Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Main Street Warsaw Events Coordinator Nora Christiansen presented two sets of road closure requests for Third Fridays to the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday.
The first set was for the closure of Center Street, between Lake and Buffalo streets, and Buffalo Street, between Main and Center streets, from 3:30 to 9 p.m., with Third Friday happening from 5 to 7 p.m. June 19, July 10 and Sept. 18.
“So we pared down those three to be a little bit smaller, so we’re only going to be closing the space right around the courthouse,” Christiansen said, with the intersections left open.
While those three Third Fridays won’t need to take up as much of a footprint, the Aug. 20 Third Friday will include a car show so the space needed will be a bit bigger. The road closures for August’s Third Friday will be Center Street between Lake and Indiana streets and Buffalo Street between Main and Market streets, from 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the event happening from 5 to 8 p.m.
The Oct. 30 event will be the Downtown Spooktacular from 5 to 8 p.m., with the road closure being from 3:30 to 9 p.m. The road closures will include Center Street between Lake and Indiana streets, and Buffalo Street between Main and Market streets.
The last Third Friday of 2026 will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 4 for the Twinkle Light Parade, with the road closures set for 3:30 to 9 pm. The road closures will be the same as August’s and October’s.
“We have a lot of participants in that parade and we need the space,” Christiansen stated.
The Board of Works approved the road closures by a vote of 2-0, with member Councilwoman Diane Quance absent.
City Planner Justin Taylor, on behalf of the Warsaw Public Arts Commission, requested permission from the Board of Works to enter into an artist agreement contract with Grant Beachy for the American Crossroads project.
“The Arts Commission, I’ve been working with them on some ideas for their grant, so they wanted to participate in the America 250 Freedom Fest, so they commissioned a photographer to document the events of this weekend and coming July 4, as well, so they put together an artist agreement,” he explained.
The $3,835 contract will come from a $4,500 grant awarded to the Arts Commission from the Kosciusko County Convention and Recreation and Visitors Commission in late 2025 for the America 250 celebration.
“These images will be used for promotion purposes, different displays around the community, so we might have a display in City Hall, based on the artistic photos the photographer takes this weekend and the additional events this year to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary,” Taylor explained.
The board approved the contract.
In other business, the board approved:
• Payment application #2 for $61,579.13 from G & G Hauling & Excavating Inc. for the Jomac demolition project, as requested by Taylor.
“The project’s pretty much completed at this point, so if you’ve driven past there you know that project’s completed. That involved the demolition of a blighted building and the removal of underground storage fuel tanks,” Taylor said.
He said they got a total of $750,000 in grants for the project, with the final project cost coming in less than that at around $500,000.
“So really excited about that,” Taylor said. “As a reminder, these are all grants, so the city was able to partner with Fellowship Missions to get this project taken care of, and just a reminder of how beneficial removing these brownfields, these blighted buildings, can be to the city.”
• A take-home vehicle request for Jeremey Hackworth, street department, as presented by city of Warsaw Human Resource Director Denny Harlan. Harlan said Hackworth was promoted to a supervisor position and the take-home vehicle will allow him to respond to emergency calls without having to go back to the shop to get the vehicle, similar to what other supervisors do.
• Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling’s request, on behalf of the Warsaw Dive Team, to host Dive Rescue International training courses in Warsaw, Aug. 24-30. The classes will be Med Dive, Humminbird Sonar Technician and Boat Based Operations. The WWFT Board approved the courses at their meeting Tuesday.
• A three-year contract with Brycer Advisory Group LP, also known as The Compliance Engine, as requested by Shilling.
“So what this is, this is a tool for our fire marshall to utilize as he goes out and does his inspections,” Shilling said. “Basically, what happens is, businesses are required to have their sprinkler systems and some of their fire protection systems inspected annually. This is just a tool that when they have that done, that report is uploaded into the Compliance Engine, then the fire marshall has access to that ahead of time to help make him more efficient so that he’s not sitting at their place of business, taking up the owner’s time trying to review all their paperwork because he has to review the last three years of that inspection paperwork. He can do that ahead of time.”
Shilling said it’s a current industry standard and just leverages technology to help the fire marshall be more efficient. “We’re one of the few in all of northern Indiana that does not utilize a service like this,” he said.
The WWFT Board approved the contract at their meeting Tuesday.
• The Warsaw Police Department’s request to apply for a grant through Health First Kosciusko to implement CARE Kits in the CARES vehicles, as requested by CARES Coordinator Mikaela Bixler. The grant request will be for about $2,000. She said the kits will include some hygiene products and some basic food and water that they need out on calls during crisis situations.
• The new hire and change in payroll report, as presented by Harlan, including two promotions. Besides Hackworth’s, the other promotion was for Chris Holsclaw to supervisor in the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department. Holsclaw will receive $28.68 per hour, while Hackworth will be paid $29.36 per hour.
On Holsclaw’s promotion, Harlan said Holsclaw will be helping Supervisor Adam Howard and Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner in the maintenence department.
The other items in the report were seasonal new hires, merit increases and drone operator stipends for Warsaw Police Department officers Andrew Owens and Cory Black. The stipends are $500 per year.
