbaugh. The business will have seven tables this season.
• Recognized Will Phillips, an employee of the Warsaw Wastewater Treatment Utility, for his 10 years of service to the city.