The Press-Dispatch

January 13, 2021

The Press-Dispatch

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B-2 Wednesday, Januar y 13, 2021 The Press-Dispatch Want to share your news with others? The Press-Dispatch can help deliver it to Pike and the surrounding counties. NEWS! 812-354-8500 COUNCIL Continued from page 1 3.5 CU. FT. WASHER NTW4615FW Dual Action Agitator, Porcelain Tub, Late Lid Lock, Deep Water Wash Option, Delicate Cycle 6.5 CU. FT. DRYER NED4665EW Automatic Dryness Control, Wrinkle Prevent Option, Cool Down Cycle, 11 Dryer Cycles each NOW WAS $616 EACH $ 449 HOME COMFORT CENTER ENGLERTSHOMECOMFORTCENTER.COM 650 W. Division, Jasper • 812-482-2246 OPEN: Mon., Tues., Thurs. 9-5:30; Wed. & Fri. 9-7; Sat. 9-3 Freezers and Refrigerators in stock Savings just a call away! Purchasing home, life, and auto is just one of many ways to save. SAVE BIG WITH MULTIPLE POLICIES 5444 E INDIANA ST # 113 EVANSVILLE, IN 47715 JALEXANDER@FARMERSAGENT.COM Janet Alexander Your Local Agent 812.632.9164 Get smart and save hundreds with Farmers multi-policy discounts! Restrictions apply. 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Visit farmers.com for a complete listing of companies. Not all insurers are authorized to provide insurance in all states. Coverage is not available in all states. Life Insurance issued by Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, 3120 139th Ave. SE, Ste. 300, Bellevue, WA 98005. Savings just a call away! Purchasing home, life, and auto is just one of many ways to save. SAVE BIG WITH MULTIPLE POLICIES 5444 E INDIANA ST # 113 EVANSVILLE, IN 47715 JALEXANDER@FARMERSAGENT.COM Janet Alexander Your Local Agent 812.632.9164 Get smart and save hundreds with Farmers multi-policy discounts! Restrictions apply. Discounts may vary. Not available in all states. See your agent for details. Insurance is underwritten by Farmers Insurance Exchange and other affiliated insurance companies. Visit farmers.com for a complete listing of companies. Not all insurers are authorized to provide insurance in all states. Coverage is not available in all states. Life Insurance issued by Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, 3120 139th Ave. SE, Ste. 300, Bellevue, WA 98005. Savings just a call away! Purchasing home, life, and auto is just one of many ways to save. SAVE BIG WITH MULTIPLE POLICIES 5444 E INDIANA ST # 113 EVANSVILLE, IN 47715 JALEXANDER@FARMERSAGENT.COM Janet Alexander Your Local Agent 812.632.9164 Get smart and save hundreds with Farmers multi-policy discounts! Restrictions apply. Discounts may vary. Not available in all states. See your agent for details. Insurance is underwritten by Farmers Insurance Exchange and other affiliated insurance companies. Visit farmers.com for a complete listing of companies. Not all insurers are authorized to provide insurance in all states. Coverage is not available in all states. Life Insurance issued by Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, 3120 139th Ave. SE, Ste. 300, Bellevue, WA 98005. Savings just a call away! one of many discounts! Savings just a call away! Purchasing home, life, and auto is just one of many ways to save. SAVE BIG WITH MULTIPLE POLICIES 5444 E INDIANA ST # 113 EVANSVILLE, IN 47715 JALEXANDER@FARMERSAGENT.COM Janet Alexander Your Local Agent 812.632.9164 Get smart and save hundreds with Farmers multi-policy discounts! Restrictions apply. Discounts may vary. Not available in all states. See your agent for details. Insurance is underwritten by Farmers Insurance Exchange and other affiliated insurance companies. Visit farmers.com for a complete listing of companies. Not all insurers are authorized to provide insurance in all states. Coverage is not available in all states. Life Insurance issued by Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, 3120 139th Ave. SE, Ste. 300, Bellevue, WA 98005. WINSLOW Continued from page 1 out. Pulled hose and cleaned things up," said Popp about an effort to bring things into com- pliance. Popp said, in one instance, the fire truck wouldn't start and they couldn't respond with it to a fire call. Brewster said the town council had not had a sit- down meeting with the fire department to demand cer- tain things be done and cer- tain reports be provided to the council. Popp and Lamb argued they had done that. "We sat down with them and told them we wanted at least a firefighter one (a cer- tification level). Only one per- son has made that effort." Popp, a certified fire traine,r said he started a training class for the Winslow Fire Depart- ment. "A few attended the early meetings of it and they weren't successful. I put on a training clinic and they didn't participate." "I hate to have the disagree- ment on it. . . I don't see you getting firemen who aren't al- ready on a department. We can't afford a new apparatus, new gear," said Popp. "We can afford new airbot- tles, new turnout gear." "If you want to vote on it to- night. I can not vote for it," said Brewster. "What info do you need to have? " said Lamb "It's info I want to know," said Brewster. Popp asked for a roll call vote, noting he and Brewster were at City Hall, but Lamb was on quarantine and tak- ing part in the meeting over a Zoom call. "No, on lack of information," said Brewster. "I really think it is the best option for the town. I vote yes. Financially, this our best op- tion," said Lamb. Popp then said he would vote yes on the measure. "You aren't eligible to vote on it," said Brewster. Popp is a member of the Pa- toka Township Fire Depart- ment. "I checked with the attor- ney and he said I can vote for it. I don't have a conflict of in- terest. I only get paid $200," said Popp. Lamb told Brewster she would like to help him get whatever answers he needs, "but you won't tell us what your questions are." "There is a fire territory tax going to get levied," said Brewster. "No, there isn't," said Popp. "No, not yet," said Lamb. "The when, is when the town council adopts a fire ter- ritory, then it gets levied," said Brewster. Popp and Lamb said the town council would have to approve the territory. "Are you going to vote to ap- prove it, Dick? I can't vote on that," said Popp. He said that would be a conflict for him. "I didn't vote for this, I'm not voting for that," said Brewster. Popp said he couldn't vote on the issue so it wouldn't get passed. Brewster continued to ar- gue Popp wasn't eligible to vote on contracting with Pato- ka for fire protection. He said he talked with an Evansville attorney and another attor- ney, and both independently told him the same thing, that Popp was ineligible to vote be- cause of conflict of interest. Popp said the town attorney told him he could vote on the issue. "I'm not going to endan- ger the citizens of the town to not provide fire protection. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. We will deal with it." DIXON NAMED NEW CLERK-TREASURER Dixon took his oath of office at the beginning of the meet- ing and then took notes for the meeting's minutes. Dixon replaces former Town Clerk-Treasurer Stacy McCandless. She resigned after taking criticism over the hours of the office since the pandemic hit. Popp said they had 18 ap- plicants for the position. "We filtered it down. In the end, it was a difficult decision. But I'm glad it was a difficult de- cision." The council discussed de- linquent water bills. Brewster said there were numerous peo- ple who had been delinquent on their water bills. So instead of disconnecting their water, they worked out an arrange- ment for the people to pay the current month's bill and make a partial payment on the delin- quent amount. He said the agreements stated the first time they were delinquent again, they would be shut off. He said they did that recently, and people came in and threw a fit. Brewster also claimed it was a clear violation of the bond agreement with the fi- nance company that paid for the water system improve- ments. Popp asked if they wanted to pass an ordinance on the agreements. "I don't want to put that into an ordinance and make it law. I don't want to tie future coun- cils' hands" said Lamb. She added she wasn't against establishing a policy. "We need to figure out what our issues are. Life happens. We need to work with them. We are in the people business. We can have a policy, but I don't want to put it into law," said Lamb. NEW POLICE CAR PURCHASED Popp asked Town Marshal Steve Nelson about two used police cars that were avail- able. Nelson went to Craw- ford County and looked them over. He said one of the cars was pretty rough. "Its check engine light was flashing and the engine was missing," said Nelson. He said the other car, which had a dog cage in it, was in bet- ter shape. Winslow was of- fered the cars for $5,000 for both of them. Nelson suggested getting the better of the two. Councilmen voted at their previous meeting to give Popp the authority to purchase the cars if, after inspecting them, he thought they were a good buy. Popp said Nelson had in- spected them for him. So he said they would get the one vehicle. But he suggested they hold off a couple of weeks to let Dixon get up to speed on the clerk-treasurer's position. In other business, Brew- ster suggested they keep the same positions on the board, with Popp as president and Lamb as vice-president. It was approved by a 3-0 vote. They also paid the claims of $ 87,898.63 from the general fund, $4,663.11 from the wa- ter fund and $ 3,813.04 from the wastewater fund. The next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Monday, February 8 at City Hall. METERS Continued from page 1 out replacing meters, a three- man crew has been out mak- ing repairs to the worst dam- aged meter wells in prepara- tion for the new meter to be installed. "Well, they are just old," said Elmore. He said some have collapsed or the piping needs work or they are sub- merged. So the pit has to be replaced before a new meter can be installed. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said Petersburg has been able to purchase the meters on a cash flow basis, buying them at nearly the rate they are re- placing them. Consequently, instead of making a big one- time purchase, they have been able to pay for it as they go. They purchase 24 meters a month to get a special rate of $225 per meter. Elmore said along with re- pairing the meter wells, they have been relocating some meters. "Some are in weird places, like in a driveway. So we are moving them. They re- ally shouldn't be driven on." Elmore said they typical- ly have had about 400 meters to manually read. Once they started replacing the meters, about the same number they were installing a month were failing, so the number stayed about 400 for a long time. He said there are less than 300 of the old meters still working. Homeowners probably won't notice a difference. Ex- cept they may notice their wa- ter lines have air in them for a short time after the meter is changed out. "It may spit at them a little when they first turn on a fau- cet," said Nixon. Mayor Klipsch emphasized the old meters are still work- ing. It is just the transmitters that have quit working. By Andy Heuring Two rural Winslow resi- dents were arrested after an early morning traffic stop on Highway 61. James Keith Leonard, Jr., 32, and Riese Danielle Law- horn, 21, both of 1467 E. CR 375 S., Winslow, were arrest- ed on possession of a narcotic drug, a class A misdemeanor; unlawful possession of a sy- ringe; possession of marijua- na; and possession of meth, less than five grams, a level 5 felony. Leonard was also charged with possession of a schedule I, II, II or IV controlled sub- stance. Pike County Deputy Sher- iff Jared Simmons said he re- ceived a report of a person asleep in their car in the park- ing lot of the PC-1 Stop at 2:16 a.m. on January 5. Deputy Simmons said as he was driving north on Highway 61 from the Winslow area, he was told when the driver was awake and he drove away, heading south on Highway 61. Simmons' report states, near CR 150 S., a car match- ing the same description went across the centerline and nearly hit him in the driver's side door. Simmons stopped the vehicle. He said while talking with Leonard, he noticed Leon- ard's eyes were extremely bloodshot, his speech was slow and lethargic, and he was making erratic movements with his hands and head. Deputy Cody Jones arrived to assist. Simmons' report states when he got Leonard out of the car, he found a small clear plastic baggie in his hoodie pouch, which contained five orange pills that were identi- fied as amphetamine/Dextro- amphetamine, and four blue pills identified as Clonaze- pam. Simmons' report says he found the bottom of an alumi- num can with burn marks on it and residue on the opposite side with a cotton swab end. Simmons said this is common- ly used to fill a syringe to in- gest illegal drugs. Lawhorn told him she didn't know what it was and it was in a jacket she was borrowing from her mother. Simmons' report also said they found several syringes and marijuana cigarettes in the vehicle. Both were taken into cus- tody. Winslow couple arrested on multiple drug charges Corbin Dixon, left, takes the oath of office as newly appointedwwww Winslow Clerk-Treasurer during the Monday evening town council meeting. Council president Josh Popp leads the oath of office. Dixon was chosen from 18 applicants to replace Stacey McCandless, who resigned recently. way dump truck. This, along with $529,300 of expenses en- cumbered from 2020 projects, including the county's match on a paving grant and bridge construction, will leave a pro- jected $ 3.554 million balance at the end of 2021. Income tax revenue for 2022 is projected to drop by al- most half to $ 669,022 on the spreadsheet. However, Gum- bel explained she assumed a worst case scenario for the revenue and cut it in half to get the $ 669,022 figure. Even with this, the CEDIT fund would have a balance of $ 3 million. This, of course, only includes the items already obligated, with no new items. That balance is expected to grow to $ 3.6 million as Gum- bel projected a worst case sce- nario on revenue for 2023 at $ 889,000. "The status of the CEDIT budget is not as critical as we thought is was," said Gumbel. "I agree with you on that," said Council president Jon Craig. He added Gumbel's pro- jections were extremely con- servative. "I do not think rev- enues will fall to the extent of these projections," said Craig. Councilmen voted 7-0 to ap- prove an additional appropri- ation of $ 332,000, which will be Pike County's 25 percent match for a Community Cross- road paving grant. Highway Superintendent Josh Byrd said the coun- ty wanted to request the full $1 million amount this year from the Indiana Community Crossroads program. Indiana Department of Transportation recently announced a call for applications. If Pike County is successful, they would pay 25 percent or $ 332,000 and receive $ 996,000 for paving from the Community Cross- roads project. "It is a way to turn $ 300,000 into a million," said Council- man Travis Troutman. Councilmen reorganized for 2021, with Craig being re-elected president and Greg Willis vice-president. Councilmen also approved an additional $529,200 from CEDIT funds as a match for the CR 350 N. rehab project. This is 20 percent of the proj- ect. The county received 80 percent in a grant. The proj- ect will widen and make the road able to handle industri- al traffic for a planned indus- trial park. Councilmen also made sev- eral appointments for 2021. They reappointed: Joe Smith to the Alcoholic Beverage Board; Leslie Tegmeyer to the Li- brary Board; Max Elliott to the Sol- id Waste Board and County Technology Committee; Todd Meadors to the Wa- bash Valley Community Cor- rections Board, Indiana Re- gion 15 Planning Commis- sion and Courthouse Securi- ty Committee; Dennis Bishop to the Growth Council and Redevel- opment Commission; Marcia Hill to the Region- al Mental Health Advisory Board; Carla Willis to the Tri-Cap Board; Travis Troutman to the Soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict; Randy Harris to the Peters- burg Economic Development Board; Brian Simpson to a new four-year term on the Proper- ty Tax Board of Review; Jon Craig to the E911 Ad- visory Board and Emergency Management Agency Adviso- ry Board. In other business, the coun- cil gave Sheriff Kent Johnson approval to reimburse a jailer for broken glasses from the commissary fund at the Pike County Jail. Sheriff Johnson said an in- mate attacked the officer and broke his glasses. Johnson said he contacted the Sher- iff's Association and they told him they could use commis- sary funds to pay for the glass- es as long as it was approved by the county council. Councilmen voted 7-0 to ap- prove it. The next council meeting is 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 9 in the courthouse auditorium.

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