By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Town Council approved the sale of four parcels of land along Union Drive the town owns on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

In July, town attorney Adam Turner brought the issue to the council. He said the parcels were considered no man’s land and the council approved advertising the sale of the properties.

Tuesday, Turner said an appraisal of the land was done and the adjoining landowners were allowed to make an offer on those parcels: $500 for the first parcel, $1,500 for the second parcel and $1,000 for the third and fourth each. He said the sale price was a little lower than the appraisal price.

For one parcel, the adjoining landowner did not make a sale offer. However, a property owner adjacent to that parcel did make a sale offer. For the other three parcels, the adjoining property owners did make proposals, Turner said.

Turner said he drafted agreements for the sale for the parcels and it was up to the council to accept or reject the sale of the parcels. The council approved all the offers.

Later in the meeting, Winona Lake Fire Department Public Information Officer Mike Cox updated the council on efforts Occupational Safety and Health Administration is doing to adopt 30 or more of the National Fire Protection Association standards.

In July, Cox spoke to the council about a letter-writing campaign the fire department was doing, asking people to write letters to OSHA to exempt volunteer fire departments from the standards. Cox said he believed the standards would cause most volunteer departments to close.

Tuesday, Cox said OSHA is now taking public comments. OSHA is still needing opinions before making a decision on the standards.

State senators and congressman are working on helping, Cox said.

In other business, the council:

• Heard about Winona Happenings. Canal Days in The Village at Winona will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. A pickleball tournament at Limitless Park will be Sept. 6-8. A Plug and Play Warsaw MEdTech Expo at the Miller Sunset Pavilion will be Sept. 10.

• Heard from Park Department Director Holly Hummitch the park department is hoping to open a portion of the playground at Limitless Park this week.

• Learned Trick or Treat on the Trails is Oct. 26.

• Learned a Sept. 11 ceremony will be at the Central Park Pavilion.