The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1202802
A-2 Front Wednesday, Januar y 22, 2020 The Press-Dispatch 354-8500 Fax: 812-354-2014 E-mail: news@pressdispatch.net Puzzled about what to read....? Subscribe to ....and you will have your solution. AGREEMENT Continued from page 1 CHIEF Continued from page 1 trained, equipped and ready to handle those emergency calls. I do believe that any- one who will put the dedica- tion forward to handle a role like that can do it. I would give him the opportunity to see if he succeeds. I know there has been that drama, all that kind of stuff, but we will give him a chance." Ultimately, the council has the final decision when they vote to approve a new chief after the department holds its election. "We are trying to give them that respect, because they do have a voting sys- tem in their department," Popp said. "They are go- ing through their process to select their chief. It may be Rick Mathias, it may not. That's their call, but it would be mutually beneficial for the town board and its de- partment to have a working relationship instead of dra- ma. So this is kind of try- ing to open up a new chap- ter, like let's move forward. We already did our evalua- tion and we know the issues. Let's get to work." Town residents also voiced their concerns over the burned down house on the corner of Lucas Street and Oak Street. The house burnt down several months ago and has sat untouched ever since. Residents said they were concerned how much it would cost the town if it gets stuck with the cleanup costs. "I don't know what kind of contract or agreement [the renters] had with the prop- erty owner, but ultimate- ly, it's the property owner's responsibility to make sure that property gets cleaned up. We are going through that process right now with the unsafe building laws, the IC Code and stuff." If the town does get stuck with the cleanup, it can at- tach a lien to the lot, but the value of the lot would like- ly be substantially less than cost of cleanup. Winslow officials have reached out to the owners of the property and notified them they needed to clean- up the property. "We haven't got anything back from them, so now we are moving forward," Popp said. "We haven't been able to find any insurance on it. We are still investigating that and trying to have a discussion with the proper- ty owner, and see if they will come clean it. Ultimately, I think the town is going to have to clean it up, because we really don't want another blighted building." Popp said the city is in the process of getting a dump- ster out to the property, and getting equipment prepped and ready to go. OTHER BUSINESS • The council discussed an issue its having with res- idents' gutter systems run- ning into the sewer system. Popp said if the town can get these issues corrected, then residents could see low- er utility bills. "It's not something that people are doing intention- ally," he said. "Back when the original sewer system was put into town, around the 1920s, people's gutter systems would go directly into the sewer system and flow out. We have issues that this water doesn't need to be treated in our sewer, so this is costing us to pump all the water. It's not benefi- cial for our lagoons. My un- derstanding is that the stuff in the lagoons is looking for stuff to eat. We are basical- ly feeding these bacterias and other stuff to do its job. So when you have water that doesn't need to be treated up there, it's not helping your system out. We want to help our system because it will cost us less." • They were informed the town's health insurance rates will decrease by nine percent in 2020 because of the average age of the town's employees decreased. The plan is not due to be renewed until April. "Even though they went down, we still want to do our research," Popp said. "We want to make sure that we are providing our employ- ees with good care and get some feedback from them to make sure that we are meet- ing their needs. We need to take care of our employees." The council plans to make an official decision on the re- newal by the March meet- ing. • They discussed the need to reestablish the plan- ning committee. "We used to have one. I'm not too sure on the history of what happened to it, but this is something, after talk- ing to Pike County Econom- ic Development, it's been a highlighted topic that we re- ally need one. I really want to focus on getting that do- ne this year and getting peo- ple from our community ap- pointed to that role. There are a lot of good opportuni- ties for having a planning committee." The primary duty of the planning committee is to develop and make recom- mendations to the legisla- tive body, and plan for the future of the community. • The council also dis- cussed putting together a policy for adding speed bumps in the community. "The previous town board put in a speed bump, but people complained and I guess something happened where they said it was ille- gal or it wasn't done right. Then it was ripped out. I'm not sure on all the interwork- ing details on that. We want to do a review and see what and how we can implement having speed bumps. Are there certain rules and reg- ulations over speed bumps in the community? Does it have to be so far from the stop sign? How can we do it for the community? " said Popp. • They discussed a large scale plan to replace all of the aged water meters in Winslow with new meters. Popp has been working with Pike County Econom- ic Development and some other places from which he can seek funding. There are three different options the board has researched, but the goal is to cut down on the town's water loss. Popp said right now the town is look- ing at an estimated water loss of 50,000 gallons. "We keep accept that loss, we re- ally can't," he said. "With- out getting that number in a more controlled realm, we won't be able to start to re- ally address the issue of the high sewer rate on the utility bills." Popp said the project could cost anywhere from $23,000 to $100,500 and the town plans to apply for some grants. • The council approved Popp and Debra Lamb as the executive members of the Winslow Town Council. • They also reminded those in attendance that all dogs are required to be reg- istered. A lifetime tag costs $15 or a yearly tag is $5 for non-spayed or neutered dogs, and $ 3 for dogs that are spayed or neutered. 2301 N. Spring St., Otwell Flea Market JANUARY 25, 2020 $ 1 HOURS $ 15 Admission 8am-3pm Breakfast, Lunch & Refreshments Available! Questions, Call 812-354-4556 TABLES STILL AVAILABLE per table Flea Market, Vendors & Crafts Antiques, Glassware, Tools, Toys, Jewelry, Pottery, Coins, Trading Cards, Primitives and much more!! HOURS: Mon-Thurs 5am-10pm Friday 5am-11pm Saturday 6am-11pm Sunday 7am-10pm NOW SERVING FRESHLY-MADE CAJUN CHICKEN (not too spicy, not too mild) Tenders • Wings Chicken • Sandwiches Sides • Biscuits Breakfast Sandwiches Biscuits & Gravy POWER MART PETERSBURG 907 E. MAIN ST. 812-354-2080 $ 10 10 for LIMITED TIME OFFER: 10 CHICKEN TENDERS and 3 Dipping Sauces Add sides and biscuits for a great meal! In a hurry? Use our DRIVE-THRU! By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man was ar- rested for drunken driving after neighbors called po- lice with noise complaints at 4:30 a.m. on New Year's Day. Robert Daugherty, 52, of 1606 E. Locust St., Peters- burg, was arrested after po- lice responded to a 911 call on a noise complaint. Pe- tersburg Patrolman Bryce Manning said when he ar- rived, he saw Daugherty in his driveway spinning his wheels at 4:37 a.m. According to a proba- ble cause affidavit filed last week, Patrolman Manning said when he made contact with Daugherty, he was hav- ing trouble getting out of his pickup truck and left it run- ning and in gear, and had to jump back into the truck and put it in park. While talking to Daugh- erty, both Patrolman Man- ning and State Trooper C. J. Boeckman noted the odor of alcohol and slurred speech. Daugherty told police he was just in his yard doing donuts and burnouts in his driveway. Trooper Boeckman said while police were talking with Daugherty, he became upset, saying he could do anything he wanted on his property. However, police said neighbors told them Daugherty had driven off the property and returned. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.148 percent for blood alcohol content. The legal limit in Indiana for blood alcohol content is 0.08 percent. He was charged with op- erating a vehicle while in- toxicated, with a prior con- viction in the last five years. According to a probable cause affidavit, Daugherty had been convicted of oper- ating a vehicle while intox- icated in Dubois County in February 2017. Daugherty charged with OVWI after disturbance ployees. He wanted to ad- dress those changes in the near future for other employ- ees. "I didn't like the old con- tract that required employ- ees to exhaust their vaca- tion days to FML A. Nelson said he didn't like it that if an employee needed sur- gery in January they didn't get to take a vacation in the fall. "I'm fine new contract, but I want to get the the rest of the county in line with that," said Nelson. COMMISSIONERS ASKED TO PASS SANCTUARY STATUS FOR PIKE COUNTY Andrew Porter, repre- senting Pike County Sec- ond Amendment Sanctuary, told county commission- ers there is legislation be- ing proposed in the Indiana senate this year that would make it illegal to own sever- al types of firearms and re- quire confiscation. He asked the commissioners to protect Pike County residents from this proposed legislation by making the county a sanctu- ary county. Porter said the group has recently formed in Pike County and movement is coming together quickly. "I think if the need arises, we will," said Commissioner Nelson. "Those bills haven't passed yet," said Flint. "These bills are coming from one senator. I think they will be passed," said Com- missioner Ryan Coleman. "This is Pike County, this is Indiana. There is no one on this board against guns," said Flint. Commissioners also heard concerns about CR 375 S. (Ayrshire Road) from Terry Woolsey. Woolsey said there were 11 burned out or abandoned houses along two miles of CR 375 S., before you get to the area that is flooded several months of the year. Woolsey asked if the coun- ty could do anything about cleaning up those houses. "On the house situation, there is no ordinance to be able to clean that up," said Commissioner Flint. He added, "This is one of the downsides to not having zoning. You can't go in and tell people what they can do with their property. . . Where do you draw that line? " asked Nelson. However, he said Dubois County, which also doesn't have zoning, recently passed an ordinance on blight and he is interested in looking into their ordinance. "To me, these houses are a health hazard," said Woolsey. He added it was affecting his property value." "I hear you. It is something we are exploring," said Nel- son. The commissioners said it is an involved process to get to the point of having an ordi- nance and enforcing it. "It is a big ordeal," said Nelson. "You are working on it. That is what I wanted to know," said Woolsey. He said the other problem is the water flooding the low- er part of Ayrshire Road. Josh Byrd with the High- way Dept. said they had worked earlier to clean out some of the beaver dams that are causing it to flood. He added they have been able to work with the state Depart- ment of Natural Resources, but they have not been able to work with the National Wild- life Service. Woolsey said there are starting to be problems along Buttermilk Road as well. "If you get Buttermilk Road and Ayrshire Road flooded, you only have one way in and out for emergen- cy services. The commissioners al- so approved advertising for bids for paving projects list- ed in their Crossroads grant application. Those roads advertised are: • CR 325 W. from CR 350 N. to the rock section, 4,165 feet in Madison Twp.; • CR 550 W. from SR 56 to Bridge, 242,178 feet Mad- ison Twp.; • CR 150 W. from SR 57 to CR 200 N., 4,782 feet in Wash. Twp.; • CR 275 W. from CR 200 N. to CR 250 N., 3,000 feet in Madison Twp.; • CR 900 E. from Old State Road 64 to beginning of rock, 4,416 feet in Lockhart Twp.; • CR 75 S. from blacktop about 1,674 feet west of SR 57 to dead end, 2,209 feet in Lo- gan Twp.; • CR 325 S. from CR 50 E. to Bridge 90, 3,888 feet in Pa- toka Twp.; • CR 150 E. from CR 550 S. to CR 475 S., 3,960 feet in Patoka Twp.; • CR 900 E. from SR 64 to SR 257, 5,890 feet in Lock- hart Twp.; • CR 200N (Old Peters- burg Road) from Church to Bridge 172, 5,700 feet in Jef- ferson Twp. The commissioners al- so voted to reschedule their next meeting to 10 :30 a.m. Friday, February 7 instead of their normal meeting date of Monday, February 3. They said it was better to facilitate their paving bids, which have to be approved after Febru- ary 5 Snowmen put in place along Main St. Amy Smith attaches a snowman to a utility pole on Main St. Petersburg. She and her son, Cameron Smith, decorated this one with information about how to stop bullying. It is one of several to go into place on Tuesday. Discover Downtown Petersburg offered wood snowman silhouettes for people to deco- rate for a contest and to spruce up Main St. They will be judged at a later date.