Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
In between approving two payments for the HVAC work at City Hall, the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety heard Friday how much longer the project would be continuing.
Public Works Director Dustin Dillon submitted payment application No. 5 from Core Mechanical Services for $240,574.66 for the HVAC improvements at City Hall. It was for work completed in phase I of the project.
After the board approved that payment, Councilwoman Diane Quance told Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose it might be a good time to give an update on the project. The work has caused offices to be shuffled down to the Council Chambers and city public meetings to take place at the Warsaw Police Department Training Center since it began in late January. Grose said they had a meeting on the work last week.
Dillon said Core Mechanical is finishing up phase II, and then Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen’s office will transition back to the office’s original location in the first of June.
“Core came up with an opportunity to move a little faster, maybe a little more efficiently, working phase III and IV together, simultaneously, which means the entire second floor will be relocated. In doing that, it’s going to gain about a month’s worth of time, so we could finish up in August versus being strung out until probably October,” Dillon said.
In doing so, the mayor’s office worked with different departments to come up with different arrangements to make it happen. Dillon said about June 15, the Building and Planning Department will move down to the Council Chambers. The mayor’s office and human resources will relocate to the second floor of the Parks Department building. Dillon said all the city meetings will continue to meet at the WPD Training Center.
“But we’ll gain us about a month’s, six weeks’ worth of time for them to be able to finish,” he stated.
Following that update, Dillon then presented payment application No. 6 from Core Mechanical Services for $146,416.58. It’s for phase II work. The pay request was approved.
Later in the meeting, Christiansen stated, “With the pay applications before, and with approval of the (claims) docket, we will have extinguished all of our ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money.”
She said she was glad they were able to get it all spent before the end of the year. The ARPA funds are required to be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
“We did a lot of good things with it. A lot of good things. It came in handy,” she said.
Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner presented a $10,000 pay request to the Board of Works from OrthoWorx to participate in ALL IN Kosciusko marketing efforts “that we have done in conjunction with (Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative), the Catalyst Corridor and just the city of Warsaw” projects.
He said it was a partnership between the city, Grace College, OrthoWorx, Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation and the county to help fund some marketing of all the things that they have going on.
Skinner said if no one has been to the ALL IN Kosciusko website (https://allinkosciusko.com/), there’s a lot of podcasts that are being produced.
“It keeps you up to date on a lot of things that are occurring in Kosciusko County,” he said.
Quance said the $10,000 request is funded by the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT), not property taxes.
The payment was approved by the Board of Works 3-0.
Human Resource Director Denny Harlan recognized three city employees for their milestone service anniversaries.
Whitney Shilling was recognized for her five years with the Community and Economic Development Department; Brandon Cordell, stormwater coordinator, 10 years; and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Fire Marshal Jeremy Williams for his 20 years of service.
In other business, the Board of Works approved:
• A fiscal sustainability plan from Baker Tilly, not to exceed $35,000, as presented by Grose. He said it will help the city with “financial planning - short and long term, managing financial resources, debt management, capital improvement planning. The list will include general debt service, special revenue and capital projects funds.”
He said the information is not only helpful for his office and department heads, but also the clerk-treasurer’s office.
• A memorandum of understanding between the city of Warsaw Stormwater Utility and Kosciusko Water and Woodland Invasive Partnership, a nonprofit organization, as requested by Utility Manager Brian Davison. He said they’ve had the partnership for a while, but they’re just now formalizing it for compliance reasons. There is no funds involved at this point.
• A contract with Anderson Property Management Solutions for $3,071 for the 2026 maintenance of the city’s three rain gardens around the city, as requested by Davison.
• A $13,724 payment application from Lynn Douglas Inc. for the ongoing Warsaw Chemical groundwater cleanup, as requested by Skinner.
Quance asked if there was an anticipated completion date, but Skinner said there was not one from the state yet.
• A five-year lease agreement with Instru-Med for 37 spots of the parking lot north of the Center Lake boat ramp off Ind. 15, as requested by Skinner. The lease agreement runs from June 1, 2026, to June 1, 2031, for a one-time lease payment of $6,500. The city has had a long-standing lease agreement with Instru-Med for a portion of the parking lot.
• Event cancellation insurance from Showstoppers Insurance for the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department’s rock and country concerts for a one-time premium of $1,719.08, as requested by Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer. He said the premium is $91.92 less than last year but they are getting $4,000 less in coverage. The policy offers $35,500 in coverage for the rock concert, which will be June 19, and $37,500 in coverage for the country concert, set for July 17.
• Two requests from the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory to apply for grants, which both were approved by the WWFT Board at their meeting May 5.
The first one was for Lt. Tyler Colt to apply for $43,664.20 from the K21 Health Foundation for strength and fitness equipment for all three fire stations.
The second was for the WWFT to apply for the Warsaw Work and Learn Grant. The grant will help with the cost of the fire department’s interns from the Warsaw Area Career Center, according to Assistant Chief Will Kornrumph. The state will basically pay half of the interns’ wages.
• The new hire and change in payroll report presented by Harlan.
Among the items in the report are the new hires of five part-time firefighters - Michael Hicks, Tristian Mauk, Aaron Gearhart, Noah Howdeshell and Bryan Thompson. Hicks is also a part-time advanced EMT and Mauk is also an EMT-B. Two promotions in the fire territory are Lucas Ellsworth to lieutenant and Max Kinsey to division chief of training.
