WARSAW — Most of the Warsaw Board of Works meeting this morning, April 20, was spent discussing a Central Park master plan and upcoming railroad closures.

The board approved allowing the city of Warsaw to enter an agreement with Design Collaborative, Fort Wayne, for $42,000. Design Collaborative will gather community input to produce a masterplan for Central Park. It was noted that the plan will contain a conceptual design for a multi use facility that functions as an ice rink during winter months.

The funds to cover the agreement will be provided three different ways. K21 Health Foundation is providing a grant for $14,000, the Warsaw Parks Department will contribute $5,000 and the remaining $23,000 will be contributed by the Warsaw Planning Department.

Public input will be gathered in the form of surveys and public meetings. The Warsaw Parks and Recreation board approved the agreement at their last meeting.

“The park board felt it would be important to engage the community to tell us what they like about Central Park,” said Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer. “We want to make sure we do it right.”

Although it was not an item on the official agenda, the board spent a significant amount of time explaining the upcoming railroad repairs and closures.

Norfolk Southern will be replacing the rails to the north-south railroad through Kosciusko County through a two-phase project. The first phase will begin next week with the new rail being laid in quarter-mile pieces. Those pieces will be welded together to create one jointless track.

Tentatively, beginning Monday, April 23, the rail train will unload the new rail from Claypool to just south of Pope Street in Warsaw. While the first train will not be unloading rail at Pope Street, the locomotives will temporarily block the Pope Street crossing. The rail train will then take anywhere from a couple of days to two weeks to reload with rail in Columbia City before returning to deliver rail to Warsaw. Once a more definite date is determined, residents will be given a few days’ notice about when to expect these temporary closures in town.

Phase 2 of the project will begin around June 20, in the Claypool area, arriving in Warsaw around the week of July 2, and continuing north.

In other news:

• An installment purchase agreement was approved with Old National Bank for the emergency radio system at a 2.98 percent interest rate.
• An amendment to the financial plan agreement with Umbaugh was approved. An amount not to exceed $30,000 was approved for additional financial work.
• The updated terms and conditions with Zix Encryption Service was approved.
• Pay applications for the Husky Trail project and sewer rehabilitation project were approved.