The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1373596
B-2 Wednesday, May 19, 2021 The Press-Dispatch By Andy Heuring Pike County School Board hired a new Winslow Elemen- tary School principal and ap- proved several capital proj- ects for the schools during the meeting last Tuesday night. Aaron Meyer was hired to replace Rich Luker, who earli- er announced he would be re- tiring at the end of this year. Meyer grew up in north- ern Indiana and has seven years experience as a princi- pal. Superintendent Dr. Su- zanne Blake said Meyer was principal at Rockport Elemen- tary School for two years be- fore being named principal at Washington Middle School in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation. She added he is an Indiana University graduate, has ex- perience as a behavioral con- sultant with Special Education programs, was a guidance counselor and has worked with high-ability students in specialized programs. "He is very experienced and we think he will be a real as- set to the corporation," said Dr. Blake. The board also approved several capital projects. They included paving the top level of the parking lot at Pike Cen- tral at a cost of $119,520 and a new lot at the central office at a cost of $ 30,400 by E&B Paving. Dr. Blake said they had been paving a portion of their parking lots and drives at the various schools each year and this continues it. In the same vote, they al- so approved purchasing a tractor/backhoe from Hopf Equipment for $41,760. It al- so included three upgrades to the Vance Hays High School Auditorium. They are buying a heavi- er curtain for the stage. Dr. Blake and music teacher Me- lissa Traylor said the current curtain had been there since the 80s and had dry rot. Tray- lor said when the curtain would get caught, it would just tear because of dry rot. The flooring on the back part of the stage is going to be replaced with maple to match the front part of the stage. They are also install - ing new lighting. The cost of those items were $ 34,240 for the curtain, $ 32,997 for the flooring and $48,125 for the lighting. Other projects approved were to install new Trane chillers in the PCSC Learning Center at a price of $ 82,649. A related project is to install more bottle filling stations in the schools. During COVID, they had to stop using water fountains but the bottle filling station can be used. Assistant Superintendent Dana Deffendoll said once COVID is over, they will be able to go back to water foun- tains, as well as the bottle fill- ing stations. The other capital project is to remodel two rooms previ- ously used as computer labs. The rooms are in the hallway between the cafeteria and the B-wing. Deffendoll said the rooms have a glass win- dow between them, which al- lows people to hear between the rooms, and that is a dis- traction. The board approved a three-year contract for social services through Youth First at a cost of $ 36,428 in 2021- 22; $ 37,703 in 2022-23; and $ 39,023 in 23-24. Pike Central Principals Bri- an Holland and Mindy Keek- er both thanked the board for approving the services, say- ing they are needed and are a big help. SUMMER SCHOOL STAFF HIRED The staff for summer school was approved by the board: At Pike Central High School, Cassie Craig and Barb Jochim were hired as teach- ers, with Ketina Bailey an in- structional assistant. In the elementary school jump start programs, Van- netta McConnell was hired as a teacher and A zlee Smith instructional assistant at Winslow, and Amber Riesen- beck as a teacher at Peters- burg Elementary School. At Pike Central Middle School, Danielle Carter and Emily Cherry were hired as teachers, and Missy Schul- theis and Lisa Holder as in- structional assistants for sum- mer school. They also signed a one-year contract with Glen Weiss to be a third party operator and con- duct required testing for their sewer treatment plant. Board member Chris McK- inney asked if they had adver- tised for the position. Max Deputy said he had contacted other individuals who worked for Winslow, Oak- land City and Princeton, but none of them were interested. He also said Weiss is actual- ly cheaper than the others he talked to. Weiss will be paid $1,600 a year to be the operator, but the certified lab work will cost $12,922 a year. Deputy said the school's current operator is retiring and had his own lab, so it was much cheaper. He added it was only a one- year contract and if they found someone less expensive, they could contract with them the next year. It was approved by a 5 -0 vote. The next school board meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tues- day, June 8 at the Central Of- fice. Aaron Meyer replaces Rich Luker as Winslow Elementary principal See the Business Box for special services COUNCIL Continued from page 1 ects, which were part of the Community Crossings pav- ing grant. The projects to be bid are: • Illinois St., from Highway 56/61 to the Petersburg City limits, between the bridge and Highway 57, a total of 5,113 feet; • Lake Minnis Drive, from Highway 57 entrance to CR 550 N. entrance, 3,406 feet; • Rolling Acres Drive, from Highway 57 to Rolling Acres Ct., a total of 852 feet; • Rolling Acres Court to Highway 57, a total of 988 feet; • Rolling Acres Ct., from Rolling Acres Dr. to deadend, a total of 326 feet; • County Road 550 N., from Highway 57 to CR 200 E., a to- tal of 4,424 feet; and • Division Road, from High- way 257 to Pike-Dubois Coun- ty line, a total of 5,316 feet. In other business, the com- missioners voted 3-0 to ap- point Deb Troutman to a va- cant position on the Pike County Library Board. Pam Cosby, with the Pike County Health Department, told the commissioners the state had made available $50,000 so they can extend the COVID testing center through the end of Decem - ber. She told the commis- sioners testing at the site has picked up in recent weeks. She said they are testing up to 25 a week now, but at one time, the numbers had fallen to on- ly about 10 or 12 a week. She also said the Peters- burg Moose had agreed to ex- tend their lease. The testing site is located on the Moose Lodge's parking lot. Its hours are: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mon- days, 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 9 a.m. to noon on Thursdays and Sat- urdays. The next commissioners' meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 7 in the courthouse rotunda. SOLAR Continued from page 1 REDUCED TEMPERATURE SWINGS ENHANCED PERFORMANCE IMPROVED DEHUMIDIFICATION Variable-speed technology means invariable comfort. 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Corporation 4/2018. carrier.com 812-743-2382 303 Breckinridge Rd, Monroe City Email: perryshvac@gmail.com HEATING & AIR-CONDITIONING Perry ' s LLC Serving the area since 1950. Perry ' s Perry ' s Locally Owned & Operated | Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th Street, Petersburg | 812-354-9400 Mon. 8-7 | Tues. 8-noon | Wed. 10-7 | Thurs. 8-5 | Fri. 8-5 SAVE 25% on all non-prescription designer sunglasses SUNGLASSES SALE SUNGLASSES SALE Need prescription sunglasses? These frames take prescrip- tion lenses, too! Need prescription sunglasses? These frames take prescrip- tion lenses, too! Buy 1 pair prescription sunglasses, get the second at HALF PRICE! * *Insurance accepted. 2nd pair doesn't have to be prescription. COACH EYEWEAR OBSERVANCES Continued from page 1 non-custodial cemetery, then an individu- al is invited to draw the flags for this use. It is requested that custodians and indi- viduals retrieve the flags after Memorial Day and save them for future use. PETERSBURG VFW OBSERVANCES 7:25 a.m. Old Town Cemetery 7:45 a.m. Twin Oaks (Off 57 N) 8:05 a.m. Anderson Chapel (57 N) 8:20 a.m. Pleasant Ridge 8:45 a.m. Vincent Church Cemetery 9:10 a.m. Otwell Cemetery 9:30 a.m. Public Cemetery (Ivy) 9:50 a.m. McClure Cemetery 10 :10 a.m. Courthouse Memorial 10 :45 a.m. Walnut Hills 11:35 a.m. White River Chapel Cemetery 11:50 a.m. Odd Fellows Cemetery 12:15 p.m. Mt. Pleasant Church cemetery 12:30 p.m. Atkinson Chapel Cemetery WINSLOW AMERICAN LEGION OBSERVANCES 7:00 a.m. Martin 7:28 a.m. Patoka Grove 7:51 a.m. New Liberty Coe 8:05 a.m. Blackfoot 8:21 a.m. Spurgeon 8:45 a.m. Log Creek 9:05 a.m. Barrett 9:31 a.m. Augusta 9:54 a.m. Cup Creek 10 :09 a.m. Stillwell 10 :26 a.m. Walnut Grove 10 :43 a.m. Spraggins 11:00 a.m. New Liberty 11:13 a.m. Beadles 11:48 a.m. Sunset 11:54 a.m. Oak Hill Petersburg took over con- trol of Walnut Hills Cemetery after the Odd Fellows mem- bership dwindled. Klipsch said the cemetery basically runs on donations. He said they sell plots and take dona- tions. "We are fortunate to have the people we have working at the cemetery. They take a lot of pride in what they do and it looks pretty good." OTHER BUSINESS In other updates, Klipsch said the new water plant that is being designed, and for which Petersburg has received more than $4 million from a feder- al grant, will not be completed until late 2022 or early 2023. He said he was given those dates by engineers last year. "I thought 'wow.' I hope we can keep our old plant running that long," said Klipsch. Councilmen authorized a $182,006 payment to Graves Construction for the first pay- ment on Phase 1 of the waste- water plant upgrades. They are building headwall works and an equalization lagoon. City Services Manager Ross Elmore said the project was going pretty slow, but once they were able to get the wa- ter off of it, they were able to start making good progress. Elmore also gave an up- date on the water line reloca- tion project along Highway 61. He said Love Excavating has both the six-inch and 12-inch lines crossing Highway 61 at Poplar St. installed. He said they had taken water samples on the new lines. He said once they pass the test, they will cut the old lines and switch to the new lines. Elmore said they had also lined about 20 manholes to help prevent infiltration where storm runoff gets into the san- itary sewer lines. The next Petersburg meet- ing is set for 6:30 p.m. Mon- day, June 7. Page C-7 Local Scouts camp in cave Several Petersburg Boy Scouts and Webelos camped overnight in Marengo Cave. They also took two of several tours offered by Marengo Cave. They did the Miners Maze, Movie, Gemstone Mining and several team building games. Attending were: Dominic Garland, Todd Garland, Conner Fields, Austin Garland, Taylor Russell, Tyler Mason, Dominic Smith, Amber Russell, Ayden Young, Mike Fields, Graham Wenieke and Gary Lukens. Betsy Travelstead is not pictured. Christina was their guide for the day. Travelstead said "Christina was informative and we enjoyed her as our guide. She even had the courage to stay all night as well."