Chad Klopfenstein, owner of Chief Ice Cream of Goshen, speaks to the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety on Friday about his request to lower the itinerant merchant fee for his business from $1,000 to $300. Looking on is Warsaw City Planner Justin Taylor. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — Warsaw may get another ice cream option if there’s enough interest by the public. City Planner Justin Taylor brought to the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety a request Friday, May 16, on behalf of Chief Ice Cream of Goshen to reduce the itinerant merchant fee from $1,000 to $300.

“Occasionally, these requests come before you as the board of works has the authority to waive or reduce merchant permit fees. This is a merchant that would like to sell ice cream within the city limits. They currently reside in Goshen,” Taylor said. He said the maximum fee that Chief Ice Cream would have to pay would be $1,000 for a year because they’re in-state but out of county, but Chief Ice Cream wants that to be reduced to the county rate of $300.

“In the past, we’ve made this accommodation for ice cream sales because there’s a condensed season when they can sell ice cream. There wasn’t a lot of competition for ice cream sales within the county, so this is something we can consider to accommodate those, but we just want to be considerate of the brick-and-mortar stores that may be impacted by these decisions,” Taylor said.

Chad Klopfenstein, owner of Chief Ice Cream, said they’re just looking at putting their trailer at the Warsaw Missionary Church, 1849 E. Springhill Road, off U.S. 30.

“It would not be there every day. So, it would be only if we don’t have events that are planned otherwise ahead. So, maybe two, three, four times a week, depending on the week,” Klopfenstein said, adding that they received approval from the church to be there.

A letter from Klopfenstein to the board states, in part, “We would like to get a permit for 2025 as we are investigating if Warsaw is a good place for a third location for Chief Ice Cream.” He told the board that if they get a lot of good attention, then they would like to put a store in Warsaw, too. He mentioned that Flavor Freeze was here, then left, then returned, then left again.

“So just kind of judging how it goes,” he said.Chief Ice Cream also has locations in Granger and Goshen.

Other businesses in Warsaw that offer ice cream, according to visitkosciuskocounty.org, include Ritter’s Frozen Custard, 3848 Lake City Hwy.; Downtown Candy Store, 112 W. Market St.; Botanas Locas, 803 E. Winona Ave.; La Michuacana 3, 1301 N. Detroit St.; and Wake N Lake, 3774 N. Barbee Road.

Grose said what he liked about Chief Ice Cream’s request was location, it’s ice cream and Klopfenstein’s interest in seeing how it goes and maybe coming to Warsaw.

Board member George Clemens said with the limited season and limited days, that plays into Klopfenstein’s request for a lower merchant fee. He didn’t anticipate any problems. Klopfenstein’s request was unanimously approved by the board.

In other business, the board approved:

• Pay application #2 from Milestone Contractors LP for $161,458.90 for the Center Lake pier demolition, as requested by city engineer Aaron Ott. He said the pier removal has been complete for a while, but they’re still wrapping up contractual matters to close the project out, including getting the contractor paid for the work performed. The pay application also will go before the redevelopment commission at their meeting Monday because the project costs are being shared with that board.

The city is still holding a 5% retainer on the contract for some finalizations, including the city’s own dive team inspecting the clearance of the pier.

Councilwoman Diane Quance asked if it was safe for people to swim there. Ott said it absolutely is safe, but the swimming area will be offset from where the work took place. “So, there won’t be swimming where this work happened. We already cleared the swimming area of any concern that we do annually anyhow,” he stated. Quance said swimmers need to stay in the swimming area.

• Pay application #45 from American Structurepoint for $2,220 for the Anchorage Road Project, as presented by Whitney Shilling, administrative assistant to Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner. The Indiana Department of Transportation will reimburse the city 80%.

• The lease agreement between the city and Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory and Kosciusko Ambulance Service LLC (Lutheran EMS) for the continued use of WWFT station 15, 620 W. CR 200S, for $1,300 per month for three years, as requested by Fire Chief Joel Shilling. The WWFT Board approved it at their last meeting.

• For the WWFT to purchase a dive truck from the Mentone Fire Department for $49,999, plus an amount not to exceed $25,000 for upgrades, as requested by Chief Shilling. The WWFT Board approved the purchase at their last meeting.

• Street Department Superintendent Dustin Dillon’s request to purchase a 2026 Freightliner M2-106 single-axle chassis with Stellar 20K hook hoist from Pyramid Equipment Inc. for $163,764.35. He said he did budget for the purchase this year.

• A memorandum of understanding between the city and the Michiana Area Council of Governments, as requested by Taylor. The financial commitment from the city is $5,000 per year for three years. Taylor said the MOU was for the active transportation planner position at MACOG. The city has contributed $5,000 per year for the last three years for the position, but the current MOU they are under is expiring June 30 so MACOG sent an updated version for the next three years.

“What it does is it supports our Ride+Walk Advisory Committee, it integrates us into the multi-county effort through MACOG for active transportation planning, so it’s a regional effort, a regionally support position,” he said. The funds come out of the CCI fund, which is the cigarette tax money that’s been designated historically for active transportation projects, Taylor explained.

• Pay application #1 for $15,999.90 from Insight Pipe Contracting LLC for sanitary/stormwater rehabilitation, as requested by Utility Superintendent Brian Davison.

• Amendment #2 to the contract the stormwater utility has with AECOM for work out at Timber Ridge subdivision, as requested by Davison. Cost is not to exceed $60,000.Davison explained, “This takes us basically so we can get phase two ready to bid. It’ll take us to the construction phase of phase one, which I believe is going to start the first week of June.”He said it’s an older neighborhood that was a county addition that the city took over. “There’s quite a bit of drainage concerns,” Davison said.

• Local Public Agency Project Coordination Contract amendment #4 with the INDOT for the Lincoln Neighborhood sidewalk project, as requested by Taylor. He said the project is being wound down now, but the amendment extends the contract term to allow for project completion. “This is really more of a precaution to extend the lifespan of this contract out. It doesn’t change anything but the end date of the project. We anticipate that this project will be completed much sooner than next year, but we just want to make sure we’re following all of INDOT’s protocols,” he said.

• The travel requests and new hire/change in payroll report as presented by Harlan.

• The outdoor seating for Maggie’s Coffee and Treats, 124 S. Buffalo St., as presented by Taylor.