The Press-Dispatch

June 9, 2021

The Press-Dispatch

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INSIDE THIS EDITION Wednesday, June 9, 2021 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLuMe 151, nuMBeR 23 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 People ��������������A4-5 Church �������������� A7-9 History ����������������� A10 Obituaries ������������� A11 Sports �����������������B1-2 School ��������������B3-5 Opinion ������������� B6-7 Classifieds ���������� B8-9 Legals ����������������� B8-9 Home Life �������� B10-12 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 56 PaGes ThRee seCTIOns TWO InseRTs PeTeRsBuRG, In 47567-0068 By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners, during the Monday morning meet- ing, opened bids for several paving projects and approved the hiring of an EMT. They received bids from JH Ru- dolph and Co., Inc., of Tell City, and Cave Quarries for the paving and as- phalt materials for tack oil. The projects bids were: • Illinois St., from Highway 56/61 to the Petersburg City limits, be- tween the bridge and Highway 57, a total of 5,113 feet. JH Rudolph bid $73,677.60 ; Cave Quarries $73,160. • Lake Minnis Drive, from High- way 57 entrance to CR 550 N. en- trance, 3,406 feet: JH Rudolph $44,505.40 ; Cave Quarries $44,191. • Rolling Acres Drive, from High- way 57 to Rolling Acres Ct., a total of 852 feet; JH Rudolph $10,159.80 ; Cave Quarries $10,089. • Rolling Acres Court to Highway 57, a total of 988 feet; JH Rudolph $ 8,615.40 ; Cave Quarries $ 8,555. • Rolling Acres Ct., from Rollin Acres Dr. to dead end, a total of 326 feet. JH Rudolph $2,377.20 ; Cave Quarries $2,360. • County Road 550 N., from High- way 57 to CR 200 E., a total of 4,424 feet. JH Rudolph $ 60,670 ; Cave Quarries $ 60,316. • Division Road, from High- way 257 to Pike-Dubois County line, a total of 5,316 feet: JH Ru- dolph $186,693; Cave Quarries $164,280.40. The bids are for projects that were awarded Community Cross- ings grant money for 75 percent of the cost of the projects. The bids were taken under advise- ment by the commissioners. The commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the hiring of Ashley Wilson as a full-time EMT. Young said she had been working part-time. He said an EMT had resigned and given him a two-week notice. Wilson will fill that vacancy. County Treasurer Susan Brittain requested permission to get a cred- it card for her office. "We have two lengthy stays coming up for confer- ences. It is a lot for me to cover," said Brittain. Commissioner President Mark Flint asked if she had been personally covering those types of expenses until she was reimbursed. "That is what I have been doing with a personal credit card, but it takes a while to get back and you have to wait for the reimbursement," said Brittain. Commissioner Assistant Kris- ti Dischinger asked for approval to add Coroner Ray Brooks to the coun- ty cellphone policy. She said he pre- ferred to keep his own phone and re- ceive a stipend. County policy allows numerous positions to have a coun- ty provided phone that is paid by the county commissioners, but each de- partment will get a copy of the bill. They can also decide to keep their own phone and receive a stipend of $40 a month for a smart phone or $10 for basic service. Positions included in that plan are: commissioners' assistant, coun- ty superintendent, highway superin- tendent, highway lead man, EMA di- rector, courthouse custodian, court- house matron, health dept. nurse, environmental health specialist, county commissioners, judge, pro- bation dept., E911 director, E911 asst. director, sheriff's department, EMS and county coroner. Commissioners also voted 3-0 to approve an additional appropriation request of $5,494 from the MVH fund to the Machinery and Equip- ment fund to purchase a bush hog. A similar amount was put into the MVH fund from selling scrap met- al at the highway dept. The next commissioners' meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 21. New children's page begins next week Are your kids bored this sum- mer or are you looking for some- thing engaging to do with them that doesn't involve a comput- er or handheld device? The Press-Dispatch will have a chil- dren's page starting in the June 16 edition. Each week, the page will have a theme. The first week it is camping. It will feature cross- word puzzles, hidden words and mazes. The puzzles will be easy enough for older children to do on their own and younger chil- dren to do with help. There will also be a link to a digital com- ic book. The page will run throughout the summer for the next eight weeks. Commissioners open paving bids By Andy Heuring The cause of a fire that killed Pike Coun- ty resident Austyn Walburn, 18, has been la- beled an "accidental electrical fire." Walburn died in a fire that was reported at 8:43 p.m. on Memorial Day in Birdseye. Birdseye Fire Chief Dave Smith said the state fire marshal is expected to re-examine it later in the week. A statement from the Indiana State Fire Mar- shal's office states: "The May 31 fire in Birdseye was an accidental elec- tric fire. There was one confirmed fatality. No additional updates are available at this time." Walburn had been at Prides Creek earlier in the day and went to Bird- seye with his girlfriend to her mother's house at 103 W. Second St. His girlfriend left the residence while he was taking a nap. The owner of the house, Melis- sa Welp, was outside when the fire started. Fire Chief Smith said when the fire depart- ment arrived less than four minutes after re- ceiving the call, the south wall of the struc- ture was fully engulfed in flames. He said they immediately began an external attack on the fire and it was five or six minutes before they learned Walburn was still inside the house. He said he was told Welp thought Walburn had left with her daughter, but when she called her daughter to tell her the house was on fire, she learned Walburn was still in the house. Fire that killed Walburn ruled accidental electrical By Andy Heuring Petersburg City Council got some good and bad news about the cost of an ongoing waterline project during their Monday night meeting. They learned they will have a reduction in costs because what they thought was an eight-inch water line turned out to be an abandoned gas line. Since they didn't have to relocate it, they are going to have a savings of about $ 35,000. The bad news is because the wa- terline relocation project is run- ning behind schedule, inspection fees could increase by as much as $ 30,400. When Mayor R.C. Klipsch read a letter to the water board during their meeting just prior to the coun- cil meeting, it drew questions from water board member Jim Gaskins. The original inspection agree- ment was to cost $27,000. But the letter said there would be addition- al fees of $ 30,400. "That seems like a heck of a lot of money to pay in addition to what we were supposed to be paying for," said Gaskins. "What are they inspecting if they are waiting for the project to be com- pleted? " asked Klipsch. "It was in the original contract to do it the first time. I understand we owe them some money for extend- ing it, but ($ 30,000)," said Gaskins. "I don't know how he landed on the two-month timeline. I think we need to have a little better explanation." On Tuesday, Klipsch said he had contacted the engineer on the proj- ect, Clint Roos, of Midwestern En- gineering. He agreed to attend Pe- tersburg's next meeting to explain the cost increase. Roos also said the figure given was a not-to-exceed fig- ure, not a set cost. On water-related items, Mayor Klipsch said Petersburg received a grant to replace the waterline going from the well field to the water plant, but the one going from the plant to the distribution system in town is the same age. He said when that line was hit last week by construction crews work- ing on modifications to the sewer plant, it exposed that Petersburg will only have one line going from the new water plant to the city. He suggested they pursue fund- ing to pay for a new line. NO PARKING No parking signs have already gone up at the intersection of Sev- enth St. and Main St., but more are being put in place from north of Pop- lar St. until it intersects with High- way 61. Seventh St. will become the only entrance into Petersburg from the north on Highway 61. The Indiana Department of Transportation is go- ing to start a reconstruction project on Highway 61 that will take it down to the dirt and rebuild the roadbed. In the process, they are going to in- stall new curbs and sidewalks. City gets good news, bad news See WALBURN on page 2 See COUNCIL on page 2 Annual tractor drive Bob and Ruth Strickland, of Somerville, pull a carriage-type trailer, shaped like an outhouse, in the Tractor Drive to Wheel- ing Covered Bridge on Saturday, June 5. See additional photos on page A-3. Matt Haycraft photo Little League parade participant Brantley Craig offers a candy sucker to parade viewers as he marches down Main St. The Petersburg Little League had their traditional opening day parade on Saturday. It was originally scheduled for April, but rain cancelled it. League President Tim Stafford said they decided to have a parade near the end of the season this year. See additional photo on page 6. Austyn Walburn

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