Complimentary
Covering Milford, Syracuse & North Webster, Indiana
New Deputy In Town
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Page 9 One Nation Under God www.the-papers.com
Settlement sought against contractor for blatant violations %\ '(% 3$77(5621 (GLWRU ,Q &KLHI
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WACF annual Lakes Celebration Saturday Celebrate summer at the annual Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation’s Lake Celebration at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 30. The event will be held at the Ruddell Pavilion on the WACF Education Center property, SR 13 just 1 mile south of Syracuse.
Each year WACF hosts a midsummer celebration to bring friends and neighbors together to enjoy brunch and share the progress as WACF works to drive its mission. As the only organization in the area focused solely on the Continued on page 2
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Milford Food Bank is the best kept secret in town 7H[W DQG 3KRWRV %\ %/$,5 %$80*$571(5 6WDII :ULWHU The Milford Food Bank has seen its demand increase by 20-30% in the past few weeks. Bill Doege, the food bank’s operations manager, said, “Food items are becoming harder and harder to get and donations are going down. We currently provide about three semi loads per week to Kosciusko, Elkhart, St. Joe, Allen, Lagrange, Steuben and Noble counties. We service all the way up to DeKalb County and Fremont, but there are only a few pantries in that area.” Paul Kohler, who along with his wife, Tina, operates Paul’s Food Pantry in Olive Township, Elkhart County, said, “We are now taking care of 47 families. The number of families has increased by 10 just in this past week.” Tina said, “I just love to help families.” Paul chimed back in, “There was recently a single mother of three who can’t make ends meet and we were able to help her.” Dennis Wuthrich has volunteered with the Milford Food Bank since its inception 13 years ago.
“The need is growing. We have 120 food pantries we take care of in northern Indiana and southern Michigan and they are telling us their numbers are going up,” he said. According to Joe Shetler, board member for the Milford Food Bank, it’s “the best kept secret in Milford. We have a great place and a lot of people don’t realize what’s happening here.” Continued on page 2
School board seats up for election Three district seats on the Wawasee Community School Board of Trustees are up for election on Nov. 8. Candidate filing for these positions begins Wednesday, July 27, and will continue until noon Friday, Aug. 26. These seats are currently held by Robert Fisher, District 1 — Tippecanoe Township; Andy Cripe, District 2 — Turkey Creek Township; and Rebecca Linnemeier, District 3 — Van Buren Township and Jefferson Precinct 3. The candidates must reside in the district for the seat they are seeking. Linnemeier, who has served on the board for 16 years, has stated she will not be seeking re-election. “It’s been great,” Linnemeier stated, adding her term on the Indiana School Board Association will also be up this year. She wants to spend time traveling with her husband and visiting her children, who all reside outside the area. “It’s time to go travel and enjoy life. I will miss everybody.” Fisher and Cripe could not be reached.
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Syracuse Board of Zoning is seeking a $10,000 settlement from a contractor said to have “blatantly” violated rules and regulations on building a new home for Juan Zambrano on Lakeview Road in Oakwood. The settlement came at the end of a request for a variance to allow the home to remain as constructed, during the board’s meeting Thursday, July 21. “This puts the board in a very difficult spot,” said Matt Sandy, assistant planner. “I’m speechless. This is a very difficult one.” Randy Cox and new board member, Matt Goodnight, both spoke out against the contractor, agreeing with Sandy that the violations were blatant. Ideal Suburban Homes, better known as Ideal Homes, was issued a permit on Sept. 23, 2001, to build a home 25.6 feet from the right of way, 5.1 feet from both sidelines and 25 feet from the water’s edge. However, it was learned when an occupancy permit was requested, the construction didn’t follow the granted permit. The inspection also found a
shed, while small enough not to require a permit, did not follow the setback requirements, and an outdoor kitchen was built on a patio, which was not part of the permit. The home is currently 24.2 feet from the right of way, 3.7 feet from the north side property line, 24 feet from the water’s edge and 1.5 feet from the south property line. The shed is 0.5 feet from the south side property line and 27 feet from the water’s edge. Following a 30-minute discussion, with the only remonstrance being an unsigned letter and a petition with numerous signatures from neighbors in favor, the board approved the patio and stone wall stay as built, granting the variance distance from the water’s edge; to have the air conditioner moved to some other location within the setback guidelines; to move, remove or replace the shed to meet the setback; and the setback from the right of way and side remain as built. Ken Biggs, owner of the construction company, explained how the project came to this point. It was noted he was ashamed and embarrassed it happened. What the board later considered as exContinued on page 2
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Lakeland communities cleaning up after weekend storm %\ /$85(1 =(8*1(5 6WDII :ULWHU Residents in the Lakeland area were awakened to rumbles of thunder, high winds and rain early Saturday morning. When it was all over, residents in Milford, Syracuse and North Webster were left with somewhat of a mess to clean up. According to NIPSCO, 19,500 people in its Goshen local operating area, which encompasses Milford, Syracuse and North Webster, lost power due to the storm. The majority of those households were in the Nappanee area. Mark Frazier, a meteorologist with the Doppler Radar Station in Syracuse, explained the storms came across Lake Michigan in the pre-dawn hours moving southeast after making landfall in southwestern Michigan. The storm had wind speeds in the
50 to 75 mph range and approximately 1.27 inches of rain fell on the area. “We had quite a bit of damage,” Frazier said, noting several trees fell on homes and other structures as well as cars. He said the top wind speed in Kosciusko County was 73 mph, which brought down heavy tree limbs and caused trees to topple. Frazier said the amount of rain that fell was very typical. LaPorte County, where the storm hit the hardest, recorded 2.2 inches of rain while Van Wert County, Ohio, received just over an inch of rain. Steve Marquart, public works superintendent of Milford, said area streets were pretty much opened up Monday morning, July 25. Several streets were closed due to downed power lines. Marquart asked Milford resiContinued on page 2
Matt Goodnight, a Syracuse resident was introduced as the newest member of the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday, July 21. Goodnight replaces the seat held by Joe Cazier, who stepped down. Cazier won the Republican nomination for Turkey Creek Township Trustee in the May primary. He will be unopposed in the November election. Goodnight was initiated with several unique cases Thursday. All petitions were granted, several with conditions. One of those cases involved two requests by Travis Davidson on properties at 1015 S. Huntington St. and 600 S. Huntington St. While the two variance requests were separate, Davidson stated if he was granted his request at 600 S. Huntington St., it would alter
his request for the 1015 S. Huntington St., location. An exception to allow boat trailer storage, overflow parking and overflow storage of sheds was requested at the 1015 S. Huntington St. location. Matt Sandy, assistant planner, gave a history of the property, stating it has been before the board several times, most recently as a request for auto sales and repair. The condition placed at that time was if there were any use change, it would have to come back before the board. Currently the property is being used to store storage sheds and boat trailers as well as overflow parking for Peterson’s Fish. At one time there were more than 40 sheds on the property. After hearing Davidson’s plans for the property and reading a remonstrance letter from Connie Anthony, the petition was approved with conContinued on page 2
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