The Press-Dispatch
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Must qualify for EPCU membership for approval. 5.0% APR 1 RV & CAMPER RATES as low as By Andy Heuring Several residents in Peters- burg lost water pressure late Saturday night and early Sun- day morning when an eight- inch waterline burst along Riv- er Road. City Services Manager Ross Elmore said the city re- ceived a text from Jeff Hart- ing about the water line at about 10 :30 p.m. Harting was returning home from pho- tographing Pike Central's prom. He said he noticed his neighbor Dustin Bosse with a flashlight out next to the road. Bosse showed him where wa- ter was bubbling out of the ground along the side of the road. Harting said he had El- more's cellphone number, so he texted him about it. "They showed up in about 30 minutes and started work- ing on it," said Harting. Elmore said they had to replace about a six-foot long section of an eight-inch water line. He said they shut off the water at about midnight and didn't get it fixed until about 5:30 a.m. They flushed sever- al fire hydrants in the area to reduce discolored water. There is no boil order. Elmore said at about 1:30 a.m., the crew had to aban- don their work and take cov- er in their trucks because of a strong thunderstorm that came through the area. "You have people without water, but you can't risk the safety." The storm had heavy lightning with it. "We sat in our trucks about 30 minutes," said Elmore. Water line repaired through storm Sunday morning By Andy Heuring Pike County had the big- gest one day jump in corona- virus cases so far. Three were added to the map on Tuesday. Those, along with one on Sun- day, brings Pike County to a to- tal of 15. Pike County is now tied with Union County for the few- est cases in Indiana. "I hope we aren't seeing a second wave, but I think that is what we are looking at," said Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish. So far, none of the 15 peo- ple who have tested positive have been hospitalized. "A lot of people are reporting very mild symptoms. Just kind of like stopped up head, cold-like symptoms and fatigue." Glad- ish said anyone should get test- ed who has symptoms like these that continue. Testing is now free and readi- ly available in Jasper and Princ- eton locally by calling 888 -634- 1116. She encouraged people to wear masks when they are out and around other people, and to continue to take precautions. Gladish said two of the last three cases on Tuesday were related. She said many of the last several cases are younger people. Pike County has seen a signif- icant jump in cases the last two weeks, as they jumped from six overall cases to 15. The coun- ty got its sixth confirmed case on May 23. It wasn't until June 30 they had another confirmed case. However, two were report- ed on June 30. Then three more over the next four days. On Sun- day, a 12th case was reported and then three more on Tuesday. Statewide, the numbers are increasing. On Sunday, there were 441 new cases and Monday another 661. Those increases are likely being driven by much more testing, as 6,000 to more than 9,000 people are being test- ed nearly everyday in Indiana. The cases appear to be less severe. Deaths are dropping. Monday's death total was six. In the last week, the death to- tals have not topped eight on any given day. Hospitalizations have in- creased from a state low of 595 people on June 26 to 767 on July 11. However, during that time, the percentage of Indiana's ven- tilators in use has dropped from more than three percent to less than 2.4 percent. Three new COVID cases reported in Pike County WINSLOW Continued from page 1 ing, stating there is a process by which a decision for a speed bump location would be estab- lished based on resident and town input. LIMB PICKUP Lamb also explained the vegetation disposal plan, where residents can place limbs by the street for pick- up. The limbs must be no lon- ger than eight feet, but other stipulations are "not written in stone." They will be picked up when workers are not reading meters. POLICE Autism child signs and pa- rade issues were discussed, along with police vehicle re- placement. A 2020 Dodge Ram pickup is being consid- ered that is priced at $43,150 with hopes an OCR A grant would substantially reduce the cost to the town. Popp ex- plained that they needed more details to come up with a final cost following the grant and police equipment. PUBLIC WORKS Under public works reports, storm drain sewer pipes on La- fayette Street were evaluated and water meter replacement was set for discussion. The Porter Street walkway near the school is to be painted. FIRE Winslow Fire Chief Rick Mathias reported on repairs and the upcoming Hazmat Awareness and Opera- tion course set for August 4 through August 30. Fire 1 and Fire 2 certifications were an ongoing training consider- ation and costs could be paid through fundraisers. Mathi- as plans to have the depart- ment sell food at Petersburg Hardware, because of the high traffic, and also at the River- side Park. Popp said he was an instructor for the hazmat training for firemen entering structures with a gas hazard. The training was going to be no cost to the town. He sug- gested an upgrade on the Wi- Fi, and Mathias asked for rain gutter and flag pole work, and also interior lighting for the fire barn. AUCTION FOR END- OF-LIFE VEHICLES Popp said state-approved auction services can be used to sell "End-of-life vehicles, such as the bucket truck, 8 -N Ford tractor and brush truck. A total of four vehicles will be on the auction block, but the council will first get figures on values and decide on whether or not to place a minimum bid on them. BUILDING MURAL There was a discussion about a mural made to honor the buildings lost to the down- town fire, which has left only part of the Snyder building. A cost of $500 was mentioned for a start-up feasibility study for the project that would place a mural on the north wall over- looking the empty lot. Lamb reported that an art- ist rendering of the project would cost around $14,000 and that $500 was needed to begin looking into the project. She moved to spend the $500 and look into the project, but the motion died for lack of a second. OTHER BUSINESS There was nothing to report from zoning appeals, the Plan- ning Committee, animal con- trol, and Park and Recreation Board. Clerk-Treasurer Stacy McCandless reported claims amounting to $138,008.44, in- cluding $103,080.85 in gen- eral, $14,873.65 in water, $7,503.67 in wastewater and $12,5025.27 in payroll. A blighted building was scheduled to be cleaned up by October 1 and a codebook up- date has been started with Re- gion 15. Popp is awaiting coun- cil notes for the town hand- book and a capital asset pol- icy will include inventories of fire department, police depart- ment and public works depart- ment property. SOLAR PROJECT Josh Popp talked about the Tenaska solar farm proj- ect, stating that if it were to become a reality, any benefit would help recoup some of the loss to the county from IPL's recent change in property val- ue. Popp said Winslow is im- pacted by the county's reve- nue gains and losses in the ar- ea of public safety. Police and fire funds for Winslow are di- rectly affected by reductions in county tax revenue. Winslow Town Hall busi- ness hours were expanded after councilman Dick Brew- ster questioned why the build- ing was closed on Mondays. Drive-thru hours are now Monday, Tuesday and Thurs- day, 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. Friday's hours are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. The office is closed on Wednesdays. The next Winslow Council meeting is set for Monday, Au- gust 10, beginning at 7 p.m. By Andy Heuring A Velpen woman was arrest- ed for drunken driving after she hit a bridge on CR 725 S., at about 7:30 p.m. last Wednes- day. Ashley Jenelle Sharp, 35, of 6609 S. CR 700 E., Velpen, was charged with operating a vehi- cle while intoxicated, after po- lice were called to investigate a vehicle hitting the bridge. Pike County Deputy Buck Seger said central dispatch was notified that a woman driving a white Ford SUV had hit a bridge. Seger said when he arrived, he found Sharp sitting at the crash scene in her SUV, which had front end damage. The bridge railing was bent and a road sign was knocked down. Sharp told police she had called a friend to pull her ve- hicle out of the ditch. She said she had a margar- ita at lunch and a "seltzer or two" since then. She failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where she tested 0.13 percent for blood alcohol content. The legal limit in Indiana is 0.08 percent. A Petersburg man was ar- rested on Sunday for operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicat- ed after a convenience store clerk told police a man so in- toxicated he could barely walk had ridden north on Highway 57 after exiting the Kangaroo Express convenience store. Police located the moped in the northside trailer court and found Robert Gunn, 41, of 2175 E. Main St., Lot 14, Pe- tersburg, asleep on the couch. Petersburg Cpl. Kyle Mills said when they questioned Gunn about being at the Kan- garoo Express, he denied be- ing there. Mills, in his report, said when police told Gunn there was video surveillance tape at Kangaroo, he admitted go- ing there to get cigarettes. He was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.20 per- cent for blood alcohol content, which is more than twice the legal limit in Indiana. Two arrested for OVWI in separate incidents A second road closure on Highway 356 is planned for late July. Highway 356, at the edge of Petersburg at Lakev- iew Drive, was closed on Mon- day. It will remain closed until near the end of July to replace a small bridge structure. Another closure is sched- uled for Tuesday, July 28 near Algiers, seven miles east of Highway 57. Crews will install a liner in a drainage structure. Work is expected to last for two days, depending upon weather conditions. During the project, the road will be closed to through traffic. Lo- cal traffic will have access up to the point of closure. The official detour follows S.R. 56 and S.R. 257 to 356. Road closures planned for Hwy 356 Petersburg employees work late Saturday night and early Sunday to repair an 8-inch water line.