A potential road “catastrophe” was averted earlier this week and repaired, city engineer James Emans told the Board of Works and Public Safety Friday morning. “Wednesday afternoon, the Wastewater Utility was investigating a sewer blockage along Market Street in the Wood intersection area,” Emans said. Using video equipment, Emans said, it was determined there was material in the pipe, indicating a breach just east of that intersection. Emans was on-site late that day because he had concerns about conditions he was seeing at roadway level. “The road was moving,” he said. At his direction, the roadway was closed as he was concerned about the infrastructure and public safety. The department entered into a verbal agreement for time and material with Niblock, who was in the general area and had the equipment and materials needed to investigate the roadway further. “I needed to see what was below,” Emans said. “What we found (Thursday) morning was a cavity under that roadway. It was about 8 feet deep and 10 by 10. The road was only being held up by the concrete paving of that road.” Emans determined that repairs to the roadway was an emergency and the work to fix it should be done right away. “I didn’t feel we had time to solicit the two quotes that statue said we should do. I’m asking the board to accept that as emergency repair for your minutes. It’s been repaired. We had a major problem and ... I think we averted a major catastrophe,” he said, noting the hole was big enough to fit a car in. Board members Mayor Joe Thallemer and Councilman Jeff Grose approved the emergency repair. Earlier in the meeting, the board approved an agreement with Umbaugh Cash Advisory Services LLC. Umbaugh will receive an annual fee of 0.1 percent on all investments held in custodial account, paid quarterly. The board discussed the agreement at its previous meeting. “I still feel very confident with what we’re doing and the terms in the arrangement. Umbaugh has worked with municipalities all over Indiana to provide these services and have provided better returns. I feel very comfortable and confident that this will be a good thing for the city and we will be able to maximize our yields, and that’s what it’s all about,” Thallemer said. Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen added, “We will be in constant contact with them.” In other business, the board: • Approved a standard sub-recipient agreement for Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ Community Development Block Grant between the city and Kosciusko Development Inc. The grant is for $195,000. According to the agreement, the City of Warsaw Workforce Development program will focus on long-term economic development needs of its orthopedic industry by recruiting applicants for training and certification in specific manufacturing capacities. • Approved an agreement for November through October 2016 with North Central Co-op for fixed fuel pricing as requested by Street Superintendent Jeff Beeler. For up to 25,000 gallons of on-road diesel at the Co-op, the city will pay $2.302 per gallon; up to 7,500 gallons of off-road diesel at the Co-op, $2.145 per gallon; up to 1,000 gallons of off-road diesel at the city’s tank, $2.345 per gallon; and up to 1,000 gallons of ethanol free at the city’s tank, $2.539 per gallon. If the city exceeds those amounts of gasoline before October 2016, another agreement will need to be approved. • Opened bids for a new pickup truck for the Parks & Recreation Dept. Bids included a trade-in of the department’s 2001 GMC half-ton truck. On May 1, the board approved the Parks Dept. to solicit bids for purchase of a truck. Bids were sent out to and were received from Lakeside Chevrolet, Warsaw, $21,554.51; Shepherds Chevrolet, North Manchester, $20,752.26; and City Chevrolet, Columbia City, $20,057.25. Larry Plummer, superintendent, Parks & Recreation, recommended the bid from Lakeside Chevrolet be accepted and the board approved. Plummer told the board he preferred Lakeside because the difference was only about $1,500 and it would be easier to communicate about the truck and there would be less travel time. “I still think it’s important that we try and look local when we can, but certainly we don’t want to discourage other bidding and then end up without any other bids and then our bidding process becomes ineffective. So I still think we need to look at trying to get these other bids and look at these differences. And trying to set a threshold that there’s certain amounts we feel we can’t go over to stay local. In this case, I think it’s on the edge and I feel comfortable with that,” Thallemer said before voting for the Lakeside quote. • Approved quotes from Pete Gawthrop for the demolition of three residential structures as requested by the Building and Planning Dept. The properties are at 108 N. Park Ave., 124 S. Sherman St. and 324 N. West St. Gawthrop’s quotes were the lowest at $8,000 for the Park Avenue residence and $4,500 each for the other two homes. • Approved the city employee Christmas gathering for an estimated cost of $4,180.65. The event will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 15. • Thallemer swore in Warsaw Police Dept. first-class patrolman Rogelio A. Navarro. He will earn a full-time salary of $1,809.60 biweekly, effective Oct. 11. Navarro previously served with the Nappanee Police Dept. for a year and just finished his probationary period with the WPD. Other new hires/changes in payroll approved by the board included WPD patrol officer Samuel Weaver earning $1,774.80 biweekly because of a shift change differential, effective Oct. 11; and Paul Gabbard, Wastewater Treatment Utility maintenance technician, $16.64 hourly, as he earned his CDL license, effective Oct. 11.
