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Covering Milford, Syracuse & North Webster, Indiana Wednesday, December 20, 2023
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Town Council signs corporate deed for Dolan Street property By LAUREN ZEUGNER Staff Writer The Syracuse Town Council took on a packed agenda with two members, Paul Stoelting and Larry Siegel absent, during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday night, Dec. 19. This was the council’s last meeting of 2023. The council approved and signed a corporate deed transferring the Dolan Street property to the Syracuse -Turkey Creek Township Public Library. Town Attorney Jay Rigdon explained the deed provides protection in the long term to the town and to the library in the short term. Councilman Bill Musser asked who would be responsible for work
being done on the property. Rigdon explained once the property transfer takes place, the library will be responsible for costs. The property is officially transferred when the deed is signed sealed and delivered. After lengthy discussion, the council voted to deny a request from Doug and Jeannine Schrock to vacate an alley behind two lots they recently purchased. Attorney Steve Snyder informed the council of Indiana code regarding vacating a right of way. The state code provides four reasons a right of way cannot be vacated: hindering the neighborhood, making access to anyone else’s property difficult or inconvenient, hinders access to public spaces, Continued on page 2
FIVE DAYS AWAY — Delilah Kolanowski, left, and Tyson Allen work on a Santa craft at Wee Warriors Academy on Tuesday. Dec. 19. They
needed no reminders that the real Santa will be visiting them in just a few days. Photo by Keith Knepp.
By DAVID SLONE Times-Union
with TSW (Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group). The master plan contract will be paid out of a combination of American Rescue Plan Act funds, grant funds from Winona Lake and maybe some Community Foundation funds for the contract of up to $100,000. The commissioners approved the contract for the master plan. The contract with Triad Inc. for the Chinworth Bridge trail extension is still being worked out. • Andrew Ferrell, Purdue Extension, presented the 2024 contractual service agreement between Purdue Extension and the county, which the commissioners approved 3-0. • Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Mulligan presented an $8,000 grant application for the Driving Under the Influence Task Force and a $13,000 grant application for Stop Arm Violation Enforcement. Both were approved. • County Administrator Marsha McSherry presented the EDIT capital improvement plan for 2024, 2025 and 2026, which was approved. The county is required to have the three-year plan. She also presented a proposal from J & K Communications for warranties on the county’s public communications safety equipment and software. The commissioners approved the purchase of the warranty for the software only for five years. • Area Plan Director Matt Sandy presented a rezoning request from Eric and Cara Erlenwein to rezone
Utility extension from Syracuse to South Shore to be studied Parking in North Webster an issue for town council By KEITH KNEPP Staff Writer The North Webster Town Council convened for its final regular meeting Tuesday, Dec. 19, inside the North Webster Community Center. The brief meeting was actually the most animated during the public comment section when local business owner Scott Kuhn, who also serves as the vice president of the North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Chamber of Commerce, brought up his personal concerns about
public parking on West Washington Street. Kuhn noted that when vehicles are at an angle parked on both sides of the street, it becomes very difficult for two moving vehicles to utilize the street at the same time. He asked the council to consider alternatives, including parallel parking on the street, to help free up space for driving. Kuhn acknowledged that doing so would reduce the number of parking spaces for vehicles to use, which would raise the Continued on page 2
Town Council caucus announced, Cockburn resigning Dr. Robert Cockburn, a member of the Milford Town Council, has announced his resignation from the council effective Dec. 31. A caucus to appoint Cockburn’s replacement will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2, in the Milford Town Council Chamber, 121 S. Main St., Milford, by Mike Ragan, chairman of the Kosciusko
County Republican Central Committee. Declarations of candidacy are available at the office of the Kosciusko County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw. An original copy of the declaration must be filed with Ragan no later than 72 hours prior to the commencement of the caucus. Ragan can be reached at (574) 2651430 or mragan@sprintmail.com. The caucus will consist of eligible members of the Republican Precinct Committee members of Van Buren Township, who have served continuously, from 30 days prior to he date of he start of the caucus. The precinct committee member may designate a vice precinct committee member to vote the proxy for the precinct committee member, The board member will be elected by secret ballot of the majority of the members of the voting caucus. Candidates will be allowed a maximum of three minutes to address the voting caucus.
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As the property formerly known as South Shore Golf Course on SR 13 south of Syracuse gets developed, it’s going to need utilities. Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation CEO Alan Tio and Project Director Terry Sweeney requested Tuesday, Dec. 19, from the county commissioners some funding in their Economic Development Income Tax economic project budget for an impact study on extending utilities from the town of Syracuse. “This is a request to partially fund an impact study to help assess the return on the investment for extending utilities down to South Shore from Syracuse,” Sweeney said. “It would be split evenly between the town of Syracuse, the developer and then the county. This came about through a joint meeting of some members of both the County Redevelopment Commission, the developers, (state Rep.) Dave Abott and the town of Syracuse council members and some of their redevelopment commission.” Sweeney said it’s been a “healthy” discussion and it was thought extending the utilities made some sense, but “we need to know the numbers in order to make an informed decision.” The impact study will simply let them know if the utility extension makes sense or if it doesn’t. “It doesn’t do anything more than that, just provides information so that the decision-makers at the county, the developers and the town of Syracuse can figure out what makes sense,” Sweeney said. The county’s portion for the study is $13,333.33 out of the economic development fund. Sweeney said Tio said there was about $45,000 left in that fund. Commissioner Cary Groninger said, “I think this is an important investment for the county to make, to try and figure out how we can better utilize that property, getting utilities out to that particular property is going to be key on his ability to be able to develop, and then, in turn, increase the assessed value of that area.” He made a motion to approve using the economic project funds for the study. Commissioner Bob Con-
Inside
MEETING OF THE MINDS — North Webster Town Marshal Greg Church, left, and Town Attorney Jack Birch have a discussion prior to the Tuesday evening, Dec. 19 meeting of the North Webster Town Council. Photo by Keith Knepp.
UTILITY EXTENSION STUDY REQUESTED — Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation Project Director Terry Sweeney requested from the county commissioners some funding in the Economic Development Income Tax economic project budget for an impact study on extending utilities from the town of Syracuse to South Shore. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union. ley seconded it, and it passed 3-0. The commissioners also approved the 2024 KEDCO service agreement between the commissioners and KEDCO for economic development services. The contract is for $300,000, payable over 12 months. Tio said, “We presented that a few weeks ago. No changes to the language of the agreement. It’s the same template we had for (2023). I appreciate the ongoing partnership with the county in our economic efforts.” In other business: • Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty requested to buy a paver from McAllister’s through Sourcewell. Total cost is $598,149 and will be purchased in June when it comes in, he said. The money for the paver will come from EDIT funds. The commissioners approved the purchase. • Kosciusko Area Bus Service General Manager Steve Lockridge presented the quarterly operating expense plan for Section 5311 Rural Transit. He said they were requesting $86,802 from the federal operating funds and $43,401 from the state match for a total of $130,246. The commissioners approved the claims. • Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board President Rob Bishop presented the commissioners with the contract for the blueways and greenways master plan
Teen Brings Boxing Title To North Webster
See Page 8 See Public Notices On Page 11
property from agricultural to agricultural-2. The property is in Turkey Creek Township on CR 900N, about a quarter of a mile east of Ind. 13. The Area Plan Commission recommended the commissioners approve the rezoning, which they did. There were no remonstrators. Sandy also presented a contract renewal with Emans Engineering for drainage reviews. The contract is for $750 per review. The commissioners approved the contract on a month-to-month basis. • The commissioners elected Conley as president for 2024 and Groninger for vice president. • Commissioner Brad Jackson remembered former Commissioner Eddie Creighton, who died in November. Creighton was elected to three terms as commissioner. “I had the honor of working with him. He was a really good man. He’s probably one of the wisest men that I knew. And what actually made me think of that is, back when we started, they didn’t used to do a pledge or a prayer before the meeting. And I suggested we do a pledge, hoping that eventually we’ll get a prayer in there, and Eddie is the one who said why don’t we go ahead and do that,” Jackson said, adding that he had a lot of good memories of working with Creighton and he learned a lot from him. “He had a huge impact on our community and a great legacy. He’s a good man.” The Jan. 2 commissioner meeting has been cancelled. The next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Jan. 16.
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