Taxi Permits, Contracts Approved At Board Of Works Meeting
By Lasca Randels
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — The City of Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety’s final meeting of the year consisted mostly of reviewing contracts and agreements.
The meeting took place Friday, Dec. 17, at City Hall.
Warsaw Police Department Deputy Police Chief Bryan Sherwin asked the board to approve 11 taxi cab permits for 2022.
Eight of the permits are for Fast Cabs and three are for AA Taxi. Both companies are owned by David Cesaretti, who has a total of 35 years in the public transportation business.
Sherwin informed board members that all vehicles involved are insured and current on registration. He also said all drivers for both companies have valid licenses and all vehicles passed inspection with the WPD mechanic.
“Bryan, is this required statutorily that cabs be annually inspected by locals or is this just something we do?” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer asked.
“I think it’s just the city ordinance,” Sherwin replied.
“I appreciate the work you put into this because I know they provide quite a service in this community,” Mayor Thallemer said.
Board Member George Clemens moved to approve the 2022 permits, with Board Member Jeff Grose seconding the motion.
In another matter, five bids were received for the 2021 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation project. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $560,000. All five bids received were lower than the engineer’s estimate.
Bids received included: Granite Inliner LLC in the amount of $459,459; Insight Pipe Contracting LLC for $397,349.50; Insituform Technologies USA, LLC in the amount of $489,990.70; SAK Construction LLC for $523,778; and Visu Sewe, Inc. in the amount of $482,305.
City of Warsaw Utility Manager Brian Davison recommended that the bid be awarded to Insight Pipe Contracting LLC for $397,349.50. Davison said although the city has not worked with this company, the engineers “have done due diligence and researched them.”
Davison said this is part of a project that involves upgrades to the city’s sanitary sewers in getting them all up to standard.
Thallemer clarified that this type of work does not typically impact traffic.
When Grose asked for input as to why the bids received were so much lower than the original estimate, Davison said he honestly had no idea.
“Maybe they want to do more business with the city,” Clemens suggested.
In other news:
- Four utility easements were approved related to the McKinley Storm Sewer Improvement project. The easements are needed for installation of the rerouted McKinley Storm Sewer across the Town of Winona Lake and the Village at Winona properties.
- A revised agreement with BIT Computers for 2022 information technology services was approved. The original agreement, which was later found to contain a clerical error, was vacated.
- A 2022 contract with the Farmers market in the amount of $5,000 was approved.
- The Board approved an annual service contract with American Elevator.
- The next regular meeting will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 7.