Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Construction on Warsaw's new waste treatment plant is ahead of schedule and the concrete is being poured, the Warsaw Board of Works was told Friday morning.
Public Works Superintendent Lacy Francis gave the board a report on the status of construction.
The board also approved an invoice from Jones & Henry Engineers for $33,639 on the project. Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins said that invoice brings the total paid to Jones & Henry so far to $196,376, out of their contract for $1.1 million.
Board members also took care of some of the issues surrounding the renovation of the former Gatke property on the east side of Warsaw.
City planner Jeff Noffsinger recommended extending McKinley Street, which currently stops at the Gatke property, to Winona Avenue. He said a gravel road now connects the two through the property, and he recommended hiring Ken Herceg & Associates Inc., engineers and architects, to do the initial survey and engineering work.
Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. the Board of Works will hold a special meeting to open bids on asbestos removal from the Gatke site, Noffsinger said. He plans to be ready to award the contract at the regular Board of Works meeting Oct. 18.
Also on Tuesday, Noffsinger said, he will appear before the Kosciusko County commissioners so they can sign a resolution and an auditor's deed giving the city title to the Gatke property.
He said asbestos removal should take approximately two weeks and should be done by the end of October. Demolition of some of the buildings on the property will then begin, and Noffsinger said he hopes the project will be done by the end of the year, depending on weather.
He said he will ask the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission Monday to establish a tax increment financing district with the Gatke property and some of the surrounding properties.
The board also:
• Agreed to pay the county $8,215.79 as the city's half of the salary for the joint Geographical Imaging System coordinator for the city and the county;
• Accepted a grant of $32,703 from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for the Beaman Home;
• Agreed to close specific streets around downtown Warsaw from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25 for the annual Halloween Spooktacular. Street closings will be: Main Street from Indiana to Lake; Buffalo Street, between Market and Main streets; Center Street from Lake to Indiana; and one block of Indiana, from Market to Center. To allow patrons of Key Bank and Lake City Bank access to the drive-throughs, Center Street will be open from High to Indiana, but all westbound traffic on that block of Center Street will have to turn right (north) on Indiana Street. Lake and Market streets will remain open.
• Approved the hiring of four new street department workers and one sewage department employee.
• Approved a $5,000 seatbelt enforcement grant to the Warsaw Police Department to pay overtime for officers who worked Operation Pullover.
Members of the Warsaw Board of Works are: Mayor Ernie Wiggins, Jerry Patterson and Charlie Smith.
