The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1049018
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, November 7, 2018 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS Food Drive for Irene's Room, Saturday, Nov. 10 There will be a Food Drive, Saturday, Nov. 10 for Irene's Room from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Patoka Township Fire Sta- tion, located on State Road 61, Winslow. For every donation brought in you will be served a dessert and drink. There will be small prizes and bal- loons for the children. The Pa- toka Township Resuce Truck Squad 5 will be demonstrat- ing their Extrication Tools. GriefShare 'Surviving the Holidays' seminar First General Baptist Church, 224 W. Harrison St., Oakland City will be having an afternoon of helpful sug- gestions and insight into sur- viving the holidays after the loss of a loved one, Sunday, Nov. 11 from 3:30 -5:30 p.m. CST. Class consists of vid- eo interviews with seasoned counselors and group discus- sion. Facilitators are Scott and Barbara Watson who ex- perienced the death of their eight-year- old son. A $5 dona- tions will be accepted to help cover the cost of the seminar workbook. Everyone is wel- come. NARFE meeting slated for Nov. 14 NARFE Chapter 1847 will meet for the monthly meeting on Wednesday November 14, 2018, at noon. The meeting will be at the Schnitzelbank Restaurant in Jasper. The speaker will be Barbara Sim- merman, of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to tell the members of changes in the healthcare plans. NARFE is open to all active and retired employees. Upcoming event? We want to know! Do you have an upcoming event? Send it to news@press- dispatch.net or call 812-354- 8500. 604 E. Illinois St., Petersburg 812-354-1303 Regular Hours: Mon-Thur:10am-7pm Friday:10am-6pm • Saturday: 10am-1pm Black Friday Savings Black Friday Savings Single $255 $220 Student/Senior $205 $170 Husband/Wife $430 $395 Family $605 $510 NOW 1 FREE WEEK OF TANNING with purchase of year membership $60 $20 2 MONTHS TANNING NEW ZONE GRUNT-STYLE T-SHIRTS ANY BED Like us on Facebook! 1-year Memberships Savings Valid Only Nov. 23 & 24 Friday:10am-6pm • Saturday: 10am-3pm MARRIAGE LICENSES Jason Lee Heldt, 43, of 224 N. CR 700 W., Petersburg, son of Mark Heldt and Anna Johnson Leslie, to Mary Hel- dt, 44, of 244 N. CR 700 W., Petersburg, daughter of Eu- gene Carver and Judy Miller Carver. Brandon N. Boyle, 29, of 8458 W. SR 65, Hazleton, son of Raymond Boyle and Linda Brian Boyle, to Nichole Lynn Ritchie, 24, of 8458 W. SR 65, Hazleton, daughter of Nich- olas Lee Ritchie and Erica Lynn Hurt Ritchie. Petersburg blight application forwarded By James Capozella A six-inch stack of papers make up the application being forward- ed for the blight clearance project involving two buildings on Main Street. Indiana 15 Regional Plan- ning Commission Director Lisa R. Gehlhausen explained the pro- cess and work to be done on the two buildings, owned by the City of Petersburg, following the Mon- day night hearing and unanimous vote on the project by all five coun- cil members. The $452,000 project is from Community Block Grant Funds and is the first proposal turned in, according to Gehlhausen. The Petersburg Council meeting was suspended for the Blight Clear- ance Public Hearing, which had no public input. The council then voted and signed, as required, fol- lowing the close of business. Gehlhausen said because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the re- sponse would probably be some time in mid-December. She said it would be "black and white, yes or no." Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch was thankful for the fed- eral "blessing" on the job. He said the renovation was originally part of the Stellar plan, which would have made the buildings a senior center or some other acceptable use. Petersburg has a $46,000 lo- cal match for the $452,000 proj- ect, which will restore the facade, strengthen walls and rebuild the structures on a slab foundation. Councilman John Melhiser asked Gehlhausen if restoring of the fa- cade was more costly and she said it was, but that was what was need- ed to secure the grant. Klipsch said the situation there is dangerous and needs to be made safe. David A. Henson, of Architec- tural Design Concepts, LLC, ex- plained to the council the struc- tures that would be in place to make the buildings safe and al- so "protect the Boyd building." His presentation included aeri- al photos, maps and drawings. Henson explained that the mon- ey was available on a "first-come, first-served" basis and Petersburg was the only application pending. Henson added that they must "get the job done, and then go for more money next year." The application is the first step in solving the problem for the city. Henson said the historic as- pect of the buildings will be pre- served while limiting the risk in what Klipsch termed "a tricky project." Presently, the city has a 10 -percent liability risk for the properties. Gehlhausen said there could be environmental concerns, such as asbestos removal, once the work is begun, but the city would not bare any of those costs. IMPROVEMENT PERMITS Petersburg zoning district per- mits control how land is being used and prevents owners from having to take down construc- tion, such as fences, according to Klipsch. He said the city averag- es between 35 and 40 permits per year, but now the number is down to 11. Klipsch said the permits are required for residents within the city limits and also those inside the zoning district. There was a discussion be- tween Mayor Klipsch, Council- man John Melhiser, Councilman Gary Leavitt and others, cen- tered around the fact that the county stopped requiring build- ing permits. Melhiser present- ed the question of why the coun- ty dropped the building permit re- quirement and how it had adverse- ly affected the city zoning district. SALARY ORDINANCE Due to an open worker slot and the ongoing water meter and ser- vice line replacement project, Klipsch proposed a salary change for Labor I and Labor II of $13 and $16 respectively. The Labor II lev- el pay is for an experienced per- son and the Labor I is the rate for a new inexperienced hire. Klipsch said the city needs to hire some- one for meter installation and oth- er jobs as well. Under City Services updates, it was reported that several man- hole covers have been sealed to prevent rain water infiltration into the sewer system. About a 30,000 gallon reduction per day in infil- tration has been accomplished. Klipsch explained that city work- ers are out during the rain iden- tifying such infiltration and are making headway in the matter. Six man-holes have been sealed and two more have been identi- fied, according to Ross Elmore. Regarding the infiltration prob- lems, Klipsch said, "sink holes are popping up all the time." It was reported that 31 road cuts for service lines are awaiting pave- ment. That work is running be- hind due to pavement companies being stretched thin because of other area projects. City Services superintendent Ross Elmore re- ports that about 100 water meters have been replaced out of the ap- proximate 1400 the water depart- ment maintains. DEPARTMENT UPDATES Klipsch reports that Code En- forcement officer Kyle Mills is working on abandoned vehicles and unsafe buildings. In a related matter, Klipsch reported that sev- en houses were on the demolition list at a cost of $25,000 each. Klipsch informed the council that the white paint lines found around town are a part of the man- agement plan required prior to the upcoming water system upgrade. One water adjustment was made for a customer. Clerk-Treasurer Tammy Selby reported she went out to the residence, where an out- side facet had been turned on. Police Chief Chuck Baumgart told the council that he was updat- ing operating procedures for insur- ance purposes and it would proba- bly be complete by the end of the year. He reported that the police ve- hicles were in good shape due to a recently utilized replacement pro- gram and that one vehicle would be completely outfitted shortly. Council president Fran Lew- is reported there was mailbox damaged from farm equipment. Baumgart said it happens ev- ery year and usually the farmer pays for the damage if they are aware. Councilman Bertis Jenkins agreed with the situation. Equip- ment is continually increasing in size for the fall harvest. Petersburg Fire Chief Ross El- more reported the recent activ- ities of the department. He said they participated in the Trunk-or- Treat at the library and also gave a fire engine ride to 12 elementa- ry school children. He reminded everyone that the time change was an excellent time to change bat- teries in smoke detectors. He al- so said there are smoke detectors, as well as installation, available to the public. During the public works meet- ing, it was noted that a large sink hole, caused by a sewer line leak, at the corner of Illinois Street and SR 57 south, was being repaired by INDOT. Elmore said that was one repair job for which the city was not liable. Councilman Gary Leavitt said it was a deep hole next to the Evans and Sons camper lot on the southeast corner of Illinois Street and SR57 south. In other business, Klipsch in- formed the council that the city was increasing parking spots on Poplar and in front of Home Build- ing on Main Street. The increased parking spots are delineated by white lines. He also said that north Eighth Street, beside Friends, would be expanded as well. The mayor also wanted it to be known that the city is not in the tree trimming business. The pol- icy for the city is for storm dam- aged trees and limb pickup. Baumgart reported that residents need to be careful when burning and must use an approved con- tainer. Rural Winslow man arrested for theft of neighbors' yard implements By Andy Heuring A rural Winslow man was ar- rested for theft after his neighbors called police about their missing yard implements. Alex G. Mabrey, 23, of S. C-T Lane, Winslow, was arrested Sat- urday on a Level 6 felony charge of theft by Pike County Sheriff's Sgt. Dallas Killian. Sgt. Killian said on Tuesday, Oc- tober 30, he was asked to talk with David Smith, of rural Winslow. Smith told Sgt. Killian his log split- ter and a blade for his tractor had been stolen. Smith also told Sgt. Killian his neighbor, Brian Ramsey, who lives on Highway 64, had several things stolen as well. Killian said he found Ramsey had filed a report on Octo- ber 17 about his push mower, roto tiller, log splitter and air compres- sor being stolen. Ramsey told Sgt. Killian he thought Mabrey, who was also a neighbor, had taken them. Killian said on November 3, Smith contacted him and said he thought he had located his log split- ter and tiller. Smith said he had talked with the Gayhart family and David said he had purchased a tiller from Mabrey and it matched the description of Smith's. Killian said he then talked with Da- vid Gayhart, who had a bill of sale for the tiller. Gayhart said Mabrey told him he had bought it at an auction. Sgt. Killian then went to talk to Mabrey and asked him about selling the tiller and log splitter. He initial- ly denied it, but eventually admitted to taking them from his neighbors. He was taken into custody. Sgt. Killian said during a record- ed interview, Mabrey also denied knowing about the other items, but eventually said he sold them to Mark Gregory at the old furniture store near Minnis Trailer court. Petersburg Police Cpl. Jared Sim- mons talked with Gregory and re- trieved the items, except for a push mower. History Center honoring veterans A display honoring Pike County veterans will be on exhibit at the Pike County History Center this week and through Veter- ans Day. Some of the displays included newspaper stories about major events and local soldiers during World War I and II.