The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/603060
A-2 Front Wednesday, November 18, 2015 The Press-Dispatch Continued from page 1 OTWELL Continued from page 1 INSURANCE MYERS HEATING & COOLING We service all makes and models. Give us a call! $ 20 GIFT CARD with any service call or clean and check to use toward your next service. EXPIRES 12/15/15 CALL BRENT FOR YOUR NEXT SERVICE! 812-354-4273 • Repair all makes and models • Family owned and operated • Licensed ASK ABOUT $300 REBATE Unmatched Carrier expertise, efficiency and reliability. on select furnaces REBATES STILL AVAILABLE! Call for details! * Reservations a must, call: 812-354-9259 * 242 South Hwy. 57, Petersburg THANKSGIVING DAY BUFFET SERVING BUFFET INCLUDES Turkey, Ham and all the Trimmings $ 11 95 PLUS DRINKS & TAX THURSDAY, NOV. 26 • 11-3 P.M. 812-354-3001 801 East Illinois Street Petersburg, IN 47567 ambermanorhc.com Assisted living. Emphasis on living. "I am very satisfied with the services and care at Amber Manor. e location is perfect; it's close to town and my church! My room is spacious and even includes a small kitchenette area and the laundry room is close by so I can wash my own clothes at my convenience. e staff is great as well, providing a personable environment and answering any questions I have." – Rosemary W., Assisted Living Resident closing Otwell Elementary School is a decision that is right for our community or even our county." Houtsch then fired off a series of questions, asking first if there had been any change in the board's inten- tion to close the school at the end of the school year. "We have been reading in the paper that you have de- creased your debt by quite a bit with the cuts you have al- ready made," Houtsch said. "So with the progress you have made in decreasing the debt, would you be will- ing to postpone the closing of Otwell for a year to see if we can further decrease our debt to the point where may- be you can keep it open into future years? " Houtsch then asked, if the school board still planned to close Otwell Elementary School, when would parents be informed what school their children will be attend- ing starting with the 2016 -17 school year? "What will the division lines be for students that will attend either Winslow or Petersburg elementary schools? " Houtsch asked. "Will there be any re-dis- tricting of the current stu- dents that now attend ei- ther Petersburg or Winslow ... to avoid classroom over- crowding? " Houtsch also asked how bus routes would be affect- ed by the closing of Otwell Elementary School; wheth- er there had been any dis- cussion about moving all the county's fifth graders to Pike Central Middle School; whether the school board intended to put an operat- ing referendum on the bal- lot next May; whether there had been any discussion about housing a daycare or a preschool in the Otwell Elementary School build- ing; and what, specifically, Friends of Otwell could do to keep the school open. "As I am sure you are aware, we are looking at other options for keeping a school in Otwell," Houtsch said. "However, we would re- ally like for that school to be the current Otwell Elemen- tary School that is under the direction of the Pike Coun- ty School Corporation. So if there is anything we can do, together, with you, to achieve that goal, we are willing to help." "Nevertheless, we are not willing to take on all the problems of the Pike Coun- ty School Corporation by ourselves, and we hope you would not expect us to do so," Houtsch added. "So let's get together and find a so- lution we can all live with." Blake, responding to Houtsch's questions in or- der, said that there had not been any change in the school board's decision to close Otwell Elementary School. "When we met with (Friends of Otwell repre- sentatives) Josh (Byrd) and Dirk (Hunt) earlier this fall, we indicated we do have to take our steps to contin- ue forward with the current process," Blake said. "At that point was when it was suggested that we would need to see a business plan." "If you're talking about keeping it open, we're look- ing at how are you going to sustain it, how are you go- ing to bring in the revenue and sustain the ongoing cost of the building – basi- cally, a revenue and expens- es spreadsheet," Blake con- tinued. "But at this point, nothing else has come for- ward and no decision has been made to change that decision that was already voted on." Blake said that the school corporation was looking at Highway 56 as being the dividing line to determine which school students who are currently attending or would be attending Otwell Elementary School will be going, with those north of Hwy. 56 slated to go to Pe- tersburg and those south of Hwy. 56 slated to go to Win- slow. "There had been some discussion earlier about possible reconfiguration of the buildings," Blake said. "I know you mentioned the fifth grade to the middle school, but what a lot of dis- tricts are doing is looking at primary and intermediate buildings, like K-2 and 3-5. But with the demographics of our county, that would not be reasonable. So both Pe- tersburg and Winslow would stay as a K-5 building." Blake said that her goal was for classrooms to con- tain 25 students or less. "I'm very much aware we've had some classes over the last few years that had 28 to 32 in them but, at the same time, I can't split a classroom for 16 kids," Blake explained. "We're looking at all the possibili- ties. Redistricting wouldn't be out of the option, but we're also looking at where the (bus) routes are being run and what makes the most sense. I'm not going to send a bus miles and miles out of the way for just one pickup if I can avoid it." Blake denied claims that if Otwell Elementary School were closed, students could be on the bus for as long as 90 minutes going to and from school. "We've run some project- ed routes that we're looking at," Blake said. "Right now, no Otwell student would be on the bus more than 45 min- utes. So even if it starts to be adjusted a little bit, and pos- sibly get up close to an hour, it is not anywhere close to an hour-and-a-half, as the ru- mors have projected." Blake said that the idea of moving all fifth graders to Pike Central Middle School was not an option that has been considered. "There are a few dis- tricts that have a 5 -9 middle school, but many of them are transitioning back," Blake said. "That's not an option we've looked at. At least, not at this time." Blake told Houtsch that the school board currently has no plans to put an oper- ating referendum on the bal- lot next year. "I know early on there were some rumors that some of the state represen- tatives had promised the group that it would be on the ballot," Blake said. "Howev- er, the actual vote and deci- sion for it to go on the ballot has to come from the school board and the school corpo- ration." "No state rep's promised nothing on that deal," Byrd said. "They said you guys would have to go along with us to do that. That's incor- rect." "I'm just telling you what came back in our office," Blake replied. Blake noted that while it is projected that the school corporation will reduce its deficit in the general fund to between $1.5 to $1.7 mil- lion in 2015 – down from ap- proximately $2.3 million last year – she would be asking the school board to give her permission to advertise for a bank loan of $ 3 million later in the meeting. "I am asking for $ 3 million this year instead of $4 mil- lion," Blake said. "That's a significant gain, but it's still $ 3 million. And we've used $1.7 million out of the Rainy Day Fund this year for our general fund expenses, such as salaries and benefits." Blake said that she was "not positive" about wheth- er there was a specific plan to operate either a daycare or a preschool at the Otwell Elementary School building. "I'm assuming that came from the fact that I was asked some questions about the building, " Blake said. "Because I understand how detrimental an empty build- ing can be to these small communities, my thought was if we could make it in- to a career center or a tech- nical center for the vocation- al programs, that would be a wonderful way to have peo- ple in Otwell, have education going on in Otwell." Blake noted that, in that conversation, she mentioned the possibility of bringing the Pampered Chargers daycare or expanding it to a preschool that would be run through the vocational pro- gram. "For our corporation to go in there and open up a pre- school totally on its own, no, that's not ever been talked about," Blake said. Blake confirmed state- ments made by her and school board members, in private discussions with representatives of Friends of Otwell, that the group had until the end of Decem- ber to present it with a busi- ness plan to keep Otwell El- ementary School open. "It can't go on indefinite- ly into the spring because we're going to be moving forward, we're going to need to know what the status is," Blake said. Blake noted that in a phone conversation a rep- resentative of Friends of Otwell she was asked how much money needed to be raised to keep the school open. "I said $2.5 million would cover the staffing costs for two years," Blake said. "That would buy that much time." Blake concluded by dis- pelling a rumor that the school corporation would, within a few years, consol- idate the county's elemen- tary schools into a single building at or near the cur- rent Pike Central Middle- High School campus. "That is not on the table at all," Blake said. "Right now, we're just trying to focus on how to get our school corpo- ration back in the black." Board vice president Chris McKinney, board sec- retary Nathan Harker and board member Chris Sat- terfield all said they would support putting an operat- ing referendum on the bal- lot next year. However, Harker issued a word of caution. "Even if a referendum would pass, it doesn't mean that it will definitely allow Otwell to stay open indefi- nitely, because we still have money problems," Harker said. "If we're still spend- ing more money than we're bringing in, in revenue, we're still spending in def- icit." Board president Dave Waltz asked Houtsch how the group was progressing on developing a business plan. "As far as I know, we're working on it," Houtsch replied. "I can't give you a timeline on it, but, as far as I know, we're working on it." By Andy Heuring One Petersburg man died in an accident and another was seriously injured in sep- arate accidents over the last week in Pike County. Pike County Building In- spector James O. Sims, 86, of 437 Shady Ln., Peters- burg, died in a Tuesday, No- vember 10 accident on Cato- Winslow Road. Sims was driving west on CR 475 E., near CR 200 E., when he went left of cen- ter and off the east side of the road, hitting two trees, according to Pike County Deputy Sheriff Brad Jen- kins. Deputy Jenkins said Sims was pinned in the ve- hicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Jenkins said there were no brake marks in the road or in the grass beside the road. He specu- lated Sims could have had a health problem prior to the 11:54 a.m. crash. Frank Fettinger, 49, of 5086 W. CR 500 N., Peters- burg, was injured Sunday morning when he ran off the road and hit a utility pole about two miles west of Pe- tersburg. Fettinger was driving east on Highway 56 when he ran off the right side of the road and hit a utility pole, breaking the pole. His Mon- te Carlo then began flipping end over end, coming to rest 130 feet from the pole. Fet- tinger was ejected from the car and found on the ground 42 feet from his car. He was taken by ambu- lance to the hospital with multiple injuries, including a broken finger. He car was a total loss in the 6:50 a.m. crash. til a later meeting. Commissioner Assistant Kristi Dischinger said Central States gave the county a deadline of Decem- ber 1, 2015. Commissioner President Brian Davis on Tuesday said German American still did not have the num- bers. "I scheduled a meeting for Thursday. We will vote on it then either way. I don't know what else to do," said Davis. A special meeting is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, November 19 to consider health insurance and EMS personnel. The commissioners also accepted a section of Di- vision Road back from Solar Sources. John Stachu- ra said Solar Sources had put down rock on the road, straw along the side of the road and vegetation had been established. "I graded it today. Rock looks good and I had (Com- missioner Ryan) Coleman come out and look at it to- day," said Assistant Highway Superintendent Josh Byrd. He said Solar Sources also donated about a $15,000 to $20,000 culvert to the county to replace a bridge. The commissioners voted 3-0 to accept the road back and release Solar Sources bond. In other business, the commissioner appointed an interim Building Inspector. "This is something we didn't want to have to do this quickly," said Commissioner Davis. He said Build- ing Inspector Jim Sims died last week. "We have peo- ple who need inspections. We kind of have to appoint one as an interim," said Davis. Commissioner Jeff Nelson moved to appoint Ry- an Benner. His motion was approved by a 3-0 vote. County commissioners also opened supply bids for 2016. Those included bids for cold mix, hot mix as- phalt, galvanized steel culverts, plastic pipe culverts and rock. All the bids were taken under advisement. The commissioners were also told CLR, Inc. was the low bidder on the project with a bid of $1.133 mil- lion. It is about $110,000 less than the estimated cost. The commissioners also requested an addition- al appropriation of $1,200 from the general fund to make a repair to courthouse security cameras and the security systems computer server. They voted 3-0 to request $ 6,000 for EMS payroll for the para- medic fund. Jamie Winner, property manager of the Ferdi- nand/Pike State Forests, presented a check of $20,445.16 to the county. It was generated from tim- ber sales from the Pike State Forest. The next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, December 7. Serious accidents claim one, injure another Frank Fettinger ran off of Highway 56 west of Petersburg and hit a utility pole before his car started flipping and he was ejected early Sunday morning. James Sims, 86, of Petersburg died in a crash last Wednesday on the Ca- to-Winslow Road at about noon.