The Press-Dispatch
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Weisman top freshman competitor in State Finals Let the Shopping Begin! Huntingburg Christmas Stroll Shopping with Press-Dispatch SPORTS B1 A8 C4-5 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-8 Halloween �������A3-B6 Sports �����������������B1-2 Obituaries ���������������B3 Opinion �������������B4-5 Home Life ������������C1-8 East Gibson������������ C3 School ���������������� C4-5 Church �������������� D1-3 Classifieds ���������� D4-5 History �������������������D6 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 28 PAGES Four SECTIoNS FIvE INSErTS PETErSBurG, IN 47567-0068 WEdNESdAy, NovEmBEr 3, 2021 PIKE PUBLISHING voLumE 151, NumBEr 44 See FUNDING on page 2 See DOOLEY on page 2 Set clocks back one hour on Saturday night Time will change this Sunday. It's the weekend we look forward to, be- cause we fall back an hour, which means we gain an hour on Saturday night. We get to set our clocks back one hour when we go to bed on Sat- urday and our day will start one hour later. It officially happens at 2 a.m. Fire officials say it is also a good time to put new batteries in your smoke detectors. Trunk-or-Treat display at First Baptist Byron Blake (Carl), Gunner Blake (Russell) and Holly Blake (Kevin costume) had an "Up"-themed trunk at the First Bap- tist Church Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday, October 30. There were many decorated trunks at Petersburg First Baptist, and many Trunk-or-Treat events county-wide. See addition- al photos from some of the events on pages throughout this issue. By Andy Heuring County commissioners opened bids for a Technical Advisor to the Assessor's Office and accepted the resignation of the Veteran Service Officer during their Monday morn- ing meeting. Pike County Assessor Mike Goodpaster said the Technical Advisor does the assess- ment on utilities, industrial and commercial properties, as well as assists the local board or review that hears assessment challenges. It also works on the trending ratio. Goodpaster said this ratio factors in market value chang- es in properties by neighborhood. He said the bid is for a term of four years. "We are required to assess 25 percent of the property in the county every year," said Good- paster. Their were two bidders: Tyler Technolo- gies, of Moraine, Ohio, with a bid of $280,000 and Reller Southern Indiana Appraisal LLC, of Huntingburg, with a bid of $167,900. Both bids were taken under advisement to be reviewed. It is expected the commissioners will take action on the bids at the next meet- ing. Veteran's Service Officer Tom Dooley in- formed the commissioners during the meet- ing he was going to retire. Dooley, via a virtu- al connection, said he was having back prob- lems and was going to have to retire. "I need a couple of weeks to come in and button things up. I have a few pending cases. I have a home- less vet, the third I have had in Pike County." Dooley said he was putting him in touch with an organization in Evansville. He also said he wasn't sure he needed to be replaced. He told the commissioners the vari- ous branches of the military now have a Tran- sition Assistance Program that is a class to in- struct veterans at the end of their service ca- reers how to get assistance from the VA. "I see very few young vets from A fghanistan and Iraq. . . Especially since COVID, I see very few people come in. Sometimes I go two weeks without seeing anyone. I'm not sure you need to replace me," said Dooley. Commissioners open bids, accept resignation for Veterans officer By Andy Heuring The first phase of the reconstruc- tion of Highway 61 in Petersburg, from Main St. to Harvest Lane, may be completed by Thanksgiving, ac- cording to Jason Tiller, spokes- man for the Indiana Department of Transportation. Traffic has been blocked on High- way 61 and detoured through Sev- enth St. in Petersburg since July 12. The wide-ranging project took the road surface down to the dirt. Since then, they put down a new road base with Portland cement, large rock aggregate and several inches of an open layer blacktop, which is porous to allow water to drain through it. They have installed new curbs with sidewalks and entrance cuts along much of the phase one sec- tion, which stretches from Main St. to Seventh St. On Tuesday, crews were putting down the base layer of asphalt. Tiller said, "You have to think of a road being like lasagna. It has sev- eral layers underneath it." Phase one of the project was orig- inally scheduled to be completed in mid-October. However, it got started late due to a related project running behind schedule. Petersburg decid- ed to relocate a water line main that was located under Highway 61 be- fore they started the project. It was done so if the old water line had in- evitable problems, they wouldn't have to dig up the new road to fix the water line. So instead of start- ing in June, the project didn't start until mid-July. Tiller said after the base layer is put down, they will come over that with an intermediate layer and then the final surface layer of blacktop. He said driveways and sidewalks are being put in place daily along the project. "We are hoping to have every- thing done by Thanksgiving," said Tiller. Phase Two will start immediate- ly after Phase One is completed. It will run from the end of Phase One at Seventh St. to Harvest Lane. The intended completion day was July of 2022, but with Phase One behind schedule, the Phase Two completion target will probably also be moved. The detour for Phase Two will be White River Ave. to Harvest Ln. First phase of Hwy. 61 project aims for completion by Thanksgiving Paving project progresses on Hwy. 61 A paving crew shovels hot asphalt into the corners of Cherry St. as they pave one of several in- tersections along Highway 61 north of Main St. Crews were putting down a base layer of asphalt Tuesday on Highway 61 and its intersections with streets in Petersburg. The Indiana Department of Transportation said they hope to be done with Phase One by Thanksgiving. Winslow to flush hydrants The Winslow Street Dept. plans to flush fire hydrants on Thursday and Friday, November 11 and 12. Flush- ing the hydrants gets sediment out of the lines and can cause temporary dis- coloration of the water. Town officials said Winslow water customers should avoid washing light-colored clothes on those days. By Andy Heuring The City of Petersburg passed two ordi- nances required for them to administer the nearly $500,000 SAFER grant that will fund firefighters being on duty. Both actions were taken during the city council meeting Mon- day night. The first ordinance created a fund for the FEMA SAFER grant funds to be placed in. Pe- tersburg received $489,256 in a Federal Emer- gency Agency grant that, among other things, will fund two firefighters being paid to be on duty at the first station from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday, and then 24 hours a day on weekends and certain holidays. The ordinance establishes the fund to re- ceive any funds, including donations, grants, tax levies, gifts, bond issuances, transfers and other monies for the purpose of operat- ing the SAFER grant program. It also estab- lished that the city council and mayor can au- thorize the expenditure of the funds pursu- ant to the federal guidelines of the SAFER program. The second ordinance set salaries and cre- ates the position of director of the FEMA SAF- ER grant program. It set the wages for both positions, with the director being $20 an hour. The firefighters will receive a stipend of $75 per shift worked, which is pro-rated at $ 6.25 an hour, except on holidays, when they will receive a stipend of $ 94.92, prorated at $7.91. City passes ordinances required for funding firefighters