Six city employees were recognized Friday at the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety for their service anniversaries. Shown from left are Derek Shilling, Warsaw Wayne Fire Territory, 20 years; Kyle Martin, WWFT, five years; Roger Sarber, Warsaw Municipal Airport, 10 years; Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose; Staci Young, mayor’s office, 15 years; and Eric Hoffhien, Warsaw Street Department, five years. Not pictured is Paul Heaton, Warsaw Police Department, 15 years. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — A road closure for September’s Family Safety Day was approved Friday, June 21 by the Board of Public Works and Safety, and six Warsaw employees with a total of 70 years of experience with the city were recognized.

Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling said Family Safety Day will be Sept. 14 in Central Park. The event will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with road closures starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

The roads to be closed will be Canal Street from North Indiana Street to the east parking lots and North Indiana Street, north of Canal Street, to Buffalo Street.

Board member George Clemens asked how many years in a row has there been a Family Safety Day. Assistant to the Chief Heather Vogts said she wasn’t sure, but she has information that goes back to 2011. Firefighter Aaron Bolinger said Chief Mike Rice was here when it started, so “a long time,” Shilling said.

According to a previous Times-Union article, the last Family Safety Day before the COVID-19 pandemic was in 2019. It then returned in 2023.

Councilwoman Diane Quance made a motion to approve the road closure request “because it’s always a lot of fun.”
Shilling agreed it was and welcomed all the board members to attend.

Clemens seconded Quance’s motion and it passed 3-0.

Every month at a board of works meeting, Human Resource Director Denny Harlan recognizes city employees who have service anniversaries in increments of five.

“This month we get to recognize six of our employees. And like the mayor said, it counts up to 70 years of experience that we’re going to recognize today,” he said.

The June 2024 service anniversaries included Eric Hoffhien, street department, and Kyle Martin, WWFT, with five years each; Roger Sarber, Warsaw Municipal Airport, 10 years; Paul Heaton, Warsaw Police Department, and Staci Young, mayor’s office, 15 years each; and Derek Shilling, WWFT, 20 years.

Harlan also presented the new hire and change in payroll report, which the board approved. It included one new seasonal hire for the street department, laborer Josh Reihl full time at $17 per hour; and the firefighter that was made part time at the board’s June 7 meeting was moved to full-time probationary firefighter as all of his paperwork came through between the two meetings. The new probationary firefighter is Delton Moore with a salary of $2,283.23 biweekly.

The remaining changes in the report were for shift changes and adding stipends to firefighters’ pay for the dive team or public safety education team member.

The last thing Harlan presented were five travel requests, all of which were approved.

City Planner Justin Taylor presented two pay applications for the Lincoln Sidewalk Project. Both were for construction inspection services from The Troyer Group, with one being for $25,527.06 and the second for $8,427.90. The Indiana Department of Transportation will pay 80% of each one. The board approved both of them separately.

Due to the Fourth of July holiday, the next Board of Works meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 3.