Winona Postpones Hearing For Donated Property Use, Hears Input From Community
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE- A decision has still not been made by Winona Lake Town Council on whether to keep or sell a property that has been donated to the town. The town council, at its Nov. 23 meeting, approved accepting the donated property at 301 Fifth St. from Michael Arnolt. Winona Lake Town Council held a public hearing to discuss what could be done with the property during Tuesday night’s council meeting. Town Attorney Jim Walmer reminded the council and the 30 Winona Lake residents who attended Tuesday night’s meeting that it was only a public hearing, and therefore the council was not required to make a decision on the use for the property at the meeting. The council had advertised it would make a decision on the use for the property Tuesday night, however voted to postpone the public hearing until its May 10 meeting at 6 p.m. Council members Randy Swanson and Bruce Shaffner were absent during Tuesday night’s meeting. Council president Sue Gooding said she did not want to make a decision on whether to keep or sell the property without the input of Swanson and Shaffner. Swanson was on vacation, and Gooding said she received a phone call late Tuesday afternoon from Shaffner who said he could not make the meeting due to a family emergency. Councilman Terry Howie also said he felt it was appropriate to wait to make a decision on the property to have input from the other council members who were absent. However, councilwoman Joy Lohse said she felt strongly the council should make a decision during Tuesday night’s meeting on the use for the property. “There have been major decisions made in the past without all five of us being here, and I think by us not voting we are putting off the inevitable, we have advertised to vote on this and I think we should move forward with it,” Lohse said. John Boal, Winona Lake resident, said he was under the impression when he left the March meeting that the council would take a vote on the property use at Tuesday night’s meeting. “The council has made decisions in the past with three members, and with the upcoming primary it has the appearance to me it is a political decision to postpone the vote a month,” Boal said. Boal is running against Howie for the Ward 2 republican nod in the May 3 primary. At its March council meeting, the council heard proposals for property at 301 Fifth St. that has been donated to the town. David Phelps, 207 5th St., presented his proposal for a community vegetable garden at the Fifth Street property at the March meeting. Other proposals the town heard in March were from Jay Widman, 104 15th St., whose ideas was to purchase the home and maintain its residential zoning. Two other proposals were from Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County requesting the home be donated to the organization, and Steve Silveus, 2406 E. Winona Ave., proposing to move his existing home to the 301 Fifth St. location. WInona Lake residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting spoke in support of the community garden proposal. “I support the community garden proposal and I think it would be a huge plus for residents to get to know each other and a good avenue to nurture friendships,” said Sally Angel, 304 Fifth St. John Elliott, 3051 E. Liverpool Road, Stonehenge Addition, said he supported the community garden idea, but thought there might be a better location for the garden due to the property being close to Kings Highway and taking into account the safety of children. Jeff Gill, 501 Walnut St., said he was not hearing what the council members thoughts were on the use for the property. Gill’s wife, Kathy, encouraged the council to listen and take to heart the support of the community garden and what the neighborhood resident’s ideas on the property were. Gooding said she was on the fence about what to do with the property, and wanted input from Shaffner and Swanson before making a decision. Lohse said she felt all the suggestions that had been presented had good merit, and said she supported the community garden. Howie said he still was not sure what to do with the property and valued input from the community and the other council members. Also during the meeting the council approved an agreement between the town and Stonehenge Golf Course. The agreement is for the town to legally manage water retention and pumping equipment to control drainage that has caused streets to deteriorate over the years due to water accumulation in the subsoil based under the streets. In other business, the council approved selling a 13.7 acre tract of land behind 501 Mineral Springs. The town will seek the appraised value for the property. The council also approved an agreement with Bledsoe Volunteer Fire Department, Bledsoe, Ky., to purchase a 1991 Ford pumper truck from the town. Town engineer Larry Long made a presentation on Prestwick and Muirfield Subdivision street improvements and said pavement is cracking due to excessive slab movement. He said the solution is to repair the streets and remove and replace concrete pavement and improve storm drainage. The cost estimate for repairing Prestwick Subdivision streets is $1.2 million, and the cost estimate to repair Muirfield Subdivision streets is $187,000. The town approved proceeding with looking into paying to repair the streets in phases or considering a bond issue to complete all the street repairs at the same time. Upcoming events in the town Saturday include a pancake breakfast fundraiser for Winona Lake Fire Department from 7 to 11 a.m. at the fire department, town clean up day from 9 a.m. to noon meeting at the fire department, and an Easter Egg hunt at 10 a.m. at Winona Lake park.
