The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1196046
C-8 Wednesday, December 25, 2019 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500 Zoning debate returns to commissioners for wind debate By Janice Barniak The anti-zoning contin- gent of Gibson County let commissioners know Dec. 17 they heard some of the former members of the ar- ea planning commission had been asked to serve again, and that they plan to fight zoning as they did before commissioners ended their exploration of the topic last year. The zoning debate has returned as a possibility in response to concerns that wind farms will be built near Gibson County's doppler ra- dar facility, which, accord- ing to experts with the Na- tional Weather Service and the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration, would obscure the ability to see tornadoes. The NWS and NOA A told commissioners in a meet- ing they have no authority to prevent wind farms from building within the 11-mile radius that would obscure doppler radar, which they say has happened in other places. Gibson County Commis- sioners have said that ordi- nances against specific in- dustries have been struck down in other places by the Indiana Supreme Court. (For Gibson County most recently, a measure aimed to fine trains, as a way to discourage them blocking roadways for extended peri- ods, failed despite commis- sioners' appeals that block- ing roads inhibited the abil- ity for first responders to arrive to emergencies in a timely manner). Commissioner Steve Bot- toms has said to anti-wind farming group Gibson County Citizens for Prop- erty Rights that zoning is the only way to regulate wind farms and even then, it would need to be done before they would break ground and qualify to be grandfathered in. Commissioners have al- so told the anti-wind farm- ing faction that they wanted to wait and see how well the zoning regulations worked for Posey County as they at- tempted to regulate wind farms. Paul Schmitt told com- missioners he was like a lot of citizens Gibson Coun- ty, afraid to speak out about restrictions on landowners, and he wanted them to know he believes zoning will not benefit the country land- owners. Another citizen against zoning said he'd heard the rumors. "The county spent a lot of money on a lawyer. We (an- ti-zoning) spent a little mon- ey on a lawyer...Why are we going to go through this again? " He said his sister, when selected as a wind farming possibility in another area, would have earned $ 900,000 over 30 years if she'd been approved to have a wind farm and was disappointed when she didn't get chosen. "They're just using the ra- dar as an excuse in my opin- ion," he said, adding that they fought zoning in the 1970s, in the 1990s and just recently. "You know the opposition you're going to get," he said. "If it's done, it will all be done with proper notice," said Commissioner Steve Bottoms. Paul Schleter asked why the commissioners couldn't pass an ordinance against wind farms the way they do against loose dogs. Commissioners' attorney Jim McDonald answered. "We've double checked. We've triple checked. We've quadruple checked," he said. "The only way to regu- late land use is with zoning." "There's not any debate on the law," said Stephen Bottoms. David Chamberlain want- ed commissioners to appeal to the state and drive the is- sue from there. "We've contracted state and federal," said Bottoms. Rep. Larry Bucshon spe- cifically told them, federal- ly, there's no authority and that it's a local issue. Another anti-zoning mem- ber told commissioners, "Zoning will affect our lives. Tornadoes might affect our lives." Another asked the board not to hire the same law firm as before, Kahn, Dees, Do- novan and Kahn. Cecil "Bob" Allen asked commissioners to be clear about what they were doing instead of "keeping it a se- cret." Commissioner Bottoms said they had more meet- ings than required. Another person said wind farms cannot be within a certain number of miles of an airport, and suggested someone near the doppler put a little airport on their property. Danny Lefler, who is from south Gibson, told commis- sioners that 870 petitions were presented to commis- sioners against zoning in the last push. "Federal government doesn't care about our safe- ty. State doesn't care about our safety. It's going to fall on your shoulders to protect us," said one person who did not give their name. Resident Bob Barbie told commissioners that no one wanted to feel legislation was forced on them. "Fifty years ago, people drilled oil wells, and not everyone agreed. If you don't like them, talk to your neighbor, tell him not to do it," he said. Clyde Scott signs on for another four years By Janice Barniak Councilman Clyde Scott was sworn in to serve next four years Friday, Dec. 13 in Gibson County Courthouse by Clerk Jim Morrow, after he plead a felony charge of theft down to a misdemea- nor and paid restitution to former employer Owens- ville Carnegie Public Li- brary. "He can serve. He has that right," said Gibson County Republican Chair CT Montgomery, who said he found out Dec. 16 the swearing in was complete. "I do kind of hate that for John (English)," he said. English was sworn in to be the incumbent after Scott resigned last fall when he and his wife faced charges of having been paid by the library for hours they did not actually work. Crashed server interrupts cremations By Janice Barniak Three cremations were delayed by three days in the last month after the Gibson County Health Dept. serv- er crashed, leaving it out of service for a week, making death certificates inacces- sible. "It's kind of an emergency in a way," said Gibson Coun- ty Public Health Nurse Di- ane Hornby to Gibson Coun- ty Council Dec. 17. The server was on its last legs, Hornby told the com- missioners and council in November, before the crash, but replacing the system is difficult because some of the oldest records are on an old DOS system the health de- partment cannot lose. To get around a full re- placement, Hornby said Parrish Consulting, who holds the IT contract for the county, is creating a virtual bridge to tap into the court- house server. While important, the health department doesn't have a very large amount of records they maintain, she said. The virtual bridge solu- tion would cost substantial- ly less than the $10,000 to $12,000 new server. Hornby said she believed the health department could swing paying for the new server by encumber- ing all funds available at the end of the year towards the purpose, and pulling some funds from next year. "We can't go a full day and we're crashing," she said. "We have to get this done." Siren song is silent in Francisco, as EMA director seeks replacement By Janice Barniak Gibson County EMA Director Terry Hedges told the County Council Tuesday that in Francis - co, the storm sirens have been down for six weeks, thanks to the older model having parts that are dif- ficult to find. "I can't tell them when it will be fixed," he said. "I tried for a grant, which we did not get." Installed in 2001, the county's storm sirens are nearing the 20 -year mark. Four routinely go down, he said, and parts are hard to find. "It's a complete remov- al. We'll get no money back. It's junk," he said. Instead, Hedges has compared prices of two companies, and suggest- ed the county go with ERS, a company who's maintenance plan is cheaper. COURT ACTIVITY Thompson faces trespass charges Kaylah Thompson, of Oakland City, is accused of trespassing, this week after an officer was dispatched to address her sitting on a porch when she'd been asked to leave. According to a probable cause, signed by Officer Donald Carlisle, Thompson was sitting on the porch of a residence where she had previously made threats to the resident by mail, in November. Thompson had been told not to return to the prop- erty, according to police. The measure is on the heels of a Dec. 6 emergen- cy detention order that netted Thompson charges of possession of paraphernalia, possession of meth and battery by bodily waste on a law enforcement officer. According to an affidavit by the Gibson County Sher- iff's Office, while serving an emergency detention no- tice, Sheriff's deputies, in full uniform, were invited into Thompson's house, where she allegedly refused to put on pants, and asked "where is my crank pipe? " While trying to fill the court order to transfer Thomp- son to Deaconess, Thompson allegedly spit green mu- cus on the officer who took a purse containing two knives and an improvised smoking device from her. The particles on the device field tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the probable cause. Man arrested after using stolen credit card to deliver pizza to himself Austin Dewus, of Patoka, was arrested by the Prince- ton Police Dept. Dec. 17, after police say he used a sto- len credit card to send himself a pizza. According to the probable cause affidavit, the card owner knew her card was missing and had been used at Pizza Hut. Police showed up at the residence the pizza was sent to, and, according to the probable cause, Dewus was at the residence. He allegedly told police a juvenile, who went "car hopping," the slang term for breaking into unlocked cars and stealing the contents, gave him the card. The woman's wallet and contents were also found at the apartment near the trash can; her bank had stopped $ 900 in other charges, according to the prob- able cause. Wood Memorial BARTON TOWNSHIP BASKETBALL SCHEDULE GIRLS Date Opponent Place Time 01/07 Oakland City H 4:30 p.m. 01/09 St. Peter and Paul H 5 p.m. 01/10 Sixth Grade Tourney A 4:30 p.m. 01/13 Oakland City A 4:30 p.m. 01/14 Holy Cross H 4:30 p.m. BOYS Date Opponent Place Time 01/07 Oakland City H 5:30 p.m. 01/09 St. Peter and Paul H 6 p.m. 01/13 Oakland City A 5:30 p.m. 01/14 Holy Cross H 5:30 p.m. Congratulations to the Wood Memorial High School second quarter Students of the Quarter, (l to r): Peyton Davis, Kiersten Bottoms, Paxton Schwomeyer and Shelby Clark. Congrats to our WMJHS second quarter Stu- dents of the Quarter, Will Morton and Josiah Memmer. Congratulations to the Wood Memorial High School second quarter Students of the Quarter, (l to r): Peyton Davis, Kiersten Bottoms, Paxton Schwomeyer and Shelby Clark.