The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1282448
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 26, 2020 B-5 EAST GIBSON Submit East Gibson news items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: egnews@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Gibson County Commissioners pass zoning By Janice Barniak Gibson County Commis- sioners unanimously passed a zoning ordinance last Tues- day, after hearing final testi- mony from landowners, cor- porations and private citizens. According to Commission- er Steve Bottoms, the decision was difficult after previous ef- forts to pass zoning had gar- nered widespread public op- position. "A fter dealing with what went through the last time on this, it was tough, but part of the job," he said, adding he had brought in the company, E.ON, later named RWE, to the county for economic devel- opment. Then came the safety aspects, he said. "How could I sit there and tell them that I would not try to help their safety, and the safety—well, I couldn't do that. How could I look them in the eye and say, 'oh, I don't want to go through this process again.' I couldn't do it." If the safety could be pro- tected by ordinance, he said commissioners would have preferred that route. He also disagreed with peo- ple who believed the process was rushed, and those who thought senators or other leg- islators could handle it. He said he also had been ac- cused of using the fear factor of having a Lion's Den adult bookstore on the exit at I-69. "You're right, I am playing the fear factor because I don't want it," he said. Commissioner Gerald Bled- soe said he's been against zon- ing his whole life and it was on- ly in response to wind farming he considered passing the or- dinance. He said in other counties and states, windmills are very political; while the landown- ers who are making money seem to be happy, municipal- ities are not happy. The wind companies generally ask for abatements and the benefits are short-lived. He said that he had visited locals affected by tornadoes in the past and heard their sto- ries. "It's unbelievable how lucky they were, even when they were notified by the doppler," he said. Citizens had a lot to say on the subject of zoning—prop- erty rights advocates worried that the process would be cost- ly and would keep them from building what they want and doing what they want on their property. The coal industry criticized being included in a document they said was redundant to current oversight. Pro-zoners talked mostly about wind turbines and the potential for wind farms pro- posed by RWE, a renewable energy company, to interfere with Owensville's doppler ra- dar. AGAINST ZONING Paul Smith said he felt the APC had not listened to the majority of the people who were against zoning. He said it was costly, and the money would come out of roads and other things people needed. "The people of Gibson County have not been listened to," he said. Larry Michel, of Fort Branch, said he wanted to know how much zoning was going to cost. Governments are being asked to cut back their bud- gets due to coronavirus. "I think the county commis- sioners and all the people have too much on their plate right now," he said. Charles Shaw, landowner of a 197-year-old farm, said he is not for zoning, but is for pro- tection of what the county has. He thought citizens should have been better informed. "I'm very disappointed in that. I challenge you to do a better job." Warren Fleetwood told the commissioners he wanted the answer to how many people were killed each year due to a lack of zoning. He said the plan is hard to read, and he's bothered by the statement the ordinance is for the "promotion of morals." "This concerns me. What does that mean. What are the morals in this document? " he asked. "There's no reference to what morals will be used to determine what's worthy of approval. I genuinely don't think this is moral." Local Daniel Lefler also wanted to know the cost. "When I go out and buy a car, I usually know how much it costs," he said, adding he be- lieved an ordinance can pro- tect the doppler. "It's too much of a waste of taxpayers' mon- ey to do it." COAL Chad Sullivan spoke on be- half of area coal companies and said the APC misspoke at their last meeting. Coal mines have consistent- ly said they already face strin- gent regulation, and should be exempted, and used the case of excessive ammonia used because of COVID-19 to say that mines needed more reg- ulation. Instead, Sullivan said it proved the opposite, because the regulations in place had worked, detected the ammo- nia, and changed the mines' practices. He told commissioners if they want mining to continue to thrive, they should vote no on zoning until mining is ex- empt from the ordinance. Terry Marsh, of Gibson County Coal, reiterated the ex- emption request. He said the APC hadn't visited their site and hadn't answered in which ways they needed to improve regulations. "We continue to feel ig- nored," Marsh said. He said the APC had an "un- favorable view of coal mining," to which an audience member said "Amen." He said the process had been rushed to get the vote done before the upcoming election. "If there was an appetite to accommodate the coal indus- try, it was well disguised," he said. PRO-ZONING Lifelong resident Rita Stone talked about the Feb. 28, 2017, tornado that affected her fam- ily just outside Owensville. They were told to seek shel- ter immediately and went to the basement. "Doppler radar saved our lives that night," she said. "Zoning is the only proven way to protect doppler...Make zon- ing happen." Gibson County Economic Development Corporation di- rector Paul Waters told com- missioners the majority of board members had been in favor of zoning per APC reg- ulations. Property owner Dave Hud- nell, of Owensville, said that zoning protects property val- ues and creates an even play- ing field for builders when, otherwise, the unscrupulous ones could cut corners and build to lesser standards, causing issues down the road. "We need to be thinking of others," he said. Ellie Kiesel, spoke in fa- vor of zoning and of being re- spectful to others regardless of their opinions. She said she was in favor of protecting the doppler. Josh Adler, a 36 -year resi- dent, said he was in favor of regulating what businesses can come to the area. He said both sides' motivations were based on fear and hardhead- edness. "I love this community and the type of people who live here," he said. "Today it's wind farms, tomorrow a refinery or plastics, or worse." Les Kiesel, of Haubstadt, saw zoning as a backup should Indiana's right-to-farm laws change, as well as a way to protect doppler. He accused commissioner candidate War- ren Fleetwood, a candidate against zoning, of knowing a safety ordinance wouldn't work to protect radar. "You can't be for protection of doppler and against zon- ing," he said. He called rescinding zoning after it passed to be "unimag- inable." Kent Scheller, a physics pro- fessor from Haubstadt, said freedom is not absolute, and that people follow guidelines for the greater good. "You've been living, we've been living under guidelines... this is exactly that," he said. Sharon Baumgart has farm- land in Gibson and Vander- burgh counties and said it hasn't impeded her farming to be zoned in Vanderburgh, however, she's been hit twice by tornadoes, one of which narrowly missed her elderly father. "Without the doppler warn- ing, we would not have been able to move him fast enough," she said. "It can possibly be the difference between life and death." Mark Adler said farmers in Haubstadt say zoning has not affected them, and he be- lieves prioritizing the radar is the right thing to do. Ken Maurer, of Haubstadt, worried uncontrolled devel- opment would risk resident's safety, and said Gibson Coun- ty's zoning is some of the least restrictive in the state. He said the costs would likely be less than people feared since there would only be a part-time di- rector in charge of zoning. "Zoning is the only way to go," he said. Erin Maurer, of Haubstadt, said those against zoning hired a private attorney to tell them what could be done to protect the doppler. They were told the only way was zoning. "If our legal research had yielded different results, this problem would have been put to rest last year," she said. "This is the only proven meth- od, and Gibson County is the only authority that can do it... Yes, zoning saves lives." Danny Lefler spoke against zoning for the county. Rita Stone spoke about her brush with a tornado and how the Doppler saved her life. Wood Memorial Oakland City Library to have food giveaway Free boxes of produce and dairy products will be given away to anyone in need Friday, August 28, be- ginning at 4 p.m. and end- ing when boxes are gone or 6 p.m. This project is being funded as part of the USDA approved $1.2 billion in con- tracts for Farmers to Fam- ilies Food Box Program through the Feed Evans- ville Task Force. There are no income requirements and boxes will be given out first-come, first-served. Due to social distancing requirements, boxes will be placed in the recipient's ve- hicle. There is a limit of one per vehicle. Masks are en- couraged during any time people are unable to be six feet apart from volunteers. Visitors should pay atten- tion to the traffic patterns when getting near the li- brary. As the library is locat- ed in a residential neighbor- hood, no vehicles will be al- lowed to line up before 3:30 p.m. Additional informa- tion will be available on the library's Facebook page Fri- day morning regarding traf- fic patterns. Food boxes are expect- ed to contain a variety of items, including milk, cot- tage cheese, cream cheese, vegetables and fruit. Unfor- tunately, the library is not able to hold boxes in reserve for anyone or make any de- liveries. Eighth grade team members include, front row (l to r): Maddy Schnell #8, Jace Saulmon #1 and Alys- sa Thurston #4; back row: Zane Corn #3, Cyrus Boyd #9, Braden Neukam #11, Garrett Parke #13, Elijah Schlottman #21 and Jonas Marshall #17. Jared Stolz, #6, takes control of the ball. Cyrus Boyd, #9, moves the ball down the field with two Princeton players in tow. Chad Sullivan, #7, goes toe-to-toe with a Prince- ton opponent. Jackson Vanmeter, #12, battles for the ball with a Princeton Tiger. Landon Casen, #15, controls the ball while two Tigers put pressure on him. Deacon Dupps, #26, prepares to kick the ball down the field. Maddy Schnell, #8, lines up her shot.