The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/226101
A-2 Wednesday, December 11, 2013 The Press-Dispatch H Winslow town council Continued from page 1 "I've been a firefighter for 22 years, and I have seen departments get shut down," Stemle said. "The closest one to us was Glendale in Daviess County. They pulled into the fire station, checked their records, and put a padlock on the door. Done." 2014 salarIes The council also discussed health care and salary policies for 2014. Council member Richard Brewster voiced concerns about committing to fund an employee health savings account without knowing whether the town would receive sufficient funds to follow through on the commitLarge concrete culverts are lowered into place on CR50E in Hat Creek. ment. After an hour of disHighway Superintendent Roger Ham said the county was replacing two large cussion with town employrailroad tank cars with the concrete culverts. They were put in place on ees and council members, Wednesday and the road was reopened. But he said they still have some work Brewster agreed to a comto do to finish the project. "The snow caught us," said Ham. promise to keep the health savings accounts alive. "I can't, in all fairness for the people of Winslow, vote Continued from page 1 Midwestern. connect officers in the field to spend money when I don't "If you didn't have a site, you Commissioner Davis said with much more information have money to spend," Brewster said. "I think operating would have to have a sepa- the county has in the con- than previously possible. rate site work contract. It tract the cost of construc"We tried to come up with that way got us in the shape would complicate things. tion of a new EMS Building ways to do this without tak- we're in, and we're going to This is definitely the way would not exceed $400,000. ing money from the general get out of that shape." Brewster said he would you want to go." Willis said prevail- fund," said Sheriff Britton. rather suspend discussions Councilman Greg Willis ing wage laws kick in at He said the county gets asked if the one acre site was $350,000. He suggested $10,500 from the state each on pay raises and health savbig enough and if the shape they change that amount to year for housing midemeanof it would work for the de- $350,000. "You might find, or prisoners and the Statesign. you will get the same build- wide 911 fund was created Davis said if the site isn't ing for $350,000 that you to help fund the 911 system. what the county needs, they would get for $400,000 with It was approved by a 7-0 won't buy it. He said it was the prevailing wage." vote. adjacent to the site where Councilmen voted 4-3 to Councilmen also ap- Continued from page 1 Petersburg plans to build a approve the $7,000 request proved an additional appro- same time and run into the new fire department build- with the same vote as on the priation request of $22,000 afternoon. Children can have their ing. $25,000 request. for fuel at the highway depictures taken with Santa "I think the reason we taWillis, after voting for partment. Highway Superbled this is because we were the $7,000, said, "I'm some- intendent Roger Ham said as well as have juice and doconcerned you had other what disappointed we didn't this amount was needed to nuts. options. If we wait until af- ask for more quotes. Espe- get them through the end of Fundraiser ter first of the year, it will cially from people closer to the year. moved to Jan. 4 be March or so before the here. Also, I would like if They also approved a A fundraiser for Robert state will approve any addi- at all possible get the costs transfer of $10,850 in the tionals," said Councilman set at $350,000 instead of Assessors budget from GIS Stephens has been moved Willis. $400,000 for obvious rea- mapping to machinery and to January 4. It was origiCouncilman Mangin sons." equipment for the purchase nally set for Saturday night, moved to approve the re"We had an architect look of six new computers. quest. Assessor Kim Luker said at the old building, and give Mangin, Willis, Bishop us a rough design for a build- the last computers were and Max Elliott voted for it. ing. This is the third time we purchased in about 2005 or A second additional ap- have gone to the well on ar- 2006. Continued from page 1 propriation connected to the chitectural costs. We have Councilmen approved it last night, when we got anEMS Building was a request architects that are local. by a 7-0 vote. other whammy," said Ham. for $7,000 for EMS Building My understanding is none Councilmen also ap- He said it looked like about Design. of them put a proposal in or proved the reappointment three inches of new snow. Melissa Bryant said the were asked to put a propos- of Greg Mangin to Indiana He said the bright sun on lowest bid from architects al in and I believe in doing Region 15. Monday afternoon and Tueswas $41,500, which was business locally," said SutThe next council meeting day helped get it cleared off. more than the $30,000 the ton. is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. However, he added most of council appropriated for a In other business, the Tuesday, January 14. the rock roads would be design professional. Bryant county approved a request said the commissioners had for $62,500 from the misselected DLZ for the project demeanor fund and anothand it included a credit from er $35,145 from the Stateanother project, but still was wide 911 fund to purchase $7,000 higher than the mon- upgrades to the county's ey appropriated. 911 system. Council president Willis Sheriff Jeremy Britton asked Bryant from whom said much of it was softthe commissioners got ware that would allow the quotes. She said DLZ and generation of reports and Concrete culverts put in place H Council approves funds ings accounts for town employees until 2014, when the state got back to the towns with budget numbers. However, doing so would delay payment into employee HSAs and leave the employees 'out to dry,' town marshal Steve English said. "Jerry and I are going to be screwed. My medicine's more than $700 a month," English said. "Every time money gets tight, we (the employees) get chopped in half." "We've just paid the HSA out of wherever we could find it for years—cigarette tax, fuel tax, wherever we could find money," council member Dave Tisdale said. "Everything's just been juggled and juggled." After some discussion, Tisdale and Brewster reached a compromise to keep the town coffers from overextending, yet secure HSA payments for the town's employees. A motion to amend the salary ordinance to fund employee HSAs for three months, putting in a total of $1000 per employee in January for the four town employees with health care benefits, with the council reviewing the town's health insurance policy during the first quar- ter of 2014. The town's insurance policy will be up for renewal at the end of the first quarter, in April, and so the town could switch policies and make a more informed decision about health savings accounts at that time. The motion passed 3-0. other business • The council appointed Jeff Bolin to represent Winslow on a Region 15 committee. Bolin has represented the town in that position for several years. "We may also appoint one of the council members, but we don't want to do that," council president Don Bolin laughed. "Looks like Jeff got stuck again," Brewster said. • Winslow Community Center director Henry Nelson reported the community center is "still in the black about $1,000." Nelson also said a project to re-varnish the bleachers was almost finished. • The town paid claims of general motor and vehicle $10,087.71, water $4,716.19, wastewater $40,944.38, total $55,748.28. The next meeting of the Winslow Town Council will begin at 7 p.m. on January 13, 2014, in town hall. H Events rescheduled but due to the weather it was cancelled and rescheduled. Stephens suffered a severe head injury when he was hit by a vehicle while riding his bike this fall. He is expected to return home in January opened back up Monday night. "It was pretty bad out there, so we took four nights off," said Wes Garris about Christmas in the Park. They opened back up on Monday night. Now viewers have the added feature of a Christmas in the beautiful snow covering the Park back open park. They are open from 6 Christmas in the Park to 9 p.m. Monday through was closed from Thursday Thursday and 6 to 10 p.m. to Sunday nights but was Friday through Sunday. H Winter storm hits area Soup luncheon during Holly Walk Esteem Coffee Shop, 713 Main St., Petersburg, is having a soup lunch during the Holly Walk, Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The soup lunch will be served for a free will donation. The proceeds will go towards ECS, which is a Christian-based, non-profit organization serv- ing the youth in our area. If you are out and seeing what Main Street Petersburg has to offer, or would just like to have a hot lunch or drink, stop by and see us. For information about our organization or ways you can help, call Robyn Evans at 812-589-5688. eas Giving Id t Great Gif (li m Holly Walk Specials with IFt $ purc 25 hase r c u st o m er) g it 1 back and get these busses going again," said Ham. The Christmas parades were cancelled and when or if they will happen this year has yet to be determined. All sporting events for last week and so far this week have been cancelled as well. •••2013••• HOLLY WALK Main Street Petersburg Saturday, Dec. 14, 11am-3pm At Marge's Hallmark pe FREE slick on Wednesday morning when they froze over night. "They are going to be glare ice if they freeze over night. "We will probably spend most of the day out spreading sand. 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