Shown from left are Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach and Town Council President Ashley McGinnis. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union.

By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WINONA LAKE — Winona Lake Town Council approved a memorandum of understanding with the city of Warsaw in regards to sewer lines at the former Gatke property, Tuesday, May 20.

The purpose of the MOU is to outline the mutual agreement between Warsaw and Winona Lake regarding the ownership and maintenance of the sanitary sewer line and associated structures located at the former Gatke property at the intersection of Winona Avenue and South McKinley Street.

“Down there where the Gatke site is, which is Union Station Lofts, I think they’re calling it, there’s a sanitary sewer out there kind of where Gatke was where the actual wastewater goes into a manhole. And that manhole pumps the sewage to our street department and our street department sends it back to Warsaw,” Town Manager Craig Allebach said.

The MOU will allow for Warsaw to take over all the line maintenance “and things like that.” He said Winona Lake wouldn’t have any responsibility for the lines and wouldn’t be charged for the water flowing through those lines into Winona Lake.

“It’s kind of a win-win deal,” he said. He noted it was easier to do the MOU than to spend thousands of dollars to put in a new line to have it go a different way.

Earlier in the meeting, the council approved a municipal services agreement with SiteWorx Municipal Solutions LLC.

The agreement is a four-year agreement for SiteWorx to maintain and manage the town’s wastewater pumping services.

Allebach said the agreement the council approved was a renewal of the contract, as the previous one expired earlier this month.
The cost of the contract yearly is $472,896, or around $39,408 a month.

In other business, the council:

• Heard from The Village at Winona Managing Director Nick Hauck he didn’t have an exact count of riders at the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival, but there were a record number of preregistered riders of at least 550.

• Heard Winona Happenings include: The Splash Pad Party is 5 to 7 p.m. Friday; The Village Art fair is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 7 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 8; and Fireworks over Winona Lake will be at 10 p.m. June 28.

• Tabled a decision on investing 5.5% of the town’s Economic Development Income Tax funds, or $33,225, this year with the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation.

Clerk-Treasurer Heather James said the town’s EDIT fund has already been budgeted for something else, so the money would have to come out of a different fund.

Councilman Barry Andrews said investing with KEDCO serves a good purpose, but motioned to table the decision so James could research which fund the money could come out of, if any.

• Heard Allebach recognize Lisa LeMasters. Allebach said LeMasters has weeded the roundabout this year and spread 96 bags of mulch. A couple years when the town opened up the roundabout, she worked to beautify the roundabout.