WARSAW — The status of street lights, which have not been working for months, was a topic of discussion by Warsaw Common Council members Monday evening, March 21.

Councilman Mike Klondaris questioned Jeremy Skinner, city planner, if there had been any response from NIPSCO on a list of nonoperational street lights in the city he had provided. He noted some lights have been out for months downtown.

Skinner stated he has submitted the request twice, through their online form, to NIPSCO. He noted there are two issues, the lights that NIPSCO controls and those lights on traffic signal posts. “They (NIPSCO) are no longer doing those (those on the signal posts). They are our lights and we don’t have the equipment to maintain them. We will need to figure a way to do that.”

Council members questioned if the city is still paying the bill for lights that are not working. It was noted it would be difficult to know due to the billing method of those lights.

Council Member Cindy Dobbins pointed out since October there are two intersections downtown, which only have one light operable, making it dark for downtown events. Thallemer asked for the list to contact his government liaison to see if some action can be received.

Property Rezoned

During other business the council unanimously approved the rezoning of property owned by Kauffman Developments LLC from residential to commercial. The property is east of Meijer on the south side of US 30 and  the only parcel not zoned commercial. Skinner reported the city’s plan commission reviewed the ordinance for conformance with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and various ordinances and passed the ordinance on to the council with a favorable recommendation. The commercial zoning change is to C5 – for large box companies.

Richard Helm, attorney for Jennifer Kauffman, owner of the limited liability company, noted his client was not looking to put a big box company on a small tract of land. The rezoning would make the property consistent with property around it. He noted it is likely Kauffman will move her business, Vein Institute, to that location in the future.

Council members did question easement to the property and thoughts of adjacent property owners. There is an easement to the property from the main drive at Meijer to that property and that owned by Martha Robinson. It was also stated Dan Robinson, on behalf of his mother Martha, was in favor of the rezoning.

Helms stated Deeds Creek, which is to the east of the property is a natural barrier between the commercially zoned properties and the residential area of Spring Hill Estates.

Other action by the council was the approval for the re-appropriation of a $4,800 grant received through the Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Bureau for the Lucerne Park Disk Golf. The grant reimbursed the city for the equipment installed.

The next meeting of the council will be Monday, April 5. The council will be meeting at 5 p.m. instead of the regular time of 7 p.m.