The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1415012
D-4 Wednesday, September 29, 2021 The Press-Dispatch 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 Engineer applies for funds for Bridge 73 By Janice Barniak The commissioners learned about assistance County Engineer Matt Holden will apply for through state or federal funds to fix a local aging bridge. Bridge 73 is currently 18.8 feet wide, and the funds would widen it to 30 feet. The cost is $2.9 million, of which the county would pay $ 620,000. Commissioner Kenneth Mont- gomery said the bridge is in dire need. "Instead of having solid con- crete abutments, it has blocks, just blocks stacked...they're all shifted. I'm surprised it's not abandoned al- ready," Montgomery said. Speed limit lowered on Mark Ford Road By Janice Barniak Commissioners lowered the speed limit to 35 miles per hour on a repaved patch of Mark Ford Road at CR 650 E. and CR 500 N., near the A zalea Path. The county added a stop sign where there hadn't been a stop sign, and, according to Deputy Bruce Vanoven, people have sped through the new sign at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. There's currently not a sign to indicate a speed, which in Gibson Coun- ty would make the speed limit 55 miles per hour on the county road. The new speed limit signs will have spinners to draw attention to them. "We definitely don't need people out there driving too fast and put- ting themselves at risk," said Com- missioner Warren Fleetwood. Hazelton will put $1 million plus towards water projects By Janice Barniak Hazleton water project re- ceived a $700,000 grant from the Office of Community and Rural A ffairs, which they plan to add to a $550,000 grant from the USDA, county commissioners learned last week. The funding will allow the town to take on a project to re- place many of their water lines and improve water quality, said Commissioner Warren Fleet- wood. "We're very excited that's com- ing to our county," he said, thank- ing OCR A and the USDA, calling them partners in improvement. TMMI president speaks before Senate panel In testimony before a Senate pan- el on Sept. 22, Toyota plant presi- dent Leah Curry stressed the auto industry's need for more skilled tal- ent and greater private sector par- ticipation in developing the nation's workforce development system. "My passion for workforce devel- opment is directly connected to my own experience as a young wom- an trying to find her way both aca- demically and professionally," said Curry, who is president of Toyota's Princeton assembly plant. Toyota's workforce development programs are structured to overcome many of the challenges she faced as a young student. Curry highlighted Toyota's $ 3.5 million investment since 2010 in 184 K-12 schools in Indiana and across the country to implement "Project Lead the Way" programs that give students more STEM education and career pathways. She noted the part- nership with local schools called the 4T Academy, which is designed to connect upper-level high school stu- dents with career opportunities in ad- vanced manufacturing. "I want to emphasize the impor- tance of considering workforce de- velopment policies in conjunction with education policies. If educa- tion policies are not flexible enough to allow students to explore various pathways, students may ultimately bypass even the best workforce de- velopment opportunities." She urged members of the Sen- ate Subcommittee on Employment and Workforce Safety to reautho- rize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to allow more pri- vate sector involvement in work- force system. Toyota initially established the highly successful advance manu- facturing technician (AMT) pro- gram with community colleges in Toyota plant states. Students in the program attend school two days a week and learn on the job site three days a week. The program has grown signifi- cantly to the point where now about 400 employers pool talent from 32 chapters in 12 states in what is known collectively as the Federa- tion of Advanced Manufacturing Education or FAME USA. More than 1,300 students have graduated from the program since 2010, with over 500 graduating since 2020, de- spite the challenges presented by the global pandemic. Commissioners discuss stoplight change order By Janice Barniak Commissioners disagreed about a change order on a Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana stoplight revision project during a meeting Sept. 21. According to Commissioner War- ren Fleetwood, the stoplight proj- ect opened and immediately there was an accident. TMMI requested the change based on safety reasons. "An individual didn't do what the light said, and now they want to change the lights. I say no," said Commissioner Kenneth Montgom- ery. Fleetwood said the county paid more than a million in engineer- ing and he didn't think a $12,000 change should be necessary. "I think we need more infor- mation before we decide on that change order," Fleetwood said, re- questing the engineering firm — Beam, Longest and Neff — come speak to commissioners. "Were the specs off? " He compared the change order to having a new home with a roof leak on the first day. According to Commissioner Mary Key, they had a letter from TMMI saying they understood it could slow efficiency, but TM - MI preferred the change for safe- ty reasons. Key said the change order was already paid by the redevelopment commission Aug. 9. Larry Michel, who is on the re- development commission, spoke to the commissioners. "If it was a bad design, it wasn't Gibson County's fault...they should eat it," said Michel. "I'm tired of pay- ing $260 an hour claims." Commissioners approve use of $23 million for jail project By Janice Barniak Commissioners unanimously voted to pay for a maximum obli- gation of $23 million for a jail proj- ect either at the current site or a new site. "In simple terms, this allows the county to get reimbursed on the jail project by taxes that are com- ing in," said Commissioner Mary Key. In other jail updates, George Ballard, the owner's representa- tive, updated commissioners on a Duke Energy incentive program for new construction sites that has the potential to return $10,000 to $40,000 back to the county. "I think the fairgrounds did that with new lighting and got a signif- icant portion back," said Ballard. Commissioners also appoint- ed members to the jail's building corporation to help oversee the grounds of the correction center. "They'll make sure they're tak- ing care of the grounds and keep the finances in check," said Com- missioner Warren Fleetwood, as he recommended Scott Garrett, Ja- son Buck and Larry Wira to that board. "Those three gentlemen would do us a fine job," he said. Mary Key said she would like more information and was hear- ing about the appointments for the first time Sept. 21. "Duly noted," said Fleetwood before he and Commissioner Ken- neth Montgomery voted in favor of the appointments. Key voted against. Gibson County may move to orange advisory level By Janice Barniak If Gibson County can sustain the lower seven-day positivity rate of 12.21 percent for two consecutive weeks, the county will move out of the red advisory level and into the orange. Last week, the Star-Times report- ed Health Dept. Director Diane Hornby's statement to the county council that the health department was, at that time, seeing the sec- ond highest percentage of positive COVID cases per day they've ev- er had and sometimes the highest it's been throughout the pandemic. She added the county had five COVID deaths and 850 cases in August, making the county aver- age 27.4 new cases per day. Gibson County is now at 107 deaths and 6,190 cases over the course of the pandemic. County Commissioner Warren Fleetwood acknowledged the pan- demic in the commissioners' meet- ing Sept. 21. "Our community is still dealing with some sickness. We want every- one to stay safe. We want everyone to use precautions and stay safe to the best of your ability," he said. Schwomeyer leads VU golf team with low score Oakland City native Paxton Schwomeyer led Vincennes Uni- versity with the team's low score at the John A. Logan Fall Invitation- al golf tournament at Kokopelli in Marion, Ill. Schwomeyer opened with a 76 on the first day and finished with a 74 on the final day of the tournament, at 8 over for 150, which was good enough for 21st individually. Vincennes University placed sev- enth in the nine team tournament, won by Indiana Hills Community College with a total of 568. Vincennes shot a team 628. Two cited for illegal dumping Conservation Officer Ryan McIntyre and Oakland City Officer Michael McGregor worked together on an illegal dumping complaint last week and their investigation resulted in two people being cited for illegal dumping. McIntyre said trash was dumped along the Haul Road in Pike County, near the Pike-Gibson line, not far from New Lake. A second one site was located at the intersection of CR 525 S. and CR 100 W. Logan Wineinger and Anthony Collins, both of Oakland City, were cited on Sunday, September 26.