Warsaw City Council approved plans for a slim-downed version of a proposed third fire station that will be located on the south side of the city.
General obligation bonds will be issued for the Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Territory not to exceed $3 million – $900,000 less than previously discussed – to pay for a fire station that will sit at the northwest corner of County Farm Road and CR 200S.
During its meeting Monday, the Warsaw City Council approved the memorandum of understanding with Wayne Township for the bond payment; and the second reading of the ordinances approving issuance of general bonds and appropriating funds from the general bond issue.
Before discussing the memorandum, Mayor Joe Thallemer said station 3 has been a consideration since 2009 when the township and Warsaw formed the fire territory. It was originally a satellite station to provide primary emergency response for fire and medical, he said.
Thallemer then made a recommendation to the council. After reviewing the cost of the several building options discussed at the last meeting with various officials, and reminding the council that a third bay for the station was eliminated earlier this year saving just under $900,000 reducing the construction costs to $3.2 million, the amount the council has been considering the past few weeks, he suggested the proposed station’s basement could be eliminated.
The basement, which was planned as a public space and for fireman training, would save another $600,000, and reducing the construction cost to an estimated $2.6 million. Thallemer said it may be important to leave a little residual there in case the costs don’t come back as expected. He also noted that the township is paying $250,000 up front toward the fire station this year.
In discussing the memorandum, Councilwoman Diane Quance questioned paragraph 6. It states, “Should the town receive any rental or other similar payment from any third parties for the use of (the fire station), the payment shall be credited pro rata between the town and the township against the debt service.”
Quance said that besides the paragraph should say city instead of town, “I have a problem agreeing to that if they have not paid their full proportion for that year.” She said that paragraph was a surprise to her and she was not sure where that came from.
Township Advisory Board members Erin Rowland and Gordy Nash attended the meeting. After further discussion, they agreed to have a special meeting this week to amend that paragraph. The city council approved 5-2 the memorandum with the understanding that the paragraph would be fixed. Councilmen Ron Shoemaker and Jerry Frush voted against the memorandum.
The council then discussed for about another hour the second reading of the ordinance approving issuance of the general bonds for the new fire station. The council discussed it and took comments from the public, Fire Chief Mike Wilson, the architects from MartinRiley and township advisory board members.
Quance made the motion to amend the ordinance so the principal amount of the bonds were not to exceed $3 million, down from $3.9 million. Councilman Jeff Grose said he was concerned about what the fire department and territory were giving up by eliminating the basement and having already eliminated the third bay. In the end, the amendment passed 5-2 with Grose and Council President Mike Klondaris opposed. The ordinance itself then passed 6-1 with Shoemaker opposed.
On the second reading for the ordinance appropriating funds from the general bond issue, the amendment to reduce the amount not to exceed from $3.9 million to $3.0 million was approved 6-1 with Klondaris against, while the ordinance itself was approved 6-1 with Shoemaker voting against it.
In other business, the city council approved:
• On first reading the elected officials salary ordinance. The second reading and final approval will be at the Dec. 19 council meeting.
Salaries include a bi-weekly salary of $2,648.26 for the mayor; bi-weekly salary of $2,297.88 for the clerk-treasurer; and an annum of $6,081.38 for each of the seven councilmen. Additional compensation will be paid for serving on the Board of Public Works and Safety ($125 per month), Plan Commission ($30 per meeting), Fire Territory ($30 per meeting) and Traffic Commission ($30 per meeting).
• The transfer of $16,000 from salaries to operating supplies for the Warsaw Police Department. It was approved on first and second reading. Police Chief Scott Whitaker said the supplies included things like fuel and ammunition.
• The reappointments of Klondaris and Rick Snodgrass to the Redevelopment Commission and Dan Smith to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The council also held a moment of silence for Klondaris’ father, Terry Klondaris, who died Sunday. Terry was a former city councilman and Warsaw School Board member.
Quance asked Public Works Superintendent Jeff Beeler if the city’s leaf pickup service could be extended another week since the warm weather stuck around longer and not all the leaves fell quickly.
Beeler said the same trucks that pick leaves up also plow snow, so he’s cut the leaf pickup trucks back to two.
“There has been, unnoticed to the public, still two trucks running the trash routes every day to try to get those piles because that’s all we have available,” he said.
The two trucks are still running this week, he said.
Thallemer applauded Beeler for making special trips to pick leaves up and he appreciated that.
