Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
It’s not uncommon for the city of Warsaw to provide property owners with an adjustment to their wastewater bills due to leaks, running toilets, billing issues, etc.
Friday, the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety approved an adjustment of $2,932.94 for Cross PVD’s August 2025 wastewater bill due to a problem with their Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) System.
R.O. systems use pressure to force water through a semi-permeable membrane, removing up to 99% of contaminants like lead, arsenic, chlorine and PFAS, according to a Google search. These systems typically include pre-filtration to protect the membrane and a storage tank for treated water.
In introducing Cross PVD’s adjustment request, Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose pointed out a memo from Wastewater Payment Office Supervisor Rebecca Jenkins, as well as an email from Cross PVD and UV Finishing Corp. President Michael Maki. Cross PVD is at 1180 Polk Drive Warsaw.
Warsaw Utility Manager Brian Davison told the board, “If you saw (Maki’s) email, they have a Reverse Osmosis system that ... failed. They caught it pretty quick, but it ran considerable amounts of water that normally would not be used.”
He showed the board a graph that showed Cross PVD’s average water usage and there was a big spike in August. Grose said 450,000 gallons.
Jenkins’ memo indicates the average monthly usage for Cross PVD is 95,000 gallons, which is $963.85, and the August bill was for 544,000 gallons, which was for $3,896.79. She asked the board to consider allowing an adjustment of $2,932.94 to be made for the large wastewater bill from August.
“So (Maki) is seeking credit for that amount. Typically, on these credits, we give credit if the water company gives credit, but this water was actually water he used through the water company that did go down to the drain to us, but it was a malfunction of his equipment. He caught it, fixed it and you can tell by the spike it went right back to normal the next month,” Davison said. “So this is just outside of our ability, Rebecca’s and mine, to give that credit, so this is why it’s before the board.”
Maki explained, “So, what we found is that is the R.O. system is actually - there’s a solenoid that runs into the wash run. It goes into a final rinse for our product before it goes into the paint line. And the solenoid that was getting stuck open ... and that month it was just wide open. Basically, our R.O. system is above it, so gravity just feeds it down into the line and we’re losing all of that R.O.”
That R.O. just dumped the water to the city.
“Once I got a handle of what was going on - the gentleman that was in charge of this said it was taken care of - he was misunderstanding that we’re still using too much water and even this week,” Maki said. “So what I had him start doing is actually shutting off the supply to the softeners, and we came in just this week and the whole R.O. system was empty. The whole tank was just drained. So this has been a reoccurring problem for us on usage.”
Before this, Maki said he didn’t handle any of the billing. He had two partners, who recently got out of the company, and he got his head “wrapped around the financials.”
“We’ve been paying this bill over and over and over again and using all of this water, and really it’s just clean water that we’re dumping back into the drain again,” he said.
Maki stated August was a significant spike with the mechanical failure happening.
“If you guys can help us out on that, we’d appreciate it,” he stated. “But, just so you understand, it’s not like true process water. There’s no contaminants in that water, it’s just clean water dumping into the drain. So, unfortunately, we’re paying for it to come in and we’re paying for it to go out. So, it’s been a big deal for us, but we’ve finally got control of the thing.”
Grose said with the unique situation and the amount of the adjustment request, he determined it needed to go before the Board of Works to be considered publicly.
“The specific request is for relief for that specific month. That’s it,” Grose said.
Maki agreed, saying they got it under wraps finally.
Councilwoman Diane Quance asked Maki if he anticipated the request was a one-time thing. Maki said yes, and the spike in August was what made them aware that they were having an issue. Board member George Clemens said he was “sympathetic” to the request.
Quance made a motion to approve “the request to alleviate their August bill because of the spike that was not known to them at the time.” Clemens seconded the motion, which passed 3-0.
Before approving Cross PVD’s billing adjustment request, the Board of Works also reviewed six other adjustments that were made and didn’t require action from the board, ranging from $4.92 to $50.
In other business, the board approved:
• A service agreement with Wildman for uniforms and rugs for the city, as presented by Human Resource Director Denny Harlan.
Harland said the prior contract expires in March and the one presented Friday was a renewal.
Dan Fields, the service representative for Wildman, said the new agreement was similar to the last one “where we’re going to come in, we’re going to mark a 12-month prize freeze again. As a company, we’re scheduled for a price increase in April. What we’ve done for you guys is we’ve done an initial 12-month freeze on a 36-month term, and then we cap it at a 3% max increase in year two and three.”
Quance asked if it was 3% for each year or 3% over the two years. Fields said it was 3% each year.
• Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner’s request to purchase a 570N EP 4WD Tractor Loader for $99,849.92 through RPM Machinery. The tractor will replace a 2009 tractor loader with box end, which is being traded in.
“If you order it soon, they’ll have it ready this fall. They’re thinking September,” Gardner said. “They have to build it, so they build by order.”
• The travel requests, as presented by Harlan. They included five school resource officers traveling to Michigan City June 17-19 for the 2026 IN School Safety Conference at $802.86 per officer; an officer going to the New ATF Task Force Officer Training in Chicago May 4-8 at no cost; and Grose going to the Purdue Road School March 16-17 in West Lafayette to be a panelist.
• Street Superintendent Joe Vetor’s request for permission to proceed with obtaining sealed quotes for the 2026 construction season. The quotes will be for asphalt materials, concrete materials and pavement markings, which will be both latex and thermoplastic.
• Switching out a used take-home vehicle for a new vehicle for Justin Ousley, supervisor at the street department, as requested by Harlan. Ousley had previous permission for a take-home vehicle, so this request was to switch out which vehicle he would use.
• The new hire/change in payroll report presented by Harlan. It includes former Mayor Ernie Wiggins serving on the Aviation Board; two police officers who have finished their probationary one-year period and will be patrol officers; and removing Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling from serving as the pension secretary and adding firefighter Tyler Colt to that position.
