A seventh change order for renovations of what will soon be the new Warsaw City Hall was approved by the Board of Works and Public Safety board today.

The total amount approved by board members Charlie Smith, Jeff Grose and Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer was $19,980, but even that amount still leaves the city “well below the 8 percent we predicted,” said Thallemer. “When you’re remodeling a 100-year-old building we’ll have to expect things.”

Today’s change order includes $10,100 for smoke detectors and fire alarms, door contacts and motion detectors. Although Thallemer said the smoke detectors and fire alarms are not required because the city is having firewalls built, he said it makes sense to install those things anyway so the city is including them as “add-ons.”

The additional $9,880 in the change order is for installation of exterior dri-design panels. Thallemer explained that when the contractor removed existing exterior sheeting, it was determined it was not sufficient for installation of the dri-design panels.

It was also noted a deduction of $3,720 was made possible when the HVAC system on the second floor was reworked.

A matter that was put on hold at the last B.O.W. meeting was voted on and approved today. That was a 5-year contract with ACS Government Systems Inc. for records management software.

At the May 17 B.O.W. meeting, Mike Brubaker, fire chief for the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory, asked the board to consider the contract which would have ACS provide record keeping of such things as fire hydrant locations, business pre plans, site histories and other valuable information fire firefighters can access while en route to any fire scene.

ACS would provide hosting and technological support for a period of 5 years. Minimum cost of the annual contract would be $3,103, but the city now pays $1,570 per year for a less sophisticated system that is not accessible by all in-truck computers and, in the event of a catastrophic event that could destroy the fire station, the information would be lost. By utilizing ACS, all information is constantly backed up and accessible on all department computers and in-truck computers.

The contract with ACS was unanimously approved.

In other business:

• Cell phone allowances were approved for six employees of the Warsaw Police Department. The city has done away with cell phone plans and has instead opted to reimburse employees who use their own cell phones as part of their employment. Thallemer says the city expects to save approximately $30,000 this year by moving to the reimbursement plan.
• Warsaw Police Department was given approval to again take part in the Bulletproof Vest Partnership program through the U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance. With the partnership program, WPD will foot the initial bill of approximately $7,000 for 7 vests, but the USDOJ will reimburse half of the total. Lt. Kip Shuter said the vests must be replaced about every 5 years due to a breakdown in the kevlar material due to normal wear and tear.
• A contract with Bockman Brothers Painting Services was approved for a total of $2,570. Services will include painting four rooms and two hallways within the WPD.
• Approval was given for the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory to accept a $2,000 grant for the Play it Safe Family Safety Day. The grant is from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation’s Kosciusko REMC Operation RoundUp Fund. This year’s event will take place Sept. 8 at Central Park. 
• The street department was given approval to purchase a Bobcat S750 and S150 Skid-Steer loader for a total of $28,360.57, which includes trade-ins.