The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/105037
Soil and Water Pike Co. Soil and Water Conservation District Conservation Annual Report of Progress Four sections 44 pages Five inserts INSIDE THIS ISSUE 75¢ Wednesday, January 23, 2013 Volume 145 Number 4 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-340) New mayor to be selected on February 2 By Andy Heuring A new Petersburg mayor will be selected on Saturday, February 2. Pike County Republican Central Committee Chairman Mike Goodpaster said a caucus of Petersburg Precinct committeemen has been scheduled for 9 a.m., February 2 in the courthouse basement. Mayor Jon Craig announced two weeks ago he was resigning effective January 25 to be Deputy Director of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Goodpaster said the Petersburg Republican precinct committeemen will caucus to select Craig's replacement. Craig was elected in 2011 and has three years left in the term. While there are four precincts in Petersburg, Goodpaster said only three of the precincts have committeemen in office. They are Craig, David Miley and Larry Evans. Goodpaster said mayoral applicants must live in the city limits of Petersburg and be a Republican in good standing. Applicants must submit their applications to him at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. Applications are available at the Pike County Clerk's office, from Goodpaster and from the Indiana Secretary of State's office. Pike County Clerk Carol Austin said one application from Lisa DeJarnett-Punturi has been submitted to her office and one other application had been picked up but not returned. Goodpaster said on Tuesday he had not received any applications. Fire destroys Iafrate house Petersburg firemen work to extinguish a fire that destroyed Dennis Iafrate's house Monday morning. It was located at 1123 E. SR356, Petersburg. No one was at home at the time of the fire. A passerby called 911 and reported seeing smoke coming from the residence at about 11 a.m. Petersburg Policeman Scott Wright was the first to the house. He said there were flames coming from the northwest corner. Wright said he checked to see if anyone was inside. "It was too smoke-filled to go in." He said because of a car parked at the house he was concerned someone might be in the house. Central dispatch was able to make contact with Iafrate, who told them no one was home. Petersburg Fire Chief Phil Taylor said Iafrate told him he remembered turning on a space heater in the back portion of the home where the fire appeared to start. However Chief Taylor said the damage was so extensive in that area they couldn't determine the cause. Petersburg was assisted by Jefferson Township, Patoka Township and Harrison Township fire departments. Winslow looks to refinance previous water-related loans Town fathers hope current lower rates will ease financial burden By Alden Heuring Members of Winslow's town council are searching for solutions to a cramped water budget. One of the main problems facing Winslow's finances is a pair of government loans from decades past that are still far from being paid off. The first of the two loans was taken out in May 1982. The Press-Dispatch reported the following information about the loan in its May 6, 1982 issue: "Members of the Winslow town board announced Monday a tentative date for the closing of the town's Farmer's Home Administration (FHA) loan has been set for Monday, May 10." "Board members made the announcement at the regular meeting of the town's governmental body. The closing would mean funding steps for the town's water plant project, which totals $570,000, would be for all purposes completed." The original loan amount was $434,000, and Winslow must still pay off $222,977.16 of that amount as of January 7, 2013. The interest rate on the loan is five percent, and the loan is scheduled to be paid off in October 2021. Winslow pays $31,000 a year on the loan— $6,000 each April and $25,000 in October. The second of the two loans was tak- en out in June 1992. Town council member Buck Ashby said that loan was to pay for installation of the town's sewer system. The original loan amount was $701,000, and Winslow must still owes $504,544.48 as of January 7, 2013. The interest rate on the loan is five percent, and the loan is scheduled to be paid off in December 2031. Winslow pays $41,000 a year on the loan each December. "We've got a lot of ground to make up," Ashby said. "We're just barely getting the interest paid." Ashby said the town wants to refinance their loans, since interest rates are now lower than five percent. He also commented about the feasibility study being conducted by Neikirk Engineering and the planning of a large public meeting for Winslow residents to express their opinions on the water situation. As previously mentioned in The Press-Dispatch, the town is considering either raising water and sewage rates, or switching to a different water provider, in order to reduce the cost of providing water to its residents. Ashby said he has heard no new information from Neikirk Engineering, but hopes they will attend the next town board meeting with an update. He also said that the public meeting will likely be scheduled "once we get everything in place and know more." The next regular meeting of the Winslow Town Board is set for 7 p.m. Monday, January 28 at the Winslow Town Hall. IPL to invest $511 million in mercury reduction controls Ron Ice Excavating began demolishing the former Silver Dollar Saloon late Tuesday afternoon. Ice was contracted to tear down the Silver Dollar Saloon building as well as the former Harris Real Estate and Sweet Stuff buildings on Main St. The area has been targeted for redevelopment that will include a medical facility and senior housing. Loan secured for building demolition By Mike Johansen The loan papers were signed Friday afternoon and the destruction of the old Silver Dollar Saloon and two adjoining buildings was to start Monday. The Petersburg City Council gave unanimous approval to a resolution authorizing the signing of the paperwork and borrowing up to $100,000 to cover the cost of the purchase of the two buildings adjoining the fallen Silver Dollar Saloon, the destruction PIKE PUBLISHING of all three buildings and cleaning up the lot. The action was the only item of business before the council in a special meeting called for Thursday afternoon. The action was a culmination of two years of wrangling and work to get the fallen down Silver Dollar Saloon torn down along with the two adjoining buildings damaged when the saloon collapsed. The Silver Dollar was deeded to the city in December by the owner and Harris is selling the next two WHAT'S INSIDE: Local ........A1-12 Classifieds B11-13 History ......... C11 Obituaries ......A3 Church .......C1-5 SWCD ........D1-6 Sports ........B1-5 Opinion..........C2 buildings to the city for $30,000. The former Silver Dollar Saloon collapsed 18 months ago, and the former Sweet Stuff and Harris Real Estate buildings were damaged in that collapse and by wind storms. The loan is coming from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Agency to purchase the two buildings next to the Silver Dollar Saloon and for the costs of demolition of all three buildings at 601, 603 Continued on page 2 NEWS TIPS: Phone:........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net Indianapolis Power & Light will invest $511 million on environmental controls at the Petersburg plant that will allow it to meet stricter new EPA regulations. IPL announced the proposed improvements to its Petersburg and Harding Street, Indianapolis coal-fired power generating plants on Tuesday. The expenditure is part of IPL's plans to comply with new Utility Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) set by the EPA in March of 2012. The new controls are expected to reduce mercury emissions by about 80 percent. In addition to reducing emissions, the project will lead to new construction jobs for the next three years and will have a major economic impact on the town of Petersburg and Pike County. The project will create an estimated 350 to 400 jobs during the peak construction period, the majority of which will be local, according to IPL. As a part of this expenditure, IPL has executed a $420 million contract with Indiana Environmental Partners (IEP) for engineering, procurement and construction of the new controls. "This is an important step to further reduce air emissions from our plants and will allow us to meet new EPA standards while continuing to provide our customers with safe, reliable and affordable power," said IPL CEO Ken Zagzebski. "IPL currently meets all EPA requirements and, in the past 10 years, we have invested more than $600 million in environmental controls that have reduced emissions dramatically." Greg Fennig, Vice-president of Communication, explained the new controls would be in their bag houses at the four units in Petersburg. He said they are called pulse air fabric filter system and explained they worked similar to a filter in a household heating system. "It is just another system designed to do additional cleaning of emissions from the generators that targets mercury," said Fennig. IPL has filed its plans for the new environmental controls with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). If approved by the IURC, construction will begin at the Petersburg generation station later this year. It is expected construction will take place over the Continued on page 2 CONNECT WITH US: NETedition ... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net