Pictured, from left, are City Attorney Michael Valentine, Mayor Joseph Thallemer and Board Member George Clemens.

WARSAW — A minimum bid of $140,000 for the old city hall building, 302 E. Market St., was set during the Warsaw Board of Works meeting held today, March 2.

The building received two appraisals for $183,000 and $208,000. City Planner Jeremy Skinner stated that based on the appraisals, he would be comfortable with a minimum bid between $135,000 and $150,000.

“This will establish a threshold at which the city feels they are getting a fair price, limits property speculation and gives an incentive to redevelop the former city hall building,” explained Skinner. “Someone that’s going to put that type of money up front is most likely to want to do something with the building.”

The board approved setting the minimum bid at $140,000. Moving forward, an advertisement will be published with a date that bids will begin to be accepted. The bidding process will remain open for up to 60 days. Interested bidders will be allowed to visit the building and the place their bids with the Warsaw Planning Department. All bids will be open to the public and available for viewing. The sale price is to be paid in full at closing, which will take place within 30 days of acceptance of the bid. The building will be sold as is without representation as to its conditions.

The Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department is looking to make the area beaches and parks a safer place during inclement weather. The department was approved to apply for a $19,922 grant through the Kosciusko County Community Foundation for an i-Strike Lightning Detection System.

This system would have four units located around Central Park and Pike Lake to alert park and beach users to nearby lightning strikes. This eliminates the current method of counting and listening for thunder. When a nearby lightning strike occurs, the system triggers an audible and visual warning and sends a text message warning. The proper authorities will then close the impacted areas to the public until the storm has passed.

“We feel this would benefit the safety of our park goers and beach goers,” said Warsaw Parks Superintendent Larry Plummer.

In other news:

• The annual downtown street closure for the St. Patrick’s Day event hosted by One Ten, Mad Anthony’s and B-Mac’s was approved for March 17.
• The U.S. Department of Justice Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant was accepted for the Warsaw Police Department for $3,046.80.
• The parks department was approved for the annual event cancellation insurance that covers the rock and country concerts and the 2018 amusement permit.