Winamac Park Board to Explore Fence Improvements at Town Park Ball Fields

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger
Entrance to the Winamac Town Park

The fencing surrounding some of the Winamac Town Park’s athletic fields may soon be getting an upgrade. “I love what they’ve done to the girls’ softball field, with what Francesville Drain Tile did on the top of that fence,” Park Board President Courtney Poor said during last week’s meeting. “I would like to try and I will take this upon myself as a project, to get in touch with some of the folks over there and see how much it would cost us to do the little league diamond and the other girls’ softball diamond in the same manner.”

Continue reading →

Winamac Town Manager to Look into Property Request More Before Making Recommendation

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Winamac Town Manager Brad Zellers plans to look into a particular property request a little more before bringing any definitive recommendations before town council members.

Back in December, property owner Jason Potthoff requested sectioning off a portion of a road that carries onto his property. Potthoff explained that he owns the old Co-Op building at the end of Franklin Street. Continue reading →

Winamac Town Council Approves Backflow Testing Fees

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Winamac Water Department Superintendent Jeremy Beckner presented town council members with different fees to consider for the town’s backflow testing services during Monday night’s meeting.

When the town adjusted their water rates, they also offered to perform backflow testing for a flat $35 rate. However, Proscapes Owner Jason Potthoff came before the council and expressed a concern that the low rate for all systems, regardless of size, may prevent other licensed businesses from fairly competing with the town for backflow testing services.

Before approving the amended water rates, the town removed the section about backflow testing fees so Superintendent Beckner could do some research and provide some other potential prices. Continue reading →

Winamac Town Council to Hold Public Hearing Over OCRA Grant Tonight, Regular Meeting Scheduled for Afterwards

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

The Winamac Town Council will hold a public hearing to discuss the OCRA Grant Application for the Wastewater project. It will be held at 6 p.m. with their regular meeting rescheduled to take place immediately after the hearing adjourns.

The OCRA Grant that is up for discussion is a competitive grant worth $700,000 that will help cover costs of the proposed upgrades to the Wastewater treatment plant. In order to be eligible for the funding, the application will need to be submitted by February 9th. Continue reading →

Property Owner Brings Request to Section Off a Portion of Franklin Street Before Winamac Town Council

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Property owner Jason Potthoff approached Winamac Town Council members last week, seeking permission to section off a portion of Franklin Street that carries onto his property.

Potthoff first stated that the section in question is much more like an alley than a street.. He explained that he currently owns the old Co-Op property at the end of Franklin Street. He told council members that he recently obtained the last building in the area that he didn’t own and clean-up crews have started some work on the structure.

He said now that the entire property is being utilized, safety concerns are what brought him to the council to propose a potential solution. Continue reading →

Winamac Town Council Members Unanimously Pass Water Rate Ordinance after Removing Section about Backflow Testing

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

A public hearing was held over water rate adjustments prior to last night’s Winamac Town Council meeting.

The adjustments to the water raters are being proposed as a way to cover the town’s water project. Eric Walsh from Umbaugh and Associates was present and provided some details about the $1.6 million water project.

He explained that the town has been planning for this project for many years, which assisted them in receiving a grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs in the amount of $550,000. He added that the remainder of the project will be covered by borrowing from the electric utility at 1% interest rate. He said this will cause water rates to rise slightly.

Walsh said, “It is resulting in about a 9 percent, little less than 9 percent increase on your water bills. So to an average residential customer [using] about 5,000 gallons a month, that’s a $3 a month of an increase.”

Walsh said if the town hadn’t pre-planned or received the OCRA grant, rates could have increased by about 20 percent, costing the average customer to pay $6 to $7 more. He said no one likes to increase rates, but he commended the council members for the proactive steps they took to keep the increases from being doubled. Continue reading →