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Up to 50 city of Warsaw employees will receive customer service training.
Warsaw Human Resource Director Denny Harlan presented the Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday with a contract for $20,300 with Municipal Solutions LLC for employee customer service training.
“When the mayor came on board, he put out a list of his priorities for the city of Warsaw. Three of those kind of lead into what we’re asking on this training for: earning citizens’ trust and encouraging civic engagement, strengthening our inter-governmental relationships and then committed to limited government while also promoting good government,” Harlan explained.
He said a lot of the city’s employees deal with not only other employees and political factions, but also the citizens. “And we haven’t done a great job of making sure that they have the skills and the tools that they need to have those encounters and conversations,” Harlan stated.
The contract allows for a trainer to come in and do customer service training for 50 city employees who deal mostly with the public and other entities of that nature, he said. “We’re going to give them the tools and skills to have conversations. De-escalation training. A lot of different skills to be able to communicate effectively, and also make sure that our citizens understand that they are the most important people to us,” Harlan told the Board of Works.
Mayor Jeff Grose told Harlan he appreciated his efforts in the matter and there’s been a lot of discussion on it and Warsaw Common Council members have been made aware of it.
“These are frontline workers,” Grose said, who will be provided with tools and resources to deal with interactions with the public, as well as internally with other city employees. He said he believes it will be a positive thing for the employees.
Harlan said they have enough spots for 50 people and he will make sure that every spot is filled. Information provided stated that the participating departments will include aviation, building and planning, cemetery, clerk, fire, human resources, mayor, parks, police, streets and wastewater.
“When our team members are speaking, are serving or working with the public or internal, they’re speaking for us, and as we try to represent the best we can of the people in this city,” Grose said.
Asked by Councilwoman Diane Quance how many sessions there will be, Harlan said there will be two different sessions and each session is two days. Twenty-five employees will be Monday, Tuesday, with the other 25 being Wednesday and Thursday.
The man doing the training is flying in from Arizona and it’s something he does all across the country, Harlan said. “He’s got an amazing resume and some good feedback.”
As soon as the agreement is signed, Harlan said they’ll start on the pre-training items, like surveys, so the man can understand where the city is at. He’ll then build that training, come in and do the training, and then after the training there will be some follow-up.
“We’re going to end up having an actual policy for the city on how our employees handle themselves when they’re dealing with other people,” Harlan said.
The contract was approved 3-0.
In other business, the Board of Works approved:
• Pay application #16 for $902,768.20 from Robinson Construction for the Warsaw Street Department facility, as presented by Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner, on behalf of the Redevelopment Authority.
He said the bulk of the payment was for HVAC and electrical work.
“If you haven’t been out there, the interior of the garage portion is mostly complete. A lot of the office work is under construction now, so they’re doing a lot of that work now, but the project is coming along and, hopefully, the Street Department can move into a portion of it later this year,” Skinner reported.
Street Department Superintendent Joe Vetor said he was “very much” excited. He said they’re shooting for sometime toward the end of November to have the shop area completed for them to move into. “We’re hoping that, for winter maintenance purposes, to move into the new shop.”
• A change order to the contract between the Public Works Department and CyberTech Systems & Software Inc. for upgrade their SQL server license. The addition for the one-year contract is $3,600, increasing the contract total to $114,165.
• An interlocal agreement between Kosciusko County and the city of Warsaw for $38,201.75 for maintenance fees and access to records management server, as presented by Warsaw Police Department Chief Scott Whitaker.
• A three-year agreement between Public Works and Vialytics Americas Inc. for $16,900 per year, as presented by Public Works Director Dustin Dillon. It’s an A.I.-based technology that collects data on Warsaw roadways, updating the city’s PASER ratings, for as many times as the city wants, Dillon explained. Currently, there city is using a manual system for the 240-plus miles of road.
• The purchase of a Stepp Manufacturing 4-ton capacity asphalt dump trailer, or hot box, for $71,309.44, as requested by Street Superintendent Joe Vetor.
• A three-year contract with Xylem Water Solution for $25,138 for the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCDA) for the wastewater collection system, as requested by Utility Manager Brian Davison.
• A contract for $14,920 with Wastewater Solutions Inc. for 2026 annual wastewater training, as requested by Davison.
• The 2027 agreement between the WPD and ordained minister Layne Sumner for $12,000 to serve as the department’s chaplain, as presented by Whitaker.
• The WPD’s and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory’s annual contracts with Pro Air Midwest LLC for $1,565 and $3,290, respectively, as presented by Whitaker. Pro Air provides maintenance on the air tanks for the Dive Team.
• Three travel requests, as presented by Harlan.
• The new hire and change in payroll report, as presented by Harlan.
It includes a merit increase for Austin Pequignot, sanitation driver at the Street Department, making his pay $24.77 per hour; and Harlan’s assistant, Montana Gardner, moving over to the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory to become the chief’s assistant, starting Monday. With the position transfer, she will earn $29.79 per hour. Gardner replaces Heather Vogt, whose last day was at the end of October.
