As the developers move forward on the former Gateway Education Center on North Union Street, they petitioned the Warsaw Common Council Monday to vacate an unimproved portion of two alleys and a skewed portion of Miami Street.
The Council approved the petition on first reading by a vote of 6-0, with Councilman Jeff Grose absent. The second reading, and public hearing, will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 4.
Mayor Joe Thallemer told the Council the vacation was for three unimproved streets on the west side of the community. The petition is by Groninger Group LLC, represented by attorney Steve Snyder. Groninger Group includes County Commissioner Cary Groninger and his wife Kathy Groninger, who was just elected to the county council. They purchased the Gateway building – previously Madison Elementary School – earlier this year. The plans are to turn it into a residential subdivision.
Snyder said the area behind the old school are three small parcels never opened or utilized for access. On both sides of each parcel, Groninger Group owns the real estate.
“They’re not significant, they’re unopened and are simply dead-end streets,” Snyder said.
He provided the Council with a proposed preliminary site plan for Gateway Grove, which is the project for the site. The area for the vacations is actually common area to the south of the proposed subdivision lots.
Snyder said that the four property owners who own at the points of the vacated areas have been provided notice, and the petition to vacate has been published in the newspaper.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner said Snyder explained it very well and there was no use for the alleys which lead nowhere. From the city’s perspective, there’s no public use for the property anymore and vacating it “was the best thing to do.”
Councilwoman Diane Quance asked if there were any public utilities located in those areas. Snyder said there doesn’t appear that there are.
Councilman Mike Klondaris asked Skinner if it was the developers’ intention to take that Miami Street and have an entrance into the development. Skinner said he believes there will be some ingress and egress for the development. Snyder said Miami Street continues on the site plan and the intent of the plan is to use Miami Street as a main thoroughfare.
Klondaris said a lot of traffic would be put on Union Street with the development and he asked if there were any thought on making Union a two-way instead of one-way. Skinner said depending on the development, the road may go before the Traffic Commission for consideration to change it. Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins, who sits on the Traffic Commission. said one concern the Traffic Commission had with Union Street was that a lot of residents park on one side of the road and making Union two-way may cause some concern with parking. Skinner said there’s a lot for the Traffic Commission to consider once the development gets further along, and any ordinance the Traffic Commission proposes will end up before the City Council.
The Council approved the ordinance on first reading, with the second reading set for the Council’s first meeting of 2021.
The Council also spent some time discussing a resolution to adopt Indiana Code 5-23. Part of the resolution states that the Council “hereby adopts the provisions of Indiana Code 5-23. By virtue of the adoption of the same, the City may consider the utilization of Public-Private Partnerships as a manner of delivering projects, but is under no obligation to do so.”
Thallemer said it’s “for use and taking certain other actions related.” He introduced Cameron Starnes, attorney from Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, who has done a “lot of BOT (Build Operate Transfer) project deliveries and worked with communities to set up all the requirements. 5-23 is a project delivery method that the city wishes to consider in the future, and I would say more specifically for two upcoming future public works projects.”
BOT agreement “means any agreement between a governmental body and an operator to construct, operate, and maintain a public facility and to transfer the public facility back to the governmental body at an established future date,” according to lawserver.com.
The resolution would allow the city to use the method as a means of project delivery. Traditionally, cities use the design-bid-build process, which Warsaw used for the remodeling and renovation of the city hall building. He said the design-bid-build process typically results in the lowest bidder selection process, which the city feels has some disadvantages that the BOT can overcome.
“The biggest concern we have is that it puts the city at risk for the quality of construction and the necessity of oftentimes change orders and overruns,” Thallemer said.
In October, the city filed a lawsuit against, primarily, contractors Harold McComb & Son, Fort Wayne, and its subcontractors, in regards to an improperly installed HVAC system in City Hall for over $725,000.
“This is very similar to what we do with our INDOT road projects,” Thallemer said of the BOT process. He said it allows the city to select more on qualifications than price.
Starnes said Thallemer explained the process well to the Council and that municipalities must adopt the resolution before it can be used. Communities have used design-build for a long time and it’s very priced focus, but a lot of his clients have seen that been abused because it requires the lowest bidder. Contractors bid low, but through change orders that cost doesn’t stay low.
“This is growing in popularity,” Starnes said of the BOT process.
Thallemer said many communities are jumping on board with the BOT delivery method, listing Nappanee among others.
Skinner told the Council to keep in mind that the BOT process is an option. It gives the city more control than a design-bid-build. He said there are pluses and minuses to each option, and the BOT a tool in the toolbelt.
City attorney Scott Reust said, “I don’t see any downsides to it. It’s just another option.”
The resolution was approved by the Council 6-0.
The Council also approved by a 6-0 vote a resolution to expand the boundaries of the existing Central Redevelopment Area.
Skinner said the Redevelopment and Plan commissions approved it at their previous meetings, and it was up before the Council Monday. With the Council’s approval, it will go before the Redevelopment Commission again at that board’s January meeting.
The expansion will allow the Council to consider approving the city’s riverfront district expansion downtown, which would open up some additional liquor licenses within the district.
