The Press-Dispatch
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Local ...........A1-8 Sports .........B1-4 Classifi eds .... B5-6 Church ........C1-3 History ........... C4 Opinion .......C5-6 Home Life....D1-7 Obituaries....... D8 WHAT'S INSIDE: CONNECT WITH US: NetEdition ...pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook.....facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .........news@pressdispatch.net Phone:.................. 812-354-8500 Fax: ...................... 812-354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING See LEASE on page 2 $ 1 Four sections Two inserts 28 pages Wednesday, June 14, 2017 Volume 148 Number 24 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) See FESTS on page 3 See WINSLOW on page 2 New playground planned near baseball fields By Andy Heuring Winslow Town Councilmen hired an engineering firm to help them complete a road inventory and prepare a grant application for 75 percent match for paving funds during their Monday night meet- ing. Councilmen also heard plans for a new playground at the base- ball fields and accepted the Ger- man American Bank building on Main St. Jon Craig, of Midwestern En- gineers, Inc., told the council the Indiana Department of Transpor- tation deadline to receive paving grant applications is July 14. He said last year they offered a 50 percent match to all cities, towns and counties. However, this year communities under 10,000 and counties under 50,000 population can get a 75 percent match. Craig said a road inventory of town is required before they can submit individual roads to be funded for paving. "It is kind of a one-time thing, then in the future, the town could do it by yourself," said Craig. "You are not too late, by any means, but if you are going to do it this year, you need to get start- ed immediately," said Craig. Winslow to apply for paving grant Discovery raises questions about validity of sublease with Friends of Otwell By Ed Cahill A sublease agreement that would allow students from a proposed charter school to use the Otwell Community Center's din- ing and gymnasium facilities could be in jeopardy after it was discovered earlier this week that the community center's own lease had expired in 2012. In May 2016, Dorothy Traylor, then pres- ident of Jefferson Township Community Center, Inc., signed a "commercial lease agreement" between Otwell Community Center and Friends of Otwell Elementa- ry, Ltd., to sublet the facility – "specifical- ly the gymnasium and cafeteria" – at a rent of $200 per month for a one-year term start- ing August 1, 2016, which would automat- ically renew for an additional year on Au- gust 1, 2017. However, according to a letter hand-de- livered on Tuesday, June 13 by Jefferson Township Trustee Cindy Ridao to John Gray, the current president of Jefferson Township Community Center, Inc., a lease extension agreement between the township and the community center – signed on May 7, 2002 – actually expired in August 2012 and was never renewed. That lease agreement extension, Ridao writes, "states that the lease shall not ter- minate on August 9, 2002, but shall be ex- tended for a period of five (5) years thereaf- ter, which was August 9, 2007. Further, up- on the expiration of the initial five (5) years, said Lease shall automatically renew for an additional term of five (5) years, which was August 9, 2012." Ridao's letter continues. "I have determined the following condi- tions to be true: "1. The Lease Agreement between Jeffer- son Township of Pike County and the Jef- ferson Township Community Center, Inc., expired on August 9, 2012. You may be con- sidered a Tenant Holding Over, but a Ten- ant Holding Over cannot sublet for longer than its term, which has expired. "2. In order to sublet all or any portion of the leased premises, consent must be grant- ed by Jefferson Township of Pike County. You did not seek such consent. "3. Otwell Community Center, the pur- Community Center's lease with Jefferson Township expired in 2012 The Pike County Assessor's office is be- ginning its 2017 cyclical reassessment field reviews. Every year, the assessor's office is required to visit about 25 percent of the par- cels in the county. These field reviews are required by Indi- ana law to ensure property descriptions, type of construction, physical condition, age and exterior measurements are properly record- ed. This year, data collectors will primarily be in Petersburg and portions of Washing- ton Township completing their field reviews. Property owners are asked to cooperate by providing accurate information so that a fair and equitable assessment may be deter- mined for each property. If a resident has a locked gate, the resident is asked to call the Pike County Assessor's office to sched- ule an appointment. Pike County Assessor Mike Goodpaster said, "The data collectors will wear safety yellow Pike County Assessor shirts and will have Pike County photo ID with them. The Sheriff's Department, as well as the asses- sor's office, will have a listing of all names of anyone involved in the project." If any property owner has questions re- garding the field reviews, they may contact the assessor's office at 812-354-6584. Assessments to begin in Washington Twp. Immunization clinic Thursday, June 22 Pike County Health Department will have an immunization clinic on Thursday, June 22 for students needing l required vaccines. Students entering kindergarten, sixth grade, and 12th grade are required to have vaccinations prior to the first day of the new school year. Parents are encour- aged to schedule these appointments as soon as possible to avoid the summer rush. The health department can bill insur- ance and Medicaid for immunizations. Most major insurances are accepted. Chil- dren with no health insurance are eligible to receive vaccinations for $ 8 per vaccine. Call the health department at 812-354-8797 to schedule an appointment. By Andy Heuring County councilmen approved the maximum amount of paving funds match for the Community Crossroads grant from the Indi- ana Department of Transporta- tion during the Tuesday morning meeting. The program that helped Pike County turn $460,000 into $ 920,000 of paving has returned, only it is better this year. Last year it required a match of 50 percent. However, this year the match re- quirement is only 25 percent for communities of less than 10,000 people or counties of less than 50,000 people. Councilmen voted to approve funding the maximum amount. Council president Greg Willis said during the meeting that amount was $250,000 for the county; however, after the meet- ing he said that will be $ 333,000. The confusion comes because the maximum amount that can be re- quested is $1 million. Willis said originally he was thinking that amount was the county's match and INDOT's contribution. But after talking about it, the $1 mil- lion limit is on INDOT's part. Willis said when the council set up the 2017 budget, they already put a line item for paving in the EDIT fund budget and money in $1 million paving grant, match approved by council Stendal glory days Jim and Jeannie Cook wave to the crowds from a float for the 1931 Stendal Aces sectional championship team. It was one of three sectional championship teams represented in the parade. Stendal won the sectional in 1931, 1937 and 1939. They were three of about 50 units in a parade during the Stendal 150th celebration on Friday and Satur- day. See more photos on pages A-7 and A-8. By Andy Heuring Without a doubt the thermo- stat says summer even if meteo- rological Summer doesn't start until June 21. There is a long list of summer festivals on the calen- dar in Pike County this year. They start with the 60th An- nual Jefferson Township Ruritan Fourth of July Festival in Otwell. It will run from Saturday, July 1 through Wednesday, July 4. It fea- tures many of the traditional Ot- well events like tractor pulls, de- mo derby, parade, rides and fire- works. Plus some new events such as a Cook Off for sauces, steaks, pork chops, chicken and ribs will be on Saturday, July 1, followed by the demo derby at 7 p.m. Another new event is the volleyball tourney on Sunday and AT V drag race. The Little Miss Firecracker will be on Monday at 6 p.m. and Local truck and tractor pulls at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 4 will begin with the annual parade at 10 a.m., fol- lowed by the pedal tractor pull, circuit truck and tractor pulls, baby contest and fireworks at dark. There will be midway rides throughout the festival. PIKE COUNTY 4-H FAIR, JULY 9-15 The Pike County 4-H Fair will fall right on the heels of the Fourth of July. It begins on Sunday, July 9 through Saturday, July 15. The big news about this year's fair is free rides. IPL and Farm Bu- reau, along with several individual donors, contributed enough to pay for the rides Thursday through Saturday nights. The fair will start on Sunday evening as always with a parade down Main St., Petersburg at 6 p.m. and out to Hornady Park and the fairgrounds. Area festivals fill summer calendar for next three months See COUNCIL on page 2 Woman escapes from water-submerged car A 32-year old woman fell asleep Tuesday evening driving south on I-69. She ran off the road, up a 20-plus foot embankment and plunged into a lake about 50 yards off the interstate. Kristi Fleckenstein told Petersburg Police Cpl. Kyle Mills she fell asleep and woke up as she was go- ing into the water upside down. He said she was able to get her seat belt off and get out of the Mitsibishi Eclipse before it submerged. Three unidentified men from Bedford were on their way to work in Princeton when they found her bloody and soaking wet walking along I-69 at the 47 mile marker. "We saw her walking with blood all over her. No one else would stop," said one of the men who stopped to help her. Mills said she had hand and head injuries. She was taken from the scene by Pike County EMS. It was reported at 7:19 p.m. "She is lucky she made it out, They wouldn't have been able to find her," said one of the Good Samaritans. The pond was on the other side of a large hill and not visible from I-69.