Airport Manager Nick King, left, listens as Mayor Thallemer reads an Aviation Appreciation Month proclamation.

WARSAW — The majority of the Warsaw Common Council meeting held last night, Oct. 15, was spent discussing bonds for the sewer plant expansion and if general guidelines on public comment should be imposed for future meetings.

Randy Rompola with Barnes & Thornburg LLP, presented an ordinance to issue bonds for the sewer plant expansion project. The ordinance currently has a not-to-exceed amount of $35 million. The ordinance does not have an exact dollar amount yet because the construction bid won’t be awarded until the Board of Works meeting on Friday, Oct. 19.

Rompola explained that the majority of the bonds will be through the State Revolving Fund, which will lock in an interest rate around two percent. If the bonds are not issued by the end of the year, the city will lose that interest rate.

The current timeline includes closing on the bonds in November with construction starting in December. Utility Manager Brian Davison stated that the new phosphorous limits go into effect on June 1, 2020. If the city sticks to their current schedule, the plant will be completed in July 2020. This makes the construction and bond timeline very tight. It was also mentioned that the current plant has remained over 100 percent compacity this year.

Councilmember Ron Shoemaker stated that he would like to see the exact cost of the project before voting on an ordinance. He said he would feel more comfortable suspending the rules and approving the ordinance all in one meeting than approving it on first reading with no exact price.

Rompola countered by stating he wanted to give council members a few weeks to look over the specifics of the ordinance, which is why it was presented at this meeting with the do-not-exceed amount. He stated that once the bids are made, his team will give council members the exact numbers ahead of the next council meeting.

The council approved the ordinance on first reading, with Shoemaker opposing. The ordinance will return at the next meeting for a final reading.

At the end of the meeting, Council President Diane Quance brought up the possibility of meeting guidelines for public comment. She mentioned that board members recently attended a township meeting that included a few guidelines, including time limits on public comment and being respectful.

Quance said the point of the guidelines would be so that everyone who had a comment would be heard and the meeting would not consist of just a few people monopolizing the public comment portion. She suggested having everyone who wanted to speak sign-in and line up in an orderly fashion. Once someone spoke, they would sit back down in the audience, giving everyone one chance to speak before someone else could speak again.

Shoemaker cautioned council members about such guidelines, stating he didn’t want the council to be perceived as limiting public input.

Council member Jeff Grose stated that he views meetings with a lot of public comment as “refreshing” and would hate to see a time limit put on public comment as it takes away from the Democratic process. He did agree that everyone should be given an equal opportunity to speak.

Quance stated that she would continue to look into possible guidelines and said it seemed like everyone agreed that public comment needs to be respectful and give everyone an opportunity to speak. It was noted that currently, Warsaw Mayor Joeseph Thallemer has the ability to keep the public comment portion of meetings on topic.

In other news:

• Mayor Thallemer read an Aviation Appreciation Month proclamation. The proclamation stated that Warsaw Municipal Airport has an immense economic impact on Warsaw.
•  The council approved the general salary ordinance, the police salary ordinance and the fire salary ordinance on second reading. No questions or discussion were heard.
• The council approved the second reading of the 2019 appropriations and tax rates ordinance. This sets the maximum budget and could be lowered with future budget cuts.
• Bowen Center was approved for their petition to vacate an unimproved portion of Adams Street. No public comments were heard during the public hearing. The vacation will be presented for a second reading at the next council meeting.
• The council approved INDOT grant reimbursements for the Husky Trail, Market Street and Polk Drive projects.
• Scott Reust was introduced as Warsaw’s next city attorney. He will take over for Mike Valentine in 2019.

Council President Diane Quance, left, watches as Scott Reust is introduced as Warsaw’s next city attorney.