Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Town Council approved Tuesday to purchase a rebuild kit for a lift station after it started having issues.
Town Manager Adam Lohn said the lift station off Wooster Road by the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center has started having a knocking sound. The last time it happened, a pillar was out.
Lohn said the pumps at the MOCC lift station are different than any the town has in supply, so they do not have a spare one.
“We can only get the rebuild kit directly through the manufacturer and it has to be through a certified individual to rebuild them,” Lohn said. The person the town works with at Custom Electric is certified on the pumps.
The total rebuild kit with labor will be $10,000. Lohn said the time frame for the rebuild kit is one to six weeks.
The lift station has two pumps and he said it can temporarily be run on one pump. However, with Grace College students coming back to school, that lift station is going to see a lot more demand “and so, we want to get this resolved as fast as possible,” he said.
Street Superintendent Shane Parrett said both pumps were installed in 2012.
Councilman Barry Andrew asked if it would be wise to have another kit on hand if both pumps are the same age. Parrett said he’s been asking for a couple years that the town have another kit or another pump because the pumps are also grinders and they’re not submersible. Smith & Loveless Inc. are the manufacturers of the pumps and they’re pretty specific and the town can’t go to an outside supplier to get parts.
Andrew asked Lohn if the town had money to get another rebuild kit or if they would have that discussion at another time. Lohn said they’ll have to discuss it at another time. Council President Ashley McGinnis said they could look into it.
Resident Jim LeMasters suggested standardizing the lift stations. Lohn said standardization is part of what the town is doing and the goal is to standardize as much as they can. As they update the lift stations, they are standardizing them.
Earlier in the meeting, the council approved an e-bike ordinance on second reading. The council had its first reading of the ordinance in July.
The ordinance includes the maximum speed for micromobility devices shall be the posted speed limit, but not greater than 35 miles per hour, unless otherwise authorized by state law on streets.
A bicycle, micromobility device or e-bike operated on a roadway from one-half hour before sunset until one-half hour after sunrise must be equipped with a lamp on the front exhibiting a white light visible from a distance from at least 500 feet to the front and a lamp on the rear exhibiting a read light visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear or a red reflector visible from a distance of 500 feet.
The ordinance says no e-moto device can be on any greenway or sidewalks.
McGinnis said since the first reading last month, some wording has been cleaned up to make the ordinance more clear on expectations.
Town attorney Adam Turner said the one tweak he made, because it wasn’t clear, was when a person has a mobility aid device or a conventional bicycle, using sidewalks is OK. However, when people use e-bikes or anything like that, they can’t use sidewalks.
McGinnis said the difference between Warsaw’s e-bike ordinance and Winona Lake’s, Winona Lake didn’t differentiate an area of sidewalk e-bikes could be used on; instead, the town ruled out using e-bikes and similar devices on sidewalks anywhere in the entire town.
McGinnis said Nick Hauck, managing director at The Village at Winona, pointed out last month there is a state statute saying the speed limit on the greenway is 15 miles per hour, even if someone is on an e-bike.
In other business, the council:
• Approved disposing of a two-post lift installed at the street barn. Lohn said the lift is getting older and it’s nearing the end of its service life and the street department isn’t using it as much as the police squad cars are being serviced at R&G Auto & Truck Repair Inc.
The estimated value of the lift is $1,000. Parrett said the thought was to put the lift up for auction.
• Approved pricing changes for the ice rink at the Miller Sunset Pavilion for the 2026-27 year. Children 3 and under are free and anyone 4 and under is $6.
Locker rentals were also lowered to $1.
• Approved for Park Director Holly Hummitch to request funding from other townships.
