Screen grab of the City of Warsaw Board of Public Works & Safety meeting Dec. 18.

WARSAW —  A Memorandum of Understanding between the city of Warsaw and Kosciusko County was approved at the City of Warsaw Board of Public Works & Safety meeting Friday, Dec. 18.

“This is essentially a shared expense with the county to pay rent to the fairgrounds for the Bowen Center COVID testing site,” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer told board members.

The city has agreed to contribute one third and the county has agreed to contribute two thirds, all from CARES Act dollars, of the expense of leasing space for the Bowen Center Kosciusko County COVID-19 Testing site from the Kosciusko County Community Fair, Inc. This testing site allows access to COVID-19 testing for members of the community to help slow and prevent the community spread of the virus in the city and the county. 

“It sounds like it’s a win-win because the fairgrounds could probably use the income right now,” said board member George Clemens.

The cost to lease the Shrine Building is $4,000 per month. The agreement runs through the end of February, with an option to renew.

The fairgrounds testing site has become the go-to place in the county for free testing.

In another matter, an agreement between the City of Warsaw by its Board of Works & Safety and the Warsaw Community Development Corporation (WCDC) was approved. 

This is in reference to the Facade Improvement Matching Grant Program. WCDC administers a facade grant program that is funded by the City of Warsaw. The city has budgeted up to $25,000, approved and allocated by the council, which is the same amount as last year. This would allow five businesses to utilize the maximum amount available. 

Qualified applicants may obtain matching grant funds up to a maximum of $5,000 for facades, storefronts, alleyways, awnings and signs.

The purpose of the façade program is to stimulate efforts to improve the exterior appearance of downtown  business. The program offers up to $5,000 in matching funds per applicant, per grant cycle.

In other news:

• The meeting started nine minutes late due to technical difficulties. 
• The stormwater utility budget guideline was approved.
• The wastewater treatment utility budget guideline was approved. 
• The board approved an agreement with Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP (“Taft”) to assist the city of Warsaw with regard to the city’s Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) matters for public projects.