The Press-Dispatch
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Local ...........A1-6 Sports .........B1-2 Classifi eds ..B3-5 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-6 Obituaries....... C7 History ........... C8 School............ C9 E. Gibson C10-12 WHAT'S INSIDE: CONNECT WITH US: NetEdition ...pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook.....facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .........news@pressdispatch.net Phone:.................. 812-354-8500 Fax: ...................... 812-354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, April 3, 2019 Volume 149 Number 14 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 26 pages Five inserts See COUNCIL on page 2 See TA XES on page 2 See HUNTS on page 2 Property tax statements will be in the mail beginning Friday, April 5 for the installments due on May, 10, 2019, and November 12, 2019. "This is the only notice you will receive and both installment cou- pons are attached. If you did not receive your statement or state- ments, please call the Treasurer's office at 812-54-6363," said Pike County Treasurer Marta Query. The State of Indiana IC code states that the property owner is required to notify the Treasurer's office if they do not receive their statements and if their mailing ad- dress has changed. Payments can be made by cash, check, money order, or cred- it card in the office. Credit Card payments are accepted in the of- fice, by phone, or on line at W W W. PAYGOV.US. The Treasurer's of- fice accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover debit and credit cards, and there is a 2.95 percent con- venience fee for the total amount paid. Query explained, "If you use a credit/debit card to pay over the phone or on line, you will be re- quired to provide parcel numbers for the properties you are paying on. Do not wait until May 10 to pay your tax by phone. Our office is exceptionally busy and we can- not answer every call, payments left on voicemail are not accept- ed," said Query. She requested taxpayers bring By Andy Heuring A series of Easter egg hunts are scheduled over the next few weeks. The Winslow hunt, sponsored by The House of Mercy Church, is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, April 6 at the Winslow Little League park. They will have food, games and prizes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Easter egg hunt will have more than 2,000 eggs, with 30 prize eggs hidden among them. The hunt will be divided into age groups for children ages one to 12. A rain date of Saturday, April 13 has been set. THREE HUNTS SET FOR SATURDAY, APRIL 13 The Petersburg Moose spon- sored Easter egg hunt is sched- uled for 1 p.m. Saturday, April 13 at Hornady Park. It will be divid- ed into age groups of 0 -2, 3-5, 6 - 8, 9 -10 and special needs. The rain date is April 20. The Union Community Church sponsored Easter egg hunt is set for 1 p.m. April 13 beside the church on CR 850 W. They will al- so have free hot dogs, chips and drinks. It is rain or shine. They will give a scooter to the winning Easter Egg hunts begin Saturday Tax statements in the mail Friday Water meter updates Petersburg employee Jay Raney lays on the ground to install a new water meter equipped with a transmitter along Pike Ave., while William Rainey gets a part from the truck. The two have been out replacing old water meters in Petersburg. The new meters will allow the water meters to be read by computers instead of manually. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said eventu- ally they will be able to read the meters from City Hall. The current transmitters allow the city employees to be nearby and get the meter reading. However, those transmitters are about 14 to 15 years old and have a life expectancy of only 10 to 12 years. City Services Manager Ross Elmore said the meters were installed in about 1990. He said last month they had to manually read about 400 of the meters where the transmitters had died. Raney said if the weather was good, the two-man team could do about 20 a day, if they didn't run into meters with problems.` By Andy Heuring Petersburg voted to make changes to the city's health insurance they hope will save them as much as $ 30,000. They also accept- ed the resignation of a police officer. Mayor R.C. Klipsch told councilmen in order to keep the same health insurance with their current deductible, they would have about a $24,000 increase in their pre- mium. He said they shopped around and found the insurance plan they have was a good plan and they wanted to keep it. However, he said by increasing the de- ductible from $500 to $2,500 would actu- ally lower the premium by about $5,000. "We were worried about the increased deductible exposure for our employees," said Klipsch. So they found a "Health Re- imbursement Arrangement." He said, Tony Cochren, of German American Insurance, said typically 40 percent hit their maximum deductible on health insurance. Klipsch said the HR A is a type of self-in- surance in which the city will pick up the cost of the deductible for employees if they go above $1,000, up to the $2,500 deduct- ible. Petersburg has about 15 employees on the plan. So, they will start out about $ 30,000 ahead since their premium was $5,000 less instead of $24,000 more. He said they can carry over money from year to year that isn't used. "It just makes a lot of sense to me to be able to control our costs and add a layer of protection for our employees," said Klipsch. City councilmen John Melhiser, Brian Van Meter and Gary Leavitt all voted in fa- vor of the recommendation. Councilmen Bertis Jenkins and Fran Lewis did not at- tend Monday's meeting. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Baumgart said Police Cpl. Scott Wright submitted his resignation for personal reasons. "I accept- ed it," said Baumgart. In other police matters, Baumgart said there have been numerous phone scams hitting the area. He said one of them claims to be Publishers Clearing House telling people they have won. They then try to get the personal information for the person. "Basically, if it is too good to be true, it is," said Baumgart. INFILTRATION BEING ADDRESSED City Services Manager Ross Elmore said the city is making headway on run-off water infiltrating into their sewer system. Elmore said the amount of water get- ting into the system is being reduced sig- nificantly. He said it appears lining man- hole covers is making a big difference. "It might not seem like that much of a deal, the stream of water going into them. But when you consider it is running 24-7, it adds up quickly." Councilmen asked if the city was going to have any infrastructure issues to deal with on White River Ave. "Yes," said Elmore. Insurance changes could save city $ 30,000 Wood memorial Spring Sports Team photos inside SEE PAGE C-10 By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners opened bids for mowing for two cemeteries and approved changes on the county's mile- age policy during a brief Monday morning meeting. The county received three bids for mow- ing the Old Town Cemetery in Petersburg and Coleman Cemetery in Monroe Town- ship. Pike County requested bids for mowing the cemeteries 12 times during the spring and summer months. Tony Camp had the low bid with a price of $47 per mow, for a total for a total of $564 on each. Mark Julian bid $ 80 per mow for the Cole- man Cemetery and $ 92 a mow for the Old Town Cemetery. Persimmon Ridge Green Works bid $105 per mow for each cemetery. Commissioner Assistant Kristi Disch- inger said both Julian and Persimmon Ridge had liability insurance. Tony Camp did not provide any information about lia- bility insurance. "Did you say $47 a mow? " asked Commissioner Ryan Coleman. "Let me look at it again. Yes, it is $47 per mow," said Dischinger. She added she would check on Camp's liability. Commissioners took the bid under ad- visement. Auditor Judy Gumbel asked the com- missioners if they could add a clause to the mileage policy. She asked for a clause requiring mileage claims be submitted monthly. Gumbel said her office recently received mileage claims from 2018. The commissioners approved her re- quest. Recorder Jeff Harting requested permis- sion for his deputy to attend an out-of-state seminar. He said it was specific to the soft- ware they use in the recorder's office. County policy requires officeholders to get permission from the commissioners to travel out of the state. Harting said his deputy will drive to Terre Haute and then be picked up by a bus going to the seminar in northern Illinois. He also said the only expense the county will be out is a two-night hotel bill of about $ 90 and mileage for his deputy to get to and from Terre Haute. His request was approved. EMS Director Chris Young said he was asked a question about whether the coun- ty should lease to own or take a loan to purchase a new ambulance. Young said the money for the new ambulance was put in the 2019 budget. However, he said they are checking to see which finance option is the best. He said the manufacturer is having a hard time getting chassis for the ambu- lances so the deliver date will probably be summer instead of spring. The next commissioners' meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, April 15 in the courthouse auditorium. Commissioners take mowing bids; approve mileage policy Kitchen fire damages residence An undetermined kitchen fire damaged the residence of Theresa Loveless at about noon Monday. Petersburg Fire Chief Ross Elmore said it was reported as a kitchen fire. "The flames were rolling when we arrived." However, they were able to contain the fire to the kitchen. Elmore said there was smoke and heat damage through out the house located at 714 S. Ninth St., Petersburg. Pe- tersburg had nine firefighters at the scene and was assisted by Patoka Township. Elmore said the fire is being investigated by the Indiana State Fire Marshal's office. Above: Fire Chief Ross Elmore talks with Fireman John Voyles and Petersburg city employee Darin Cook looks on.