The Kosciusko County Commissioners declared May to be Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month in the county at their meeting on Tuesday, April 26. From left: Kosciusko County Commissioners’ Vice President Brad Jackson, Kosciusko County ABATE member and Auditor’s Office Financial Deputy Teena Pence, ABATE  Secretary Cheryl Ganger, ABATE Representative Jerry Ganger and Kosciusko County Commissioner Bob Conley and Commissioners’ President Cary Groninger. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Kosciusko County Commissioners have approved several rezoning requests, including for a housing development at the old South Shore golf course.

That was done at the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, April 26.

The four requests, which were presented by Kosciusko County Area Assistant Planner and Floodplain Administrator Matt Sandy, previously received favorable recommendations at the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission’s meeting on April 6.

Two of the requests involved rezoning property at the former South Shore golf course in Syracuse. Steve Snyder, the attorney for South Shore Ventures LLC, which owns the course, spoke in favor of the rezoning, with no remonstrators at the meeting.

Twenty acres of the former golf course are being rezoned from residential and public use to agricultural and around 54 acres from public use to residential. The former will allow the Lakeland Youth Center to relocate there “along with some outdoor sports fields,” said Snyder. The other request involves the creation of a subdivision.

Snyder said he plans to come before the commissioners later to ask to rezone the remaining acreage at the golf course to commercial.

Snyder noted before the commissioners voted that the rezoning was important because Syracuse doesn’t have much room left to expand.

“Overall it’s in my opinion a very ambitious, but very necessary addition to the community,” he said. “Syracuse has no space left, and whether it’s commercial development or residential development, there’s too much swamp around Syracuse and the other side is (a) lake, so you’ve got to find some area that can be utilized for these purposes.”

Commissioners also approved rezoning property south of Barbee Road in Tippecanoe Township from agricultural to residential and the former Gilsinger property in Leesburg from agricultural to industrial II.

Greg Stump spoke in favor of the former, saying he hopes “to put two duplexes on it,” by splitting it into two lots. The second request was from Fast Labs LLC, and no one spoke in favor of it Tuesday.

There were no remonstrators for the final two requests.

Speed limit

The commissioners also approved changing the speed limit on CR 1250N from the area of Jeremy Drive to CR 100E at Milford. The speed limit will be reduced from 55 mph to 30 mph.

Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty sought the request.

“Currently the town of Milford has a 30 mph speed limit and it connects to our 55, so we’ll be wanting to slow them down before they get to the curve,” he said.

In other business:

• Commissioner Bob Conley read a proclamation declaring May Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month in the county. Kosciusko County ABATE Representative Jerry Ganger and Secretary Cheryl Ganger were present for the designation.
• The commissioners approved a quote from Koorsen Fire & Security for a new fire alarm system for the Kosciusko County Justice Building. Kosciusko County Administrator Marsha McSherry noted the company’s original price of $89,748 didn’t include some of what the county needed, so there’s an additional cost of $5,600 for a total of $95,348. Another company that bid for the project, Priority 1, had a quote of $176,586.
• Approved a quote from Masonry Solutions to complete repairs at the Kosciusko County Courthouse at a cost not to exceed $22,000.
• Approved renewing the county’s liability insurance through W.R. Hall Insurance Group.

The commissioners’ next meeting is 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 10, at the courthouse’s Old Courtroom.