South Gibson Star-Times

January 16, 2018

The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.

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75¢ TUESDAY, JAnUArY 02, 2018 VOLUME 63 nUMBEr 32 FOrT BrAnCH, InDIAnA 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620) T WO SECTIONS 22 PAGES ONE INSERT Fort Branch, Owensville and Haubstadt INSIDE A-6 SPORTS B-1 LOCAL A-4 Local .........A1-12 Obituaries ...... A4 Church ....A10-11 Sports .........B1-3 School ............B4 Business ........B5 Home Life ....A6-7 Opinion ........B8-9 Classifi eds ...... B11 WHAT'S INSIDE: PIKE PUBLISHING Phone: .............812-753-3553 Fax: .................812-753-4251 E-Mail editor@sgstartimes.com E-Mail ..........news@sgstartimes.com Facebook ....facebook.com/sgstartimes Twitter .........twitter.com/sgstartimes NEWS TIPS: CONNECT WITH US: Local .........A1-12 Obituaries ...... A3 Shopping ....A6-8 Church ......... A10 Sports .........B1-5 School ........B6-7 Opinion .......B8-9 Classifi eds B10-11 WHAT'S INSIDE: PIKE PUBLISHING Phone: .................... 753-3553 Fax: ........................ 753-4251 E-Mail editor@sgstartimes.com E-Mail ..........news@sgstartimes.com Facebook ....facebook.com/sgstartimes Twitter .........twitter.com/sgstartimes NEWS TIPS: CONNECT WITH US: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 volume 59 Number 28 ForT braNch, INdIaNa 47648-0070 (usPs #205-620) Serving Fort Branch, Owensville and Haubstadt 75¢ Commissioners to vote on fairgrounds December 3 By Alden Heuring Editor, South Gibson Star-Times editor@sgstartimes.com People have been talking about the $ 8.6 million fairgrounds renovation project, pro- posed by the Gibson County Fair Board. The county commissioners said they'd vote on whether to support the project at their December 3 meeting. "I know myself I'm still getting a lot of people stopping me and calling me about questions on that," commissioner president Gerald Bledsoe said. "There's a lot of people concerned on this both ways. On December 3 we'll vote on it." Citizens who want their voices heard or questions answered on the issue should con- tact the commissioners at 385 -8260 before the December 3 meeting, which will start at 8 a.m. in the Princeton North Annex. Com- missioner Alan Douglas, who is also a mem- ber of the fair board, has chosen to abstain from voting or public discussion on the is- sue, so the remaining two commissioners, Gerald Bledsoe and Steve Bottoms, will be the ones making the vote. If the project is approved by the commis- sioners, the fair board will make a final re- quest to the Gibson County redevelopment commission for the $ 8.6 million in TIF mon- ey the fair board wants to use to pay for the renovations. The Patoka and Union Town- ship TIF fund is estimated by the redevelop- ment commission to contain only $1.4 mil- lion as of February 2014, so the fair board intends to sell bonds to spread out the cost of the project. other business • The Gibson County emergency man- agement department was recognized for excellence by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The department has re- ceived similar recognition seven of the last eight years, and will be receiving a perfor- mance grant for training, travel, and equip- ment, to be added to the EMA budget for the year. Read more about the Gibson County EMA award elsewhere in this issue. • The commissioners approved Beam, Longest and Neff, LLC out of Indianapolis to work on Bridge #235 on Coal Mine Road. The bridge work is estimated to begin next summer. • The commissioners approved CLR out of Vincennes to reconstruct Bridge #45 on the Gibson-Posey line. The bridge burned down last summer. Work on the bridge will begin in the winter, and finish by April 2014. CLR bid $ 325,000 on the project, which beat the second-lowest bid of $440,000. • The commissioners appointed Cybil Davis to the Owensville-Montgomery Town- ship library board. Davis replaces Margo English, who took over as Owensville librar- ian last week. • The county paid claims as follows: Coun- Andrea Preston Staff writer, South Gibson Star-Times apreston@sgstartimes.com It's likely an impossible feat to find a South Gibson resident who hasn't benefit- from the tireless work of Marlene Obert. From pushing her scores of Gibson Southern High School business students to achieve their very best; to advocating and fundraising for the preservation of the home the Fort Branch Twigs, to even helping drive Gibson County's economic engine, Obert had a hand in it all. And all because she cared. "She literally would do anything for South Gibson, Gibson Southern and kids at large," said Dr. Stacey Humbaugh, superintendent of the South Gibson School Corporation. "She served on var- ious community boards – all to help improve the quali- ty of life in Gibson County." Obert, 71, passed away Saturday, Nov. 9, after an extended illness. See obituary on page A-3. For nearly a half- century, Obert worked tirelessly doing what she loved – molding her busi- ness students, whom she often referred to as her children, for success. "I was fortunate enough to have her as a teacher and later call her a colleague. I'm also blessed to say that she was a family friend," said Jon Adams, Gibson Southern's athletic director. "I remember vividly her coming to my graduation party many years ago and being one of the first to congratu- late me after I was named athletic director. Marlene was always proud of her former stu- dents and loved being a Titan! " The Snake Run native attended Holy Cross Catholic School and graduated from Fort Branch High School in 1960. She earned a bachelor's degree in business ed- ucation from Evansville College. Obert returned to Fort Branch in 1964 and began her first and only teaching job. While teaching business classes at Fort Branch High School, Obert worked on her master's degree and two years later, in 1966, earned it from Indiana University. She transferred to Gibson Southern's business department when the new high school opened in August 1974. The 2013- 2014 school year marked a milestone in Ob- ert's in career – her 50th year of teaching. According to South Gibson officials, she was able to teach for eight days. "This summer, she had fought back from her illness. She wanted to teach. I think that was her heart and soul. She never com- plained. She never had a bad day," Dr. Hum- baugh said. Obert's impact extended beyond the Toyota perimeter road repaving requested Gibson County Redevelopment Commis- sion reviews requests for TIF funds twice a year, once in July and once in December. At the redevelopment board's regular meeting last week, the county commissioners sub- mitted a request for the repaving of Toyo- ta's perimeter roads in 2014. "We are milling out the old and paving back in. There's a lot of troubled areas with electric wires under the pavement," com- missioner Gerald Bledsoe said about the re- quest. "We're not doing the shoulders, just milling out the three lanes. But we can get into all that in 2014. We just wanted to get it on the list. It's in pretty bad shape." If the redevelopment commission ap- proves the project, it would cost $2 million. Segments of seven roads would be paved: CR350S, CR100E, CR525S, CR25E, Tu- lip Tree Drive, CR425S, and CR500S. The county commissioners would bid the proj- ect, and the county highway department would oversee it. The next meeting of the Gibson Coun- ty Redevelopment Commission will begin at 6 p.m. on December 2 in the Princeton North Annex. Marlene Obert, longtime teacher, community leader, dies Marlene Obert Haubstadt approves library parking and lighting Your guide to Gibson County TIF money Council approves water rate increase James Capozella Staff writer, South Gibson Star-Times apreston@sgstartimes.com The Haubstadt Town Council took a broom to nearly every leaf out there Monday night, starting the fall season with sweep- ing decisions that secured library parking and lighting, a small graduated water rate increase, a new fire engine and several oth- projects and needs in town. Council President Kenny Reinbrecht opened the regular Monday night meeting following the public hearing with the unan- imous passage of a water rate increase in three stages. The first increase is five per- cent beginning this month, then an addi- tional five percent beginning in June and then the third in July of 2015. The increas- reflect the changes in cost passed on by Evansville Water, the town's supplier. Bids were approved for concrete, grad- ing and lighting for the recently completed Haubstadt branch library building. A & T Concrete offered a bid at the cost of $ 85 per yard for 350 yards with options. Ambrose Construction of Haubstadt, and Naas and Sons had bids for at-cost work for grading and rock. There will be four inches of stone and six inches of fiberized concrete. Reinbracht said he would look into deco- rative street lighting from Vectren and de- termine the cost to purchase, install and op- erate lantern type decorative street lights. The 30 parking spots on the library site would require about eight lamps, which probably will cost about $100 a year each to operate. Estimated cost for the lights should be less than $10,000 and would be a start in downtown lighting for Haubstadt, according to councilman Mike Ballard. Haubstadt Street Superintendent Bry- on Will said he thought concrete could be poured late in the year, but questioned how long it would take Vectren and would the de- lay push the project into weather that would stop construction until spring. The council also voted unanimously to ap- prove a lease-to-own agreement for a multi- purpose fire engine with $100,000 down and the cost to be between $400,000 and $ 500,000. Delivery is said to be by 2015, but possibly earlier. Assistant Fire Chief Zack Meyer said the new unit will be mod- eled off a Vincennes truck, but contain just four seats instead of six. The truck can be utilized for all types of calls and will be equipped with extrication tools from anoth- er truck. Meyer said the new truck could have the equipment mounted and be ready for service in one week. Three Haubstadt volunteer firemen will receive 25 -year pins in a 6 p.m., November 20, ceremony and dinner conducted by the Indiana Volunteer Firemen Association. Haubstadt Town Council members were in- vited and plan to attend. Those to be hon- ored with 25 -year pins are Gary Daily, To- ny Hipp and Don Hirsch. In other fire department business, Meyer reported a turn down in engine runs from last October (17) to this month (10). The department responded to 3 fires and 3 ac- cidents during the period. Meyer said the main light bar for the first out engine need- ed replaced since parts were out of stock due to age. A new replacement was approved at about $ 3,000. A bid of $ 36,900 for a metal deck to com- plete the second floor of the new fire station was approved by the council after present- ed by Superintendent Bryon Will. He said the design, which includes a fold down lad- der, would make the area safer and is cheap- er than a set of external stairs. Will was in- strumental in obtaining bids for the grad- ing and concrete work around the library. He also informed the council about four leaky hydrants that would fail this winter. He asked to replace the four east side hy- drants at a cost of $4,000 each, which was approved. Also approved was a renovation of a 120 -foot section of storm sewer on the southside of the library at a cost of $ 3,000. Another smaller section on Elm St. at a cost of $1,500 was also approved. Haubstadt Town Marshal Glenn Munni- er informed the council about the police de- partment's transition to new weapons and requested an additional 4,000 rounds be purchased from Keeslers (1,000 rounds) and Right to Bear Arms (4,000 rounds). He also reported there was a steering sys- tem recall on the town's Ford Crown Vic- Alden Heuring Editor, South Gibson Star-Times editor@sgstartimes.com With the Gibson County Fair Board re- questing $ 8.6 million from the Patoka- Union Township Tax Increment Financing fund for a renovation project, many peo- ple have made their opinions known on the project, the fair board, and the proper use TIF money. But what is TIF money, any- way? Where does it come from? How is it supposed to be used? Todd Mosby, the president and CEO of the Gibson County Economic Development Corporation, has had years of experience with the TIF system, and shared his exper- tise on the subject. "TIF stands for Tax Increment Financ- ing," Mosby said. "In Gibson County's case, have two TIF districts. One is in the Ow- ensville area, where the Gibson County coal mine is, and the other is Toyota's. Toy- ota's TIF district is called the Patoka-Union Township district. The majority of Toyota's district sits in Patoka Township, but it lays in both townships." Mosby said it's a mistake to think Toyota TIF money should only be used inside Pa- toka and Union Townships, as residents of Patoka and Union Township do not pay in- to the TIF fund at all. "That's somewhat of a misnomer. Every- one benefits, even though the district is in those particular townships. When taxes are paid to the county, the county's funds are used throughout the entire county," he said. "Although Toyota's TIF district sits in those townships, there are only two taxpayers in the TIF district: Toyota and Vuteq. What feeds that TIF district are Toyota's proper- ty taxes and Vuteq's property taxes." Similarly, in the Owensville TIF district, the only taxpayer is Gibson County Coal, Mosby said. While all residents of Gibson County who own property pay property tax- es, the property taxes of the average person don't go into a TIF fund. Only property taxes paid by the Toyota and Vuteq corporations go into the Patoka-Union TIF fund, and only property taxes paid by Gibson County Coal go into the Owensville TIF fund. So, Patoka-Union TIF money is property tax money paid by Toyota and Vuteq. The money isn't taken from individuals, but rath- er comes out of the corporate pockets of Toy- ota and Vuteq. What, then, should the mon- ey be used for? The Gibson County Rede- velopment Commission handles requests for TIF funds, and has set specific criteria for the merit of requests. The commission reviews requests twice a year, once in De- cember and once in July. Requests made since the last review are compared to each other, and the requests that best meet the Honoring our Veterans South Gibson VFW chaplain Ed Reinhart speaks at Wednesday's Veterans Day ceremony at St. James Church. Vet- erans Day ceremonies continued on Monday this week. Look in next week's issue for more photos and coverage. Alden Heuring photo. Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 HAYLEY DOTY AND CECILIA HALL NAMED SECOND TEAM ALL-STATE BENEFIT FOR LLOYD PARKER SET FOR JUNE 18 50 1964 2016 years strong INSIDE O N L I N E • S M A RT P H O N E • TA B L E T TOP NEWS ■ Greer found guilty of child seduction ■ Redevelopment backs three housing projects ■ Crews plow ahead with snow removal ■ Salary schedule amended for auditor's office Jan. 9 ■ County queen wins Congeniality title at state competition ■ Salvation Army short-handed with funding shortfall ■ Obituaries ■ Community Bulletin LOCAL ■ Early Birds File First Day ■ Expert talks fungus among us ■ Cochren files for prosecutor ■ Hurt files for Sheriff ■ Road Round-Up: Driver faces DUI ■ Health Dept. requests nurse pay increase ■ Harley-riding Haubstadt native accepts head librarian post READER GUIDE ■ Merit board elects president ■ School Board elects officers ■ Annual SWCD meeting is January 23 ■ Gibson County's 2017 River-Friendly Farmer ■ Bottoms recognized as 2017 Conservation Farmer of the Year ■ Don't treat your soil like dirt ■ Soil is for drilling, not tilling ■ Cover Crop Breakfast HISTORY HOME LIFE ■ Mittens ■ Better sleep habits with an anxious child ■ Three ways to extend your iPhone battery life ■ Baked Chicken Chalupas SENIOR CITIZENS MENU SPORTS ■ Lady Titans beat Tecumseh ■ Sports Briefs ■ Owensville sixth grade grils basketball improve ■ Haubstadt boys sweep North Posey SCHOOL CHURCH ■ Sisters offer stability talk • Casino Night at Holy Cross Cafeteria • Sts. Peter and Paul Outreach Committee to have chicken dinner Jan. 28 OPINION CLASSIFIEDS

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