Mayor Jeff Grose and Warsaw Public Works Superintendent Dustin Dillon canvassed Hodges Addition Wednesday afternoon passing out letters about the completed infrastructure project that began six years ago in that neighborhood.
Not only did it explain the phases, reasoning and costs of the $3 million-plus project, but the letter also thanked residents for their patience and asked them for their feedback.
“We’ve always come out on the front side of the project and explained things to residents and what to expect and the project scope and what the reasoning was. But with talking to Mayor Grose, we had a want to go back after post-construction and talk to the residents: what went well, what were some of the challenges, what was going on. So just being nice, a little recap with them and making sure they’re happy with the project, the way it turned out, the new safety features, the project as a whole, but also what can we do better as a city to improve,” Dillon explained. “Obviously, we want to keep on doing these same type of projects out in other areas of the city, so (we’re) just meeting with the residents ... and going from there to improve and make everything better.”

    The three phases of the Hodges Addition infrastructure improvement project included sidewalks, drives, drainage and roadways. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

The letter states the vision for a full revitalization of Hodges Addition started in 2019 with a growing concern about the rapidly deteriorating conditions of the infrastructure. An engineering firm started a redesign of the neighborhood, with the important factors being to increase sidewalk safety, improve drainage and rebuild the roadway to last another 20-plus years.
In 2020, the city had a new design for Lincoln Drive and Johnson Street, with construction finishing in the late fall. That first phase was about $800,000. The second phase included Lindberg Drive, was started in 2022 and finished in spring 2023 for a price tag of about $1 million. The third and final phase began in 2024 with Lincoln Street, with the surface asphalt paved this spring. Phase three’s cost is approximately $1.2 million.
In total, according to the letter, all three phases cost just over $3 million, with $1.4 million of that coming from an Indiana Department of Transportation Community Crossings Matching Grant.
An end of the Beyer Farm Trail is in Hodges Addition near the intersection of Lincoln and Lindberg Drive. Dillon said that was one of the considerations for the project.
“The city’s motto is live, work and play, so having that right there next to the trail, and a connection with the trail and back through the rest of the community was definitely a leading factor to it,” Dillon said.
His predecessor, Jeff Beehler, got the ball rolling on the project before Covid, supply issues and inflation over the last few years.
“He had applied for the grant back in 2020 in January and found out we got it in April. He ultimately went a different way there in May, and I took over in June, about the time that we were getting ready to kick off the construction of it. I was able to oversee the entire project, which was a lot of fun just to see it all come together,” Dillon recalled.
Two different contractors were used in the three phases. Phend & Brown Inc. did the first two, while Niblock Excavating completed the final one.
“Both of them have done work with the city many times over, so it was great to have them both in there,” Dillon stated.
Grose gave a lot of credit for the project to Dillon and to the neighborhood for putting up with the different phases.
“We just want to say thanks to the neighbors. Multi-millions of dollars invested in an older neighborhood. I used to live here, 25 years ago, and Hodges Addition was named after Mayor Mike Hodges, his addition. It’s just neat to see this reinvestment, and it started with (former mayor) Joe Thallemer, and really Dustin just took the lead with it and said, ‘We’re just going to keep working through it.’ And that’s what led to the different phases,” Grose said.
Dillon said when they started out, they quickly figured out that with the amount of investment into the project, it would have to be done in phases.
“It’s just really nice, and, again, it’s connected to the trail. And you can get to Lincoln and the sidewalks that were done with the federal dollars. It’s just, I think, a really good thing for this entire area in the city,” Grose said. “But a lot of credit it him, the contractors on it and I would like to thank the residents.”
He said it was Dillon’s idea to share the letter and ask for feedback.
Grose, who served on the city council for two dozen years and is in his second year as mayor, could not think of any other multi-phase reconstruction project that specifically targeted a neighborhood as big as the one in Hodges Addition.
“What a perfect time to do it, and then to top it off, let’s make sure the drives, the sidewalks - you just look through and it’s totally different. I wish I could take a picture of what it used to look like because we just forget. It was OK, it was good, but it was nothing like this, and it’s the entire neighborhood. An older neighborhood. I was riding my bike through this neighborhood in the ’70s with my buddies. So it’s just a good feeling there,” Grose said.
He’d like to get back to living in the neighborhood some day.
“I love the neighborhood. It’s just a great neighborhood. You’re close to everything. It’s just a nice place to live,” Grose said.
As for what projects are next, Dillon said, “We have, basically, a five-year plan of what projects are, and what areas of the city are in need. This was a residential neighborhood that was close to a school that hadn’t been touched in many years. It had some drainage issues, a lot of sidewalk and safety issues with them being right up against the curb. ADA ramps were all out of compliance. So, there was a drastic need out here, so it was one to beautify and it turned out beautiful. It looks really nice.”
The next neighborhood he’s looking at is a couple blocks section over on East Clark Street, between Cook and Maple, “which would be a direct extension right off of the westerly boundary of the Lincoln Street sidewalk project. We’re looking at having that designed right now.” It’ll be a single-phase project involving curb and gutter, sidewalks and the reconstruction of the road through there.
Whether Community Crossings grant dollars are available for future projects is still up in the air.
Dillon said the Hodges Addition project is a great example of what the Community Crossings program was all about.
“That’s changed a little. We don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like with House Bill 1461 going through. That’s going to be an impact, and one of the targets is Community Crossings for some different things. We’re not exactly sure how that’s going to impact, it may stay neutral, but there are going to be some changes to the program, but our major focus with the city of Warsaw is just making sure we’re prepared anyway possible to capitalize on it like we did here,” he said.
Without Community Crossings, Grose said the Hodges Addition project would have taken more phases.
Dillon said, “Just with talking budget numbers and getting in that a little bit, the money that we received from the state through MVH and Wheel Tax and state-funded budgets coming in is a little over $1.1 million. We received over $1.4 million in just budget funding for these three phases. And that’s to take care of 240 lane miles of road, not just one housing addition. So, in order to do this type of project, with the amount of funding we have available, is a huge asset. Absolutely huge.”
Community Crossings started in 2016. From 2016 until 2025, Dillon said the city brought in just a tick over $4 million as grant funding. Of that $4 million, $2.3 million was from 2022-25.
“People have lived in this neighborhood for two, three, four decades. My dad is one of them. Bought my house and lives down the street from you. So it’s nice to see taxpayers here, close to town, close to school, getting a lot of infrastructure put into their neighborhood,” Grose said.