WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Town Council heard Tuesday that town residents are not allowed to set off fireworks until the burn ban is lifted.
Paul Schmitt, Winona Lake town marshal, said the town is on top of the burn ban issue.
“We are not allowing residents to set off fireworks until the burn ban is lifted, and if we get complaints we are shutting the fireworks down,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt said if the fireworks are set off in a person’s yard it can spread to the next yard.
Schmitt said open burning in the town is prohibited until the ban is lifted.
A burn ban is currently in effect, and if the hot and dry forecast persists Kosciusko County commissioners will extend the ban through at least July 6.
That means the use of personal fireworks will remain off limits through the holiday weekend and week.
The Warsaw-Winona Lake fireworks are still scheduled for dusk Saturday over Winona Lake.
Also during the meeting, Pete O’Connell, street superintendent, said the sanitary sewer lines are being worked on in Stonehenge Addition.
“Work on the sewer lines is expected to be completed by the end of this week,” O’Connell said.
O’Connell will present information on roads that need to be resurfaced in the town at the council’s July meeting.
Gregg Winn, councilman, provided an update on the universally accessible Limitless Park that has been proposed in Winona Lake along with a splash pad.
Winn and councilman John Boal are serving as council liaisons on the Limitless Park and splash pad committees.
The council previously heard a presentation at its June 12 meeting from Erin Porter, who came up with the idea of a universally accessible Limitless Park in Winona Lake.
The park would be handicapped accessible and go beyond American Disability Act guidelines.
Porter, during the June 12 meeting, also discussed a splash pad that has been approved by the Winona Lake Park Board.
There would be accessible water play, sand play areas, age-appropriate areas and universally accessible restrooms.
Six committee members have been meeting since August to discuss the project.
Winn said he attended a Limitless Park planning meeting a week ago, and he said he was impressed the committee has gotten a lot of quotes for equipment for the Limitless Park.
Winn said the splash pad appears to be the most complicated and expensive, and the committee has selected Limitless Park equipment and gotten quotes.
Philip Hood, councilman, asked for an update on what the town is doing to determine what needs to be done with the town’s lodge.
The council discussed the lodge at its June 12 meeting.
The foundation is in bad shape and the building would need to be raised.
Water damage is extensive to the floor, wall studs and the siding, and the possibility of mold is present, according to Craig Allebach, town coordinator.
O’Connell said assesments on the lodge will come in this week, and he will share the information with the council.
Upcoming events in the town Saturday include a Firecracker 5K in Winona Lake Park at 8 a.m.; Winona Lake Great Fourth of July Celebration from noon to 5 p.m.; Patriotic Pops Concert at the Hillside Ampitheater at 7:30 p.m. and fireworks over Winona Lake at dusk.
