B.O.W. contracts with G&G Hauling & Excavating to have ground readied by winter

G&G Hauling & Excavating of Warsaw has been contracted for site work at Warsaw’s new south side fire station. The contract, written by city engineer James Emans, was approved by the city Board of Public Works and Safety this morning.

The first phase of the project includes site preparations, specifically the placement of 23,800 cubic yards of engineered fill material on the lot. The site is located adjacent to Warsaw Community Church on the north side of CR 200 South and approximately 1,450 feet west of County Farm Road.

Per the contract, G&G can begin site work immediately but must have the ground stabilized from erosion prior to winter. Total cost of the site work approved by the B.O.W. is $288,573.

In other news, the board approved the acceptance of grants for the Warsaw Police Department and Warsaw-Wayne Township Fire Territory. WPD was issued a $3,656.07 grant for the purchase of seven bulletproof vests. The grant is awarded annually from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to police departments to assure officers have effective devices. The life cycle of a bulletproof vest is 5 years.

Total purchase price for the vests is $7,686. WPD will pay what the grant does not cover.

B.O.W. members Joe Thallemer, Charlie Smith and Jeff Grose also accepted a $1,000 KREMC Operation Round Up grant for the WWFT. The money will help with Family Safety Day, an annual event this year slated for Saturday, Sept. 13, at Central Park.

Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker and Warsaw Police Department Dive Team Commander Joe Hawn also came before the board to ask permission to apply for grants to purchase a new boat and updated sonar equipment for the dive team. Hawn said the current inflatable Zodiac boat used is inadequate when a drowning occurs.

With a recent drowning in Silver Lake (see related), Hawn said the divers had to resort to finding pontoons and other vessels from other agencies to use in the search and recovery process. The Zodiak has a maximum capacity of 5 divers, but Hawn said for the size and type of boat it is, the maximum should only be three people.

Hawn said discussions have already been had with the K21 Foundation, the Community Foundation and KREMC. K21 will consider a $28,039 grant for the boat, the Community Foundation will consider $7,128 for the trailer and KREMC will consider $1,400 for the side scan sonar unit. If all of the grants are approved, a new RescueOne Boat, a two-tier trailer and the sonar unit will be ordered in October.

In other business:

• The go-ahead was given to American Elevator Inc. of Anderson to begin a $63,370 project to complete overhaul the elevator in city hall. The elevator was installed in 1971 and has not worked properly since the city moved its headquarters to the building, at the corner of Center and Buffalo streets. American Elevator was the only company to bid on the project.
• Theresa Sailor of the city’s Stormwater Utility requested to seek bids for a new street sweeper. Sailor said “street sweeping is a stormwater function,” which is why the request came through her office. The cost of a new machine is $190,000, but is needed to replace three sweepers in the city’s possession. One of the units is 24 years old and the other two, which do not work, are 12 years old. The life cycle of a street sweeper is 3 to 5 years. The B.O.W. voted to allow Sailor to seek quotes, but also to look at other options, such as leasing a machine.