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WINONA LAKE - The World Ski Tournament will be hosted by the Lake City Skiers in Kosciusko County in 2027 and the water ski team wants to use the Miller Sunset Pavilion (MSP) for the closing ceremony for the “once-in-a-lifetime” event.
To be able to have the ceremony at the MSP on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2027, the Lake City Skiers requested on Tuesday the Winona Lake Town Council approve extending the noise curfew to midnight, but the request was met with some questions and concerns.
Republican candidate for Town Council District 3 Jim LeMasters, under public comments on agenda items, said, “On the curfew, because they need a curfew, I don’t know how you decide that curfew, letting people stay later or not. I know there’s a policy. When you rent the facility, you need to be out by whatever time it is. Now you want to extend it to midnight. Personally, I don’t care, but I know the last time I was there at an event that went late, neighbors up on the hill complained.”
If the council approves a later curfew, LeMasters said they would be setting a precedent and the policy they wrote down would be worthless.
Randy Patrick, president of the Lake City Skiers, said, “The event that we’re talking about is a once-in-a-lifetime event. ... It’ll probably never come back to Warsaw, or Indiana.”
He said last year it was in Australia, in Florida the year before that and it moves around the world. The teams that have currently committed are Canada, U.S., Australia, Sweden, Belgium and Germany.
“So, we think, it would be wonderful to bring this event to Winona and spotlight Winona through the use of the pavilion. We can host it at Hidden Lake, but your venue is much nicer. It would be just a great place to have it with the lakeview and the facility,” Patrick stated. “We understand the concerns with setting a precedent with future requests, it’s a real thing. Just because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event doesn’t guarantee that’s not going to happen.”
With the timeline of performances for that Sunday, Sept. 19, 2027, Patrick said by the time the teams get done, go back to their hotel rooms - having filled the hotel rooms in Kosciusko County and beyond - get ready, get to the dinner and awards presentation and celebration by about 7:30 p.m., it’ll be after 10 p.m. by the time it’s all over. He said midnight would work well, and the ceremony won’t be a rock-n-roll concert or like the Ruoff Music Center.
Before the event, Patrick said they could experiment with the sound of the DJ so it doesn’t go toward the residences along that area.
Bri Hartman, Lake City Skiers, said of the 10 houses in the area they approached and asked about the curfew, only one was opposed to the one-time event.
Councilman Jason Zaugg said he called a couple of the residents as well just to get a feel for it. He said he still had a lot of questions in his mind, and probably in some of the residents’ minds as well. He said he’d like more information on the full scope of the event, the actual layout of how the event will be structured and the precedent that would be set. Zaugg said the council needs to do some work on their end to define an exception.
“We just want to be good stewards of obviously the town’s resource and fill that facility and try to use that as a revenue-generating facility, but we also want to be sensitive to the residents as well,” Zaugg said, noting he would be in favor of tabling the request to allow for the gathering of more information.
Zaugg said they have a little bit of leeway before they have to make a decision, though he understood the Lake City Skiers want to get ahead of it as much as possible. Patrick said the event will be happening in one year from this week, with people from around the world walking the sidewalks in Winona Lake. While a year seems like a long time, Patrick said they started planning for it a year ago and that year has flown by with so many more things to do.
“If we know we can’t get this, we have to start looking for another venue or start planning” something else, Patrick said.
Zaugg said when he mentioned tabling the matter, he was talking about three or four weeks, not months.
Councilman Barry Andrew agreed with Zaugg, saying he thought he had a little bit of a stronger opinion on the matter than Zaugg does. He seconded Zaugg’s motion to table the request to the October council meeting. Zaugg agreed to take point on the request.
Councilman Jim Lancaster said, “It needs to be quantitative in nature, whether it’s decibel or something. Otherwise, it’s just very subjective and it’s going to be very difficult to say.”
The motion to table the curfew request to the October meeting was approved.
In other business:
• The council approved the update to the rank vegetation ordinance to make the building commissioner the rank vegetation ordinance administrator instead of the clerk-treasurer.
• The council approved the MSP and park sponsor packet as presented.
• The council approved the MSP Dilling Group contract for $2,450 for the remainder of 2026.
• The security camera renewal for security cameras in Town Hall, the park and on the trail. It wasn’t pointed out they are regular cameras and not Flock cameras and the town doesn’t have any Flock cameras anymore.
• The council approved the salary ordinance, which included the update of the rate for the part-time deputy clerk; 25% of the wages for the assistant town marshal changed from the opioid unrestricted fund to general fund; the correction of a typographical error under compensation time employees are allowed to accumulate; and the addition of memberships and conferences for the clerk-treasurer to attend.
• Council President Ashley McGinnis said the Winona Happenings include the farmers market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday at the MSP; and Trail Fest at the Winona Lake Trails, Sept. 25-27; K9 Classic 5K at 9 a.m. Sept. 26.
• Park and Senior Center Director Holly Hummitch said she is planning Trick-or-Treat on the Trails now. She already has up to 20 vendors, but more are welcome and can contact her for more information. The event will be 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 24 with the event at the park from 5 to 7 p.m.
