The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1005686
The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, July 18, 2018 A- 9 7KHREVWHWULFVDQGJ\QHFRORJ\RI¿FHRI 'U7KRPDV2¶5RXUNHLVH[FLWHGWRDQQRXQFH WKHDUULYDORIWKHLUQHZQXUVHSUDFWLWLRQHU /LQGVH\9DQ6FKR\FN13& 3K\VLFLDQ1HWZRUN /LQGVH\9DQ6FKR\FNZLOOZRUN DORQJVLGH'U2¶5RXUNHDQG VHHSDWLHQWVIRU *\QHFRORJ\$SSRLQWPHQWV :HOO:RPDQ9LVLWV %LUWK&RQWURO2SWLRQV 6FKHGXOH\RXUDSSRLQWPHQW WRGD\E\FDOOLQJ 16HFRQG6WUHHW 9LQFHQQHV,1 8–7 . Mon. 8–noon . Tues. 10–7 . Wed. 8–5 . Thur. 8–5 . Fri. DON'T FORGET YOUR BACK TO SCHOOL EYE EXAMS Now Locally Owned and Operated Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th St., Petersburg 812-354-9400 MOOSE LODGE Dining Specials 5pm-8pm 115 Pike Ave., Petersburg OR ORDER FROM MENU FRIDAY 07-20-18 SATURDAY 07-21-18 NOW OFFERING PIZZA Open to Members and Qualified Guests Coffee or Tea with special. Wed., Fri. and Sat. • 5pm - 8pm Buffet with Salad Bar, Only $9.95. Chicken Supreme with two sides, $7. Two Fried Pork Chops with two sides, $6.50. Petersburg votes to submit application for Community Crossings grant program By Ed Cahill The Petersburg Common Council voted unanimous- ly during its regular meet- ing on Monday, July 16, to au- thorize Mayor R.C. Klipsch to prepare and submit an ap- plication for a grant of up to $500,000 through the Com- munity Crossings program that – if awarded – would be used to pave streets in the city. Klipsch, informing the council that the Indiana De- partment of Transportation would begin accepting appli- cations on Monday, Aug. 6, said that the city would on- ly have to put up a 25 percent match – or $125,000, if the full $500,000 is awarded. "We have our streets pret- ty much identified," said Klipsch, who noted that the city's asset management plan had already been submitted to the INDOT Technical Ap- plication Pathway (ITAP) and approved. "We're work- ing right along and, hopeful- ly, will make this submission in early August." Klipsch said that the cut-off date for applications is Friday, Sept. 28. Communities receiv- ing funding for projects will be notified by INDOT some- time in late October or early November. "So we won't be doing any paving this year under this program," Klipsch said. "It will be next year. But, at any rate, we're rolling right along." The Community Crossings Matching Grant Program pro- vides funding to cities, towns and counties across Indi- ana to make improvements to local roads and bridges. Projects that are eligible for funding through Communi- ty Crossings include road re- surfacing and preservation, bridge rehabilitation or re- placement, and road recon- struction with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance in connection with a road project. Materi- al costs for chip sealing and crack filing operations are al- so eligible for funding.. In 2016, Petersburg re- ceived a Community Cross- ings grant of $ 84,195, which required a 50 percent local match. Last year, however, the city's application for a Com- munity Crossings grant of up to $500,000 – which would have required only a 25 per- cent match – was not funded. Klipsch said that the city would use monies in its road and street fund as well as the Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH) and EDIT funds to come up with the match, "de- pending on how much the award is." Klipsch added that ma- ny of the street projects that were included in last year's application would be part of this year's application, with some minor changes in or- der to avoid natural gas line replacement work being con- ducted by Vectren throughout the city. "They've divided us into four sections, and they were in the southeast section last year," Klipsch said. "They're done now. They're going to tear everything up again with these gas lines. So we've met with Vectren, and they asked us if we would prefer to do it in one year or two years? Haven't we decided one year? " "Pretty much," City Servic- es Manager Ross Elmore re- plied. "We want them in and out of here, so we can go in and pave these streets and not have them come in and tear one up," Klipsch said. "We're trying to avoid Vectren as much as we possibly can." Klipsch told the coun- cil that he was working with Chriss Jobe of RQAQ – an en- gineering and architectural firm based in Fishers, Ind., with branch offices in Vin- cennes, Ind., and La Porte, Ind. – to prepare the city's application. "I want to make sure we didn't make any mistakes," Klipsch said. "Last year, they were turning them down over things like signatures and any reason they could find to turn one down." Klipsch said that he had received an e-mail from Jobe last week saying that the city could add a few more streets to its application. "He's getting the cost esti- mates," Klipsch said. "I think we've identified 10 streets, and he said that we may be able to pick up three or four more." Council president Fran Lewis, noting that INDOT will begin accepting appli- cations for the Community Crossings grant program on Monday, Aug. 6, reminded Klipsch that the council was not scheduled to meet again until Monday, Aug. 20, after voting earlier in July not to meet on the first Monday in August. "That's why I brought this up tonight," Klipsch respond- ed. "That's why I've got a res- olution here to do this, be- cause we're not meeting on Aug. 6. We won't meet again until Aug. 20." "We need to get that mov- ing tonight so it don't sit too long," council member Gary Leavitt said. Klipsch subsequently pre- sented a resolution for the council's approval to autho- rize him to complete and sub- mit the application. On a motion by Lewis, sec- onded by Leavitt, the resolu- tion was approved 4-0. (Coun- cil member Bertis Jenkins was absent.) "We'll try it again," Klipsch said. "Surely to goodness, we will be successful this year." In other action, the council – after holding a public hear- ing – voted to approve an or- dinance for an additional ap- propriation of $20,000 to pur- chase a 2019 all-wheel-drive police vehicle. Lewis made the motion, which was sec- onded by council John Mel- hiser. The motion passed by a vote of 4-0. The council also voted to accept a bid submitted by Li- sa Gelhausen, executive di- rector of Indiana 15 Region- al Planning Commission, to provide grant administration services for a proposed blight clearance project at 606 and 608 East Main Street. Bids to provide architectural services for the project will be opened on Friday, July 27. Police Chief Chuck Baumgart reminded the coun- cil that the annual Pike Coun- ty 4-H Fair parade will be held on Sunday, July 22, starting at 4 p.m. "Main Street will be closed from 9th Street all the way down to Pike Avenue, and then Pike Avenue all the way up to (Hornady Park)," Baumgart said. "I can't imag- ine it being more than 45 min- utes, so just bear with us and let's give the kids an enjoyable day for the parade." Baumgart also told the council that he was con- cerned about how some mo- torists are driving carelessly through construction and/or work zones in the city. "Men working on the side of the street – all it takes is a split second to hit somebody and kill them or hurt them," Baumgart said. "Ross and his guys are out in the streets ev- ery single day, whether it's a main street like the highways or a secondary street. These guys are in a very dangerous spot." "So it's very important to let the people know that they need to watch what they're doing when they're going through a construction zone," Baumgart added. "Because I can assure you, me and my guys will be." Klipsch, to reiterate Baumgart's point, told the council about an incident that had recently occurred on White River Avenue. "We were working on a sewer issue out on White River Avenue a few weeks ago," Klipsch said. "You're not going to believe this could happen, but I saw it happen. We had an individ- ual come down White Riv- er Avenue. We had vehicles both ways, keeping people from out of there. The guys were working on a man hole. He came around the first truck, laid on his horn, and literally drove over the man hole. The guys had to get out of the way. I'm not going to say who it was. But that is unbelievable." "They had to get out of the way," Baumgart said. "That doesn't make sense." "I can bet you I can guess who it was," Leavitt said. "I won't mention any names," Klipsch replied. "This same individual did this on Vincennes Avenue back when it was zero de- grees and we were all out there. So we know who it is. You can't imagine that some- body would do something like that. But they do." Elmore told the council about an incident that oc- curred at the intersection of Highway 57 and Nichols Avenue. "We had utility work both ways on 57, and we had Nich- ols closed at the other end, and we had a motorcycle rid- er coming northbound into town, and he just came right off the road, right around our equipment, right through in- to Nichols," Elmore said. "If one of our guys had stepped the wrong way right there ... "Or Willie swing the buck- et," Baumgart interjected. "Yeah," Elmore replied. "I mean, it was crazy. I don't know why individuals even think they'd want to go through stuff like that. We just all stopped for a few min- utes and just took it in, try- ing to figure out what was in this guy's mind when he do- ne what he done." Klipsch said that he and Baumgart had discussed us- ing the city's older police ve- hicles to monitor and control traffic through work zones. "Because nothing is as effective as a police car," Klipsch said. "And we'll have a camera mounted in it, so we can get the tag (number), and we'll be able to see the event, and we can write them a ticket or move forward on a mis- demeanor arrest possibly, or a traffic arrest," Baumgart added. "So we'll ensure that we're trying to take care of them the best we can." Elmore, who also serves as fire chief for the Peters- burg Volunteer Fire Depart- ment, noted that he and his crew have experienced the same issue, especially when working along Interstate 69. "That's a whole new issue for us, that we have that re- sponsibility out there right now, when you think about it," Klipsch said. "They're out there quite often. It's a whole different situation." "We actually tell the guys, especially these new guys, that you have to act like they intend to run you down," El- more said. "That's the way we teach them." Petersburg Lions Club welcomes new member Sue Ann Burns was welcomed as a new member of the Petersburg Lions Club and was presented with a pin and certificate. Pictured (l to r): Lowell Thomas, new member sponsor, Keith Thomas, District Governor and Sue Ann Burns. Collecting for PC cheerleaders Nancy Brandle collects a donation from Terry Kerr at the intersection of Highways 61 and 57 in Petersburg for the Pike Central Cheerleaders. City rules require people to be 16 years old to be in the intersection, so many of the parents help out.