Warsaw Council Hears About Wastewater Expansion Loan, Alley Vacation
WARSAW — A long meeting was held last night as six items of new business were presented at the Warsaw Common Council meeting on March 5. The main items of discussion were the preliminary engineering report to obtain assistance from the Wastewater State Revolving Fund loan program and an alley vacation request.
Gary Ruston of Wessler Engineering presented the preliminary engineering report for the wastewater treatment plant expansion. The public hearing is a requirement in order to be applicable for funds from the state revolving grant.
Ruston explained how in 2017, the current wastewater plant averaged at 101 percent capacity. It was previously decided that the plant would receive a 50 percent expansion to handle six million gallons a day and convert the plant to an anaerobic digestion. The total cost of the project is estimated at $33,400,000.
The plan is for the project to be bid out sometime in August or October with construction starting in November. This would be a longer project with an expected completion time of late 2020.
The report will be available for public inspection in the Building and Planning Department of Warsaw City Hall, 102 S. Buffalo St., until the end of the week.
Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Lake City Bank, presented an alley vacation request. Lake City Bank has requested that the northern portion of the Center Street alley and the western portion of the High Street alley be vacated. Both of these alleys sit between property owned by Lake City Bank. The hope is that once the alleys are vacated, the parking areas can be modified and two additional parking spaces can be gained.
The council expressed concern regarding the First United Methodist Church which sits in the same block as the bank and shares the alleys. Council members questioned if regular church activities, such as weddings and funerals, would be able to function properly without access to the alleyways.
The council voted 6-1, with Diane Quance opposing, to approve the request on a first reading. A public hearing will be held during the next council meeting where the council will be able to hear from the church. The council will then be able to make a final decision regarding the vacation.
In other news:
- A public hearing was held to re-establish the CCD fund rate back to $0.05. This rate slightly drops each year and needs re-established by the board. The council approved this on first reading with a vote of 6-1, with Council Member Ron Shoemaker opposing.
- A public hearing was held to re-establish the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Equipment replacement fund to $0.03. The council also approved this on first reading with a vote of 6-1, with Council Member Ron Shoemaker again opposing.
- The council approved to continue the tax abatement for Freedom Oil’s Argonne Road location.