The property at 328 N. Park Ave., Warsaw, is being eyed by a company seeking to provide child care for its workers. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.

By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Persistence paid off for Instrumental Machine & Development.

The local family-owned company overcome a slew of challenges and found a house that will now be renovated and used as a child care facility for its employees.

IMD won approval on Monday, March 28, from the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals for a special exception that will allow the company to operate a child care facility at 328 N. Park Ave.

The company was turned down a year ago for a similar plan on Parker Street.

Monday’s proposal had the support of LaunchPad, a group whose mission is to improve child care availability and affordability in Kosciusko County.

LaunchPad Director Sherry Searles attended Monday night’s meeting and said she does not know of any other company with such an arrangement that IMD is proposing.

She called it a huge victory for IMD.

Assisting employees with child care needs has become a mission for the company, said Miriel McFarland, who along with three siblings – Todd Speicher, Kari Speicher and Evan Speicher – oversees the company.

Building a new facility would be cost-prohibitive, so the company focused on looking for residential property that could work. But they had a lot of stipulations.

The owners wanted to find a home that would be a short drive from the company plant on Pound Drive. It had to be a single-story structure and had to cost less than $250,000.

Since the facility is considered a commercial operation, it also had to conform to numerous local regulations.

“We found the unicorn, basically,” McFarland said. “We’d been told over and over again, ‘Good luck trying to find something that meets those requirements and abides by all the local regulations because that seems nearly impossible.’”

IMD employs about 85 workers. About 30% of them have children aged 12 and under.

“For our employees, it’s an enormous issue. It’s at the forefront of every parent’s mind. If we could find a way to alleviate that stress in some way, we would hope to gain a really good employee, attract talent and also make their family financially successful,” McFarland said.

Last year, IMD had petitioned for a use variance before the BZA to allow a day care center for its employees in a Residential-1 zoning district on North Parker Street, but the board denied the request because of the rules governing R-1.

Monday’s request was for a special exception in a Residential-2 district.

The future day care center for employees will operate from as early as 5:30 a.m. and will remain open until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The company initially plans to accommodate eight to 10 children for the first year, with more in the future.

The company plans to add about a half dozen additional parking spaces.

Searles said she’s working with a handful of other companies that need something larger than a small child care facility. She said they’re looking at different initiatives and partnerships to achieve that.

“There are other companies coming to the table, but this is really the first one doing something like this,” she said.

“Employers may not want to step into child care, but if they want to attract and retain talent, they kind of are forced to the table,” she said.

The BZA heard two other requests Monday night.

Lutheran Hospital won approval for a sign that will stand at the corner of US 30 and Springhill Road and promote Kosciusko Community Hospital.

The electronic sign will have 532 square feet of display area and will be constructed where a billboard currently stands.

A representative for the hospital pointed out a nearby sign used by Parkview – a direct competitor of KCH – is larger than what they proposed.

In another matter, Sacred Heart Catholic Church won approval for a new sign that will be located along Center Street. The request was approved unanimously. The sign will be illuminated, stand seven feet tall and have a display area of 32 square feet.