Winamac’s Owen Abbott Memorial Splash Pad is proving to be a hit. Town Manager Brad Zellers told the town council Monday he’s already had to expand the hours. “I went up there a couple mornings,” he explained. “There was a line at nine o’clock in the morning, so I changed it to 9:00 a.m. to go off at 10:00 p.m.”
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A lack of cemetery mowing bids recently drew some concern from the Winamac Town Council. The lone bid came from Dan’s Mowing, which has handled the service for the past few years.
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The Town of Winamac is keeping much of its leadership the same for another year, but a few uncertainties remain. During the first town council meeting of 2021 Monday, members reappointed Mike Buchanan as chief of police.
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Efforts to add decorative lighting to the Winamac Town Park’s Memorial Bridge are drawing community support. Project organizer Greg Henry told the Winamac Park Board Thursday that he’s already heard from people interested in donating. “It’s kind of a big project, much bigger than I anticipated at first,” Henry said. “But it’s going in the right direction.”
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Pulaski County’s General Election ended with some incumbents unseated in tight races. Democrat Linda Powers lost her District 3 County Council seat to Republican Brian Young by a margin of 56-to-44 percent. Winamac Town Council Member Dan Vanaman lost his at-large seat by just five votes, coming behind fellow Republican Alvin Parish and Democratic challenger Dave Schambers.
The number of contested races is starting to add up, heading into the May primary. Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin has filed to run for reelection this year. At this point, the incumbent Democrat faces a challenge from Republican Thomas Decola.
The Winamac Pool Committee continues to raise money for the town’s swimming pool rebuilding project, but confusion remains about how exactly the project will proceed. A fish fry fundraiser is taking place this evening from 4:00 to 7:00 at the Winamac VFW. The need for private fundraising has increased in recent weeks, after the Town of Winamac pulled its official support.
The Winamac Police Department will be welcoming a new reserve officer onto their force following a decision made by the Winamac Town Council on Wednesday night. Town Marshal Michael Buchanan came before the council requesting permission to add Alec Berger to the Winamac Police Department as a non-paid reserve officer. Buchanan explained that Berger currently works as a reserve officer for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s office but he recently expressed interest in working for the Winamac Police Department.
Buchanan provided a nice recommendation for Berger, and though he said he wouldn’t be going out on calls by himself, he feels adding him would benefit the force. Continue reading
The Winamac Town Council met for a special session last night to discuss a few matters, including the future of constructing a new community pool.
Funds that were previously expected from Pulaski County are not available due to a shortfall in local income tax revenues. An account that existed for the old pool was set aside for recreational purposes once the old pool was closed. In the past, that account typically contained around $40,000 but it had to be dipped into to help balance Winamac’s budget to make up for the difference that was not received from the county.
The town did not receive the DNR LWCF grant they applied for which also set the project back. For these reasons, certain council members were questioning the practicality of going forward with the proposed pool project. Continue reading
