The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/62292
A-4 Wednesday, April 18, 2012 The Press-Dispatch VIDEO NETedition Exclusive The Stellar Communities Committee made a site visit to Petersburg to review areas to be included should Petersburg be awarded one of two grants. Peters- burg Mayor Jon Craig presents Petersburg's proposal to the Stellar Grants Committee with the help of Kelsey Lemond, a Pike Central senior. Alex Benefiel and Michael Cochren provided the entertainment for the Downtown Stellar Communities picnic last Wednesday. preparing sandwiches for their luncheon at the Eighth Street Plaza last Wednesday. Presentation to Stellar committee goes well foot forward for the Stellar selection committee's vis- it last Wednesday. Every- thing from the table decora- tions to each stop were care- fully planned. Petersburg is one of seven finalists in the running for up to $20 mil- lion in grants through the Stellar Communities pro- gram. A selection commit- tee stopped in Petersburg for three hours last Wednes- day. Petersburg was the first community to be visited. Later in the day the commit- tee went to Princeton, one of the other seven finalists in Indiana. "I think the presentation Petersburg put its best By Andy Heuring went very well. We did ev- erything we wanted to do and it went as well as it pos- sibly could," said Petersburg Mayor Jon Craig. "Obviously it is very com- petitive with six other com- munities. Everybody is go- ing to have a good story to tell. I'm very proud of our community coming togeth- er and all the support we re- ceived. When you add all the value of not only our city's capacity, but all the other commitments and in-kind pledges, for a community of 2,400 people to come up with $4 million of potential- ly matching funds is unbe- lievable," said Craig. The presentation start- prise the Petersburg plan. Representatives for each of the projects were available to answer specific ques- tions. Each member of the se- they boarded a tour bus provided by Nordhoff Pro- ductions of Jasper. "The bus was perfect for what we needed," said Craig. He said they purposely lection committee was giv- en a spiral notebook pre- sentation outlining the proj- ects, as well as a copy of The Press-Dispatch, the Stellar Community special section and a flash drive contain- ing the Pike County Cham- ber of Commerce promo- tional movie on Pike Coun- ty. Even the table settings were planned. Tammy Sel- by and Alycia Church used fishbowls filled with coal street sweepings to support a small post holding up Pe- tersburg's Stellar Commu- nities logo. "We used that to drive home the point of needing to get coal truck traffic off of Main St.," said Craig. After the presentation tral and showcased Pike Central's Project Lead The Way students. "It is a key feeder program for new business with the Stellar Technology Center," said Craig. The Stellar Technol- ogy Center is one of nine phases of the Petersburg's Stellar project. It would set up a business incubator in the former Integra Bank Building located on Eighth Street, across from the courthouse. "Zach Riddle, Jared Lam- berson and Jacob Lamber- son from the Project Lead the Way team talked with the selection committee for about 10 minutes then took them to the area where they work on engineering projects. "They did a great job. It was neat to see as we watched our visitors grav- itate to the kids and their projects they are working on," said Craig. "They were nothing but complimentary of our kids," said Craig. "I want to thank LeAnne Kelley, Ray Niehaus, Jodie Elkins and Lori Richardson for allowing us to borrow their students for the pre- sentation." They then returned to the church for refreshments. Craig said two more nice touches were the street fair fundraiser on Eighth St., where a plaza is proposed. The other is Petersburg's large Stellar banner signed by hundreds of support- ers. "It is literally filled with names," said Craig. The site visits to the oth- Darlene Decker was one of those from the Pike County Agencies for Kids er six communities will be completed by April 27. May- or Craig said they expect the two winning communi- ties to be announced in mid- May. the cooking of the hamburgers, hot dogs and oth- er items for the Pike County Agencies for Kids luncheon last Wednesday. It gave the Stellar Com- mittee a view of what is part of the Stellar Grant proposal for Petersburg. Ron Sharp from German American Bank did ed at 9 a.m. at the Main St. Presbyterian Church's Kief- er Hall. Mayor Craig gave an overview of the nine in- dividual projects that com- kept the committee on the bus. "Instead of showing them old buildings, we want- ed to show them the future," said Craig. He said most of the committee were familiar with downtown renovations and could tell what it was go- ing to look like from artists' renderings of the projects. Petersburg only had three hours to make their presen- tation. Craig said they took the committee to Pike Cen- PETERSBURG OPEN HOUSE ANNIVERSARY TO CELEBRATE OUR 75TH Noon-? • Sunday, April 22 FLAG RETIREMENT CEREMONY • 12:30PM Bring your old fl ag to be retired. Meal following the Ceremony, Everyone Invited Petersburg VFW • 1202 Main St., Petersburg • 354-9653 Paid for by Jack Phillips for County Council VFW COUNTY COUNCIL AT LARGE ✮ Life-long resident of Pike County ✮ My wife Lynne and I live on our family farm in Iva ✮ Member of the Glendale Masonic Lodge # 461 I pledge to work with all local officials to bring good paying jobs to our County while holding the line on taxes. Your vote is appreciated." "With I-69, the future is now. PHILLIPS Jack Vote May 8th for