WARSAW — The annual St. Paddy’s Day Street Party will officially be happening on Friday, March 17 after the Warsaw Board of Works approved a street closing during Friday’s meeting.

One Ten Craft Meatery throws the St. Paddy’s Day Street Party every year. Last year, the business expected around 100 people and over 350 showed up at the event. After that large attendance, plans for this year are enlarged.

Buffalo Street, between Center and Main streets, will be closed from 9 a.m. on Friday, March 17 until 2 a.m. on Saturday. This allows the team adequate time to set up two large tents, barricades and clean up after the event is completed. Along with a larger space, the event will also have a recycling program this year to help with the cleanup and trash.

Since alcohol is served, the event will have an exit and entrance set up that are monitored by employees. Everyone will be carded at the entrance and will receive a wristband to comply with the alcohol permit. No alcohol will be allowed beyond the set up barricades.

“I just want to make sure we are setup to handle the big crowd,” said Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer. “I feel pretty good about it.”

The street closing was approved by the board.

The Department of Public Works will be receiving a few new vehicles. The current vehicle used for curb painting and weed spraying is a 1996 John Deere Gator. The department was approved to purchase a Kubota Utility vehicle for $12,205 with the trade in of the current Gator. A motion was presented to purchase the vehicle.

The department will also be purchasing a grapple loader truck. This is a self loading truck that will be used to pick up brush. Currently, the process takes five employees. With the new purchase, only one employee will be needed to operate the truck. This will allow for better utilization of time and employees. A motion was presented to allow bids for the vehicle.

Both motions were approved by the board.

The Department of Public Works isn’t the only one getting new equipment. The Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory presented a motion to purchase a new search and rescue training prop. This prop represents a single-story building and will allow for live fire training. The prop will be utilized by all departments in District #2.

The $46,500 cost will be 100 percent reimbursed through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s Infrastructure Maintenance Grant Program that was awarded in August 2016. The purchase was approved by the board.

In other news

• The park board was approved for a contract with The Perry’s a gospel band to perform for the summer concert series.
• The town was approved for a contract with Chicago Dog House to cater the annual city employee picnic.
• The Warsaw Police Department was approved for an annual agreement with Kosciusko County for the records management server.
• The Department of Public Works was approved for an annual agreement with Rowe Map for Simple Signs support.
• The planning department was approved for a purchase agreement for the sewage lift system on Buffalo Street and a pay application for engineering services on the project.
• The wastewater department was approved for an agreement with Wessler Engineering to start a design plan for the plant expansion.