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Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner presented four petitions for voluntary annexation to the Warsaw Common Council on Monday, with all four properties currently located in Plain Township.
The first step for the annexation is for the property owners to petition to be annexed into the city. The city has a certain amount of days to execute the petitions, and failure to do so would allow the petitioners to then go to the courts to be asked to be put into the city.
“So over the next 45 days, I’ll have a variety of different ordinances that will be brought to you, and resolutions, as we go through that annexation process,” Skinner said.
For the requests he brought before the council Monday, the council just had to acknowledge that they received the petitions and that starts the clock for Skinner to complete his work to later present to the council to either approve or deny annexation.
One annexation petition was for 20 acres out by the airport, east of CR 100E, owned by Chandler and Erin Williams.
The second petition was for about 80 acres out by Silveus Crossing (CR 150) and CR 300N, on the west side of Madison Elementary School, owned by Westhill Development LLC and Groninger Group LLC.
The third petition is for over 30 acres off CR 250N, south of the airport, owned by Robinson Construction.
The fourth request for voluntary annexation was from the Board of Aviation Commissioners for a couple of properties, owned by the Warsaw Municipal Airport, that have been purchased over the years.
With the council’s unanimous consent on all four, Skinner said within the next 45 days an advertised public hearing will be scheduled.
“You’ll have a fiscal plan resolution attached to a fiscal plan, and then you’ll have an annexation ordinance. Assuming that all of those get approved, the ordinance gets recorded and then it takes effect 30 days after it gets recorded,” Skinner explained.
The council also approved:
• On second reading, an ordinance approving an additional appropriation for $580,700 out of the airport’s depreciation fund, as requested by Airport Manager Nick King.
“As I talked at the last meeting, this is just the additional appropriation to put the money that the county has partnered with the airport on into the budget so we can spend it,” he explained.
• On second reading, an ordinance establishing a 25 mph speed limit within Shadow Lakes subdivision.
Council President Jack Wilhite explained Shadow Lakes was annexed into the city several years ago. Prior to the annexation, it was located within an unincorporated county jurisdiction, and the county had established a 25 mph speed limit. County installed speed limit signs and those are still in place today, but the speed limit can’t be enforced by the city without the ordinance approved by the city council.
The ordinance was fully recommended by the Warsaw Traffic Commission.
• A conflict of interest statement for Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department laborer Dustin Wiggs, who will present a carving demonstration at the department’s fall festival.
