The Press-Dispatch
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Local ...........A1-8 Sports .........B1-4 History ........... B5 Classifi eds ..B6-8 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-8 Obituaries....... C8 Opinion .... C9-10 Purdue Ext.... C11 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 COUNCIL on page 2 Three sections 28 pages Four inserts Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Volume 148 Number 25 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 See BOOK FEES on page 4 By Andy Heuring The Otwell Fourth of July Celebration is scheduled for Wednesday, July 4 through Saturday, July 7. It is sponsored by the Jef- ferson Township Ruritan and has been an iconic summer event that dates back to 1957. It features many of its trademark events, such as a July 4 parade, fireworks, a midway with carnival rides, as well as trucks and tractors, and festival food including home- made ice cream. While the main events begin on Wednes- day, July 4, they will be preceded by a com- munity-wide church service at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 24 at the Otwell Communi- ty Center by the Southeastern Pike Coun- ty Ministerial Association. The Little Miss Firecracker contest for girls five to seven will be at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 1 in the air- conditioned gym. Admission is $ 3. The festival kicks off full steam on Wednesday, July 4 with the annual parade at 10 a.m. The grounds midway rides open and chicken or rib dinners will be available at 11 a.m., following the parade. A firecracker baby contest is set for 1 p.m., with a children's pedal tractor pull at 2 p.m. The Ohio Valley Tractor Pullers Asso- ciation pull for Hot Farm and ITPA truck classes begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages six to 12 and free for those under six. Fireworks are set for dark. Sunset on Ju- ly 4 in Otwell is 9:16 p.m., according to Ac- cuweather. Thursday, July 5 A garden tractor pull is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m., with free admission. The grounds and rides will open at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Friday, July 6 The grounds open at 4 p.m. on Friday. Ride bracelets are available for $20 for un- limited riding between 4 and 10 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. The Firecracker Tractor and Truck pull for 12,000 pounds/14 mph and 12,000 pounds/10 mph for tractors and two- wheel drives/5,800 pound trucks, as well as 11,000 pounds/open begins at 7 p.m. Ad- mission is $ 8 for adults, $5 for kids six to 12 and free for less than 6. Saturday, July 7 A six on six coed double elimination vol- leyball tournament begins at 10 a.m., with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. Registra- tion is $15 per player. The Otwell Truck and Tractor pull be- gins at 7 p.m. with Outlaw truck class for DOT tires, 26 -inch hitch open drive line, diesel. Tractors include 11,500 pro farm, 12,000 pounds/14 mph, 12,000 pounds/10 mph and 11,000 pounds/ open. Otwell celebration scheduled for July 4-7 School textbook rental fees set By Ed Cahill Textbook rental fees for the 2018 -19 school year were set dur- ing the regular monthly meeting of the Pike County School Cor- poration's Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Jun 12. According to documents pre- sented by Pike County School Superintendent Suzanne Blake to the school board, the textbook rental fees for 2018 -19 are: Petersburg Elementary • Kindergarten: Consumable $15.13; Rental $56.34. Total – $71.47. • First Grade: Consumable $19.13; Rental $56.92. Total – $76.05. • Second Grade: Consumable $21.33; Rental $43.10. Total – $ 64.43. • Third Grade: Consumable $4.00 ; Rental $ 65.82. Total – $ 69.82. • Fourth Grade: Consumable $4.00 ; Rental $59.80. Total – $ 63.80. • Fifth Grade: Consumable $4.00 ; Rental $ 80.59. Total – $ 84.59. Winslow Elementary • Kindergarten: Consumable $15.41; Rental $45.42. Total – $ 60.83. • First Grade: Consumable $19.45; Rental $47.92. Total – $ 67.37. • Second Grade: Consumable Stephens to be Varsity Football coach Projected costs estimated to exceed $9.5 million By Ed Cahill The Petersburg Common Council voted unanimously to re-submit its application for public water supply improvements – includ- ing the construction of a new water treat- ment plant – to USDA Rural Development during its meeting on Monday, June 18. According to a preliminary engineer- ing report presented to the city council by Clint Rose of Midwestern Engineers, Inc., the total estimated cost for the proj- ect is $ 9,554,100 – $7,474,800 in construc- tion costs and $2,079,300 in non-construc- tion costs. The construction costs include $189,500 for a new water supply well that would re- place two wells in the existing well field. "We've been seeing reduced capaci- ty from those for quite some time," Rose said. "So we are proposing decommission- ing those wells and installing a new, high- capacity well, which is 1,400 gallons per minute." Also included is $ 3,957,000 for the con- struction of a new water treatment plant – which would be located adjacent to the city's existing wastewater treatment plant – and a 100 foot by 60 foot covered stor- age facility. The city's current water treatment plant, Rose told the council, is reportedly the sec- ond oldest in the state. "It was constructed in the 1930s, origi- nally," Rose said. "It is in very, very poor condition, I can't iterate that enough." "So is it safe to say that facility does not owe us anything? Is that what you're say- ing? " joked Mayor R.C. Klipsch. "We got our money's worth? " "I think so," Rose replied. "It's probably a little bit past its useful life. Of course, we looked at an option of rehabilitating that plant, and it would actually be more expen- sive to rehabilitate that plant than to con- struct a new plant. Plus, with where we're proposing the new water plant, across from the wastewater treatment plant, it just makes sense for operations and main- tenance for it to be where we're proposing." In response to a question by council pres- ident Fran Lewis regarding the new water treatment plant's ability to meet the expect- ed growth at the Interstate 69 interchange, Rose noted that the current water treatment plant's average daily demand was approxi- mately 1.1 million gallons per day. "We are proposing expansion up to 1.6 million gallons per day, so that's a signif- icant expansion of the water treatment fa- cility," Rose said. "The maximum daily de- mand would go up to about 2.2 million gal- lons per day. So there's a lot of ability for Petersburg to re-submit grant application for new water plant By Ed Cahill Dave Stephens has been un- officially hired as Pike Central High School's head varsity foot- ball coach. Stephens, who had previous coaching experience at Greencas- tle, Terre Haute North and Edge- wood before serving as the Char- gers' offensive coordinator dur- ing the 2015 and 2016 seasons, an- nounced on Facebook on Monday, June 18 that he had been selected. "I look forward to working with the players, the great people in the community, and the extend- ed Pike Central Football Fam- ily," Stephens wrote. "Our pro- gram will be built on the pillars of effort, enthusiasm, discipline and commitment. Our coaches and players will conduct them- selves like champions on and off the field." "He has been recommended and it is pending school board ap- proval," Pike Central athletic di- rector Dustin Powell confirmed on Tuesday, June 19. During Stephens' two seasons as Pike Central's offensive coordi- nator, the Chargers went 6 -14, in- cluding a 4-6 mark in 2016. Stephens' predecessor, Erik Mattingly, resigned after going 2-8 in his only season. Otwell Miller Academy raising funds Representatives of the Otwell Miller Academy were at the intersection of Highways 56 and 61 on Saturday. They collected from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise funds for the school. Petersburg Farmers Market Billy Collins buys tomatoes from Janice Hamm during the Farmers Market in Petersburg on Saturday. The mar- ket convenes each Saturday on Eighth Street next to the courthouse, beginning at 9 a.m. Vendors peddle their home- grown produce and craft items. PIKE COUNTY NEWSLETTER 4-H FAIR PREPARATION EDITION