The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/665812
A-2 Front Wednesday, April 13, 2016 The Press-Dispatch WINSLOW Continued from page 1 RISLEYS Continued from page 1 ANNUAL SU P P E R JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP RURITAN APRIL 23 OTWELL COMMUNITY CENTER Dining Room SERVING BEGINS AT 5 P.M. Carry-outs Available MENU Fried chicken, baked beans, German fries, coleslaw, and bread. Tea and lemonade to drink. FOR DESSERT Charlie's Homemade Ice Cream…$1 a dip Leave your name and number of suppers needed. PRICE OF THE MEAL Free will donation PRE-ORDER BY CALLING 812-354-2137 Proceeds will go to the Friends of Otwell for the new Charter School. Come for the supper, stay for the Alumni basketball game to follow in the Community Center Gym at 7p.m. RAFFLE WITH GREAT PRIZES PRIZE #1 One night's stay at West Baden Springs Hotel (value of $500) PRIZE #2 Elephant retreat experience at Wilstem Ranch (value of $200) 150 TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT $10 EACH Need not be present to win! APRIL 16 • 10:30 A.M. TO ? PRESENTS Pike County Optimist at DO IT BEST - PETERSBURG HARDWARE STORE FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL 812-582-1565 Dinners are $11 and include pork chop, baked beans and potato salad. (Hot dogs and drinks also available) We will be popping Original Kettle Corn or White Caramel Kettle Corn $5 Med. or $8 Lg. TEACHERS Continued from page 1 there," board member Ron Sharp said. "I don't under- stand, I guess. Why do we want to go to Dubois Coun- ty and support the Dubois County school corporation when we're trying to get our school corporation back in the black? I guess I just don't see the big picture there, at all." Waiting until school reg- istration is held or even the first day of school to deter- mine if RIF notices are need- ed is not an option, Blake said. "Somebody asked me the other day, 'Well, why don't you just wait until August and see who shows up in the door? '" Blake said. "Be- cause after July 1st, nobody can be cut. They're here for another year. I can only do a RIF between May 1st and July 1st." Blake recommended that the RIF notices be sent out in early May after the school corporation received criti- cism for waiting until after an operating referendum failed last May to send RIF notices to seven teachers. "Throughout this year, we have said that we wanted to notify staff early," Blake said. "Last year, they were notified quite late and we're trying to take the steps to notify early." Satterfield said that he was in favor of sending RIF notices sooner rather than later. "As a teacher, it sucks," Satterfield said. "But as a teacher myself, I would rather know that there's a possibility I'm going to lose my job as soon as pos- sible, so I can look at oth- er aspects,besides seeing school getting out and say- ing, 'Oh, yeah, sorry, we're not going to have you back.' I personally would rath- er have the information as soon as possible. My first five years of teaching, I got a pink slip every first of May." Board vice-president Chris McKinney, objected to Blake's recommendation. "We RIFed seven teach- ers last year and we're going to RIF 13 more this year," McKinney said. "How is our corporation going to handle that? We've still got kids out there that need a good ed- ucation. We just adopted a mission/vision statement that says we want to hire and retain good teachers. How are we going to do that? " "We've got to get in the black so we can start giv- ing compensation," Blake replied. "So we don't know what we need but we're going to go ahead and say we're go- ing to focus mainly on the budget, and that's it, and not what's best for the kids? " McKinney asked. "If the class sizes go up, so be it? " Blake reminded McKin- ney that the school corpora- tion only had a two-month window during which it can notify teachers that they are being let go. "I can call back at any time," Blake said. "By seniority," McKinney said. "No," Blake replied. "There is no recall policy. It can be done in any manner." Blake added that dis- cussions were being held with school administrators about conducting registra- tion in mid-July "so that we can have a more accurate count... and have time to get teachers called to come back in and get ready." McKinney, however, re- mained unconvinced. "I don't see how, in this corporation, we can lose 20 teachers in a matter of two years and still say we're giv- ing the best opportunity and the best education to our kids," McKinney said. "I think we're still follow- ing the guidelines we talk- ed about," board president Dave Waltz said. "The oth- er thing, I think, is well-not- ed, from the teacher on the board is – and I think it was covered with the union as well – that this is the best course of action, to know early. If we can call back, if 13's not the number, we can end up with 10 or 9 or a bet- ter-case scenario than that." McKinney, referring to the mission/vision state- ment recently adopted by the school board, asked again if RIFing 13 teachers was in the best interest of Pike County students. "Well, I can tell you right now, cutting auto mechan- ics is probably, to my mind, unheard of," Blake replied. "But I can't continue a class for seven kids." "I just feel like we're let- ting our teachers down in this corporation," McKin- ney said. Sharp said that he agreed with Satterfield that teach- ers who are being RIFed should be notified as soon as possible. "I'd want to know ahead of time," Sharp said. "I wouldn't want it dropped on me just at the last minute." "I don't want to see us have to RIF any of these teachers, but I don't see any other choice, not knowing what Otwell is going to do, how many of these parents are going to change their minds? Maybe they'll have a change of heart. Maybe down the road they'll see that we need to stick with our school corporation and stick with our kids. I still don't know why they want to take them to Dubois Coun- ty." "If the charter does go through, they've already said 140 kids have signed up," Satterfield said. "Who says there aren't going to be more that jump in? It's a no- win situation for both parts there." McKinney suggested that the school board postpone a decision on Blake's request. "I would like more details on why we need 13 RIFs," McKinney said. "I don't see it myself. I just don't." The school board subse- quently voted to schedule a special-called meeting on Friday, April 22, at 5 p.m., to discuss and/or take ac- tion on Blake's request. said Bennett. Roger Jones, who was at- tending the meeting, said he heard there is going to be a change with the water meters. "It will be a while," said Councilman Simmons. "If we don't do some- thing, we are going to be buying (water) from Pike- Gibson," said Simmons. He and Strobel outlined some of the changes they are considering through a program with Johnson Controls. They said they would be putting automat- ed water meters in that would be much more ac- curate, dig and install wa- ter wells, build a "compact" water plant over the wells and pay for it with savings compared to how much it is costing them now to op- erate a water plant built in 1963. Simmons and Strobel said it is much easier and less expensive to purify well water versus river wa- ter. Winslow now draws its water from the Patoka Riv- er. "You don't have mud to deal with," said Simmons of well water. He said several cities and towns around the area have done similar projects, including Ft. Branch, Mt. Vernon and Oakland City. "How can you do all that and not raise water rates? " asked Diane Martin. Simmons and Strobel said the savings they will have with the new system would be used to pay for it. "We are trying to lower the rates." Strobel said installing new water meters that are much more accurate is one part, but they also will do away with the 2,000 gallon minimum usage rate. He said if a household only uses 500 gallons, that is all they would pay for. "This is all a long way off," said Simmons. "There will be a series of public hearings on it," said Bennett. • In other business, Gay- hart said the town had pur- chased 22 tons of cold mix and planned to start patch- ing potholes as soon as it quit raining. He said they were going to use a yard blower to clean out and dry the potholes before they filled them. "Is it going to stay in there for 100 years? No, but it should do better than what we have been doing," said Gayhart. •Jason Bottoms asked if the Town Marshals could sit near the Little League ballfields a couple nights a week. He said people are driving extremely fast on the dirt road from the Ele- mentary School and Com- munity Center past the baseball fields. He also asked if speed bumps could be put in place. Steve English said he had already started patrol- ling the area recently. Councilmen said they had a couple of speed bumps in the town garage that could be installed. • Councilmen said they didn't have any interest in housing dogs from Peters- burg. Councilman Dick Brewster said Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch had asked him about the possi- bility of housing dogs they caught. • Councilmen voted to give permission to the Winslow Eagles to build a fence around a 30' by 40' area behind their building for outdoor activities. Steve Wyland said they wanted to use it for cornhole and pic- nics during nice weather. He said it would be eight feet high and would not have an exterior entrance. "You will have to enter it from the Eagles building." Wyland said if there was a funeral in session, they would not use the outdoor area. "If there is going to be loud drunkeness, that will be a problem," said Brew- ster. The council approved it, but Simmons and Stro- bel said if they got com- plaints from the neighbors, they would have to address them. • Gayhart asked if they could have the fire depart- ment burn the large brush pile behind the communi- ty center. He said the town set that up as a brush pile for the town. But it has turned into a place every- one in town has been bring- ing their brush. "We could use the chipper on that 24- 7 all summer and not get rid of it." Winslow Fire Chief Ja- son Bottoms said the fire department would be glad to burn it if they got per- mission. He said in previ- ous years, they were told they couldn't burn it un- less they have an area dug out around the brush that was to be burned. Strobel suggested they separate the pile into small- er piles and burn then in- dividually instead of all at once. • Councilmen voted to pay claims in the amount of $26,509.21. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mon- day, April 25 at the Winslow Town Hall. nearly 50 of these great families at the Statehouse, and I commend all of them on their tremendous dedi- cation to the industry and, especially, to Hoosiers." John and Suzanne own 77 acres of the Risley Farm that was honored. John's great-grandfather Jackson Risley, bought 40 acres near Velpen, two months to-the-day after he mus- tered out of the Union Ar- my on July 21, 1865. While enlisted for four years he lost a brother, Harrison, on the battlefield at Re- saca GA, then joined Gen- eral Sherman's 'March to the Sea' that was pivotal to ending the Civil War. Jack- son Risley died in 1914 at age 72; he is buried in Vel- pen's Walnut Grove Ceme- tery. Over the years the farm grew from 40 to 280 contig- uous acres located along State Highway 257 north- east of Velpen. The farm borders both sides of 257 from the water tower south for a half mile. The farm was operated by Risley men ( Jackson, William, William, Jr) un- til our father William, Jr's death in 1986. John pur- chased his acreage from William Jr's estate in 1987. John and his four siblings: Dan, Ruth Ann, Martha and Kate grew up on the farm, but none are operat- ing farmers. Current farm production is undertaken by neighboring farmers on a cash rental basis. All five of the Risley siblings attended Vel- pen Grade School and Ot- well High School and are now retired professionals. Martha lives on the farm and keeps an eye on op- erations. Three other sib- lings live within 25 miles of the farm while John lives in Fort Wayne. "During my infrequent visits I still en- joy 'trimming around the edges' with our 30 -year- old Massey Ferguson," said Risley. Councilman Greg Man- gin, who chaired the meet- ing in president Greg Willis' absence, asked if the land was optioned. Willis said they are in the process of talking with land- owners. Joe Sutton expressed con- cern about the land not be- ing under control. He said when they had site developer Dan Zerner of Garmong to speak to the county last year, "One of the first things he said was 'You don't improve private prop- erty until you have it tied up,'" said Sutton. John Mandabach, Presi- dent of the Growth Council, told the council, "I would say if by 2,020 you haven't got- ten cooperation of the land owners, you have bigger problems, because you have a major interchange with in- frastructure in place and op- portunity." Sutton also expressed concern saying the route has 80 feet of elevation change in it. He also said building the road before companies say where they want to locate on the property might end up being a hindrance. He said they might be building a road through a potential preferred site. "To spend $ 600,000 on improvements that have to be moved,…it doesn't make sense to me," said Sutton. Willis said INDOT told them they would be flexible with the final road location. She also stressed the county's commitment to $ 620,000 would be for fiscal year 2021. However, if a prospective company selects a site in the area the project might be ex- pedited to 2018. Greg Mangin said he at- tended the meeting with IN- DOT and he has gone from having reservations about the project to thinking we need to do something to hav- ing reservations, back to we need to do something. "I'm not convinced it is the right road in the right place at the right time, said Mangin. He added, "But I'm not convinced it isn't. I would like more time to di- gest this." Willis said they need to have a least a week and prob- ably two weeks for the engi- neer to complete the applica- tion by the May 6 deadline. "No industry is going to being willing to invest in our area if we aren't will- ing to invest in a road. They aren't going to come here if we are saying 'you locate here and we will get to this road in time,'" said council- man Max Elliott. Elliott move to approve the proposal. His motion was seconded by Travis Troutman. It passed by a 4-2 vote with Dennis Bishop, Man- gin, Troutman and Elliott voting for it. Harris and Sut- ton voted against it. COUNCIL APPROVES DRUG INTERDICTION TASK FORCE Pike County Prosecutor Darrin McDonald said the county is dealing with an influx of crystal methaphet- amine, and it is overloading the enforcement and legal system of the county. "We lost four lives in an accident on the highway. Due to a lot of hard work on the sheriff's part and my of- fice's part, we were able to dodge a lot of medical costs in that. But now we are deal- ing with the tragedy of four lives lost," said McDonald. "We had a city police of- ficer going through cut- through road south of Win- slow and find a two cars of meth users. They had $1,500 of meth on their dash. Short- ly after that they caught an- other woman with $1,000 of meth in her car. Those are large amounts we don't nor- mally see," said McDonald. McDonald said he and his deputy prosecutor, Tom Dysert along with Peters- burg Police Chief Chuck Baumgart and Sheriff Jere- my Britton, "put our heads together" and came up with the idea of creating a drug interdiction team. He said his office's pre-trial diver- sion account has a large balance in it because of the large number of speeding tickets from I-69. "I don't like to use this fund, be- cause I like to keep it for a rainy day." He suggested they trans- fer $15,000 to a new line item of investigator. Auditor Ron Wilson said they would have to approve an additional appropriation for the new line item instead of transferring it. McDonald said if that was how the council want- ed to proceed, he would get it prepared. County Clerk Carol Aus- tin presented a plan that would reduce the number of poll workers from 90 to 60 for the May 3 primary. She said several of the precincts didn't need the full contingent of five work- ers. So they were cutting out two of the positions at small- er low-volume precincts and in some sites where multiple precincts are together. "We are doing a trial run in the primary." She also asked to increase poll workers pay by $20 for the day that runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on election day. She said it should still cre- ate a savings of more than $ 3,000 by reducing the num- ber of poll workers. Councilmen approved it by a 6 -0 vote. In other business, Asses- sor Mike Goodpaster said his office is having serious problems with their soft- ware, that was creating mis- takes because of software malfunctions. He pitched the idea of pur- chasing new, more accurate and easy-to-use software. He said he would request the funding at the next meeting, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 10. COUNCIL Continued from page 1 The tombstone of Civil War soldier Jackson Risley, who died in 1914, and his wife Mary, who died in 1949. Risley was the original own- er of the Risley farm in Velpen. He purchased 40 acres in 1865 immediately after mustering out of the Union's Army following the Civil War. Pregnant... or think you are? Call:1-877-257-1084 or Locally Call: 1-812-354-2814 • Free pregnancy testing • Free counseling and info. on pregnancy options. • Confi dential counseling for women & men who are suff ering from post-abortion syndrome. • Residential Care • Health and assistance referrals. • Training and education. • Assistance in getting baby and maternity clothes washpcc@sbcglobal.net www.washingtonpregnancycenter.com