Residents along Edgewater Drive in Warsaw asked the city to come to their aid to stop trespassing and littering on their private property and the city quickly acted.

During the Monday night Warsaw Common Council meeting, four property owners on the dead end street along the north shore of Center Lake asked the city leaders to post No Fishing signs at a culvert where as many as 35 vehicles will be in and out of there on any given day. “We have problems with trespassing, traffic problems and there have been a few confrontations also,” said one of the residents.

The problem is that the area contains rocks which often make it difficult for people fishing to get to the water, so they often go onto private property. “There’s three properties on each side of the bridge,” the resident added. “We have people standing on flatbed trucks to fish, they’ll launch John boats there, catch a day’s worth of fish and leave them there and it’s gotten worse in the last two years.”

Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Mike Brubaker told the council that, given the number of vehicles that can park there throughout the day, that could be an issue for firefighters if there is a fire in that area. “We have to access back there or it becomes another issue,” he said.

Councilman Jerry Frush, while not opposed to prohibiting fishing there, said he would have liked the matter to have been presented earlier so he could have gone to see for himself where the problem is. Councilwoman Diane Quance said the matter was first presented to the Center Lake Property Owners Association which approved the matter being presented to the city for immediate action.

City attorney Mike Valentine suggested that the council pass the No Fishing zone, which would use the city’s existing penalty ordinance for fine structuring. Councilwoman Elaine Call was also not opposed to passing the order, she was concerned that, as written, it did not address specific penalties or fines. She was assured, however, that the city has an ordinance in place that clearly identifies what the fines and penalties will be for those who violate the No Fishing order.

The council unanimously passed the order that no fishing will be allowed on Edgewater Drive, effectively immediately.