The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/995930
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 20, 2018 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS Spurgeon Water Corp. to flush hydrants June 28-30 Spurgeon Water Corporation will be flushing Hy- drants on June 28, 29 and 30. Customers could ex- perience water discoloration while the hydrants are flushed. It is recommended that you do not wash white clothes during this time. Jacey Fears in Frank's Life play this weekend A Pike Central graduate and Western Kentucky the- atre major Jacey Fears is in the play Frank's Life at the Princeton Theatre. The play starts this weekend on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. It will also be shown next weekend June 29 through Ju- ly 1 again at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $15. Blue Jean Center will host Sunday dinner The Blue Jean Community Center in Monroe City will host a Pork Chop dinner Sunday, June 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The menu will include pork chops, cheesy potatoes, Italian green beans, slaw, applesauce, bread, dessert, iced tea and lemonade. Hotdog meal available for chil- dren. Carry-outs available. All proceeds benefit the center. Pike Health Dept. new summer hours Beginning July 9, the Pike County Health Depart- ment at 907 E. Walnut Street, Petersburg, will have new summer hours. They will be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday: closed. These summer hours are being implemented to help accommodate the heavy influx of students needing to complete school required vaccines and septic/environ- mental workload. The Health Dept. will resume nor- mal Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours September 1. Pike County Assessor's office is announcing its 2018 cyclical reassessment field reviews Assessor Mike Goodpaster said, "Every year the assessor's office is required to visit approximately 25 percent of the parcels in the county. These field re- views are required by Indiana law to ensure that prop- erty descriptions, type of construction, physical con- dition, age and exterior measurements are properly recorded." Goodpaster said, "This year, data collectors will pri- marily be in Lockhart and Monroe Townships complet- ing their field reviews. Property owners are asked to cooperate by providing accurate information so that a fair and equitable assessment may be determined for each property. "If a resident has a locked gate, the resident is asked to call the Pike County Assessor's office to schedule an appointment," said Goodpaster. The data collectors will wear safety yellow Pike County Assessor shirts and jackets and will have Pike County government photo ID with them. The Sheriff's Department, as well as the assessor's office, will have a listing of all names, as well as vehicle descriptions, of anyone involved in this project. If a property owner has questions regarding the field reviews, they may contact the assessor's office at 812- 354-6584. Seeking Little Miss Sweet Corn contestants Entries are being accepted for girls ages five to eight (at the time of the contest) for the Little Miss Sweet Corn contest. The contest will be Friday, July 27, at 7 p.m. at the Oakland City Cafetorium. Contestants are required to perform a talent or theme attire, and will be asked a brief question dur- ing an interview. Number of entries are limited. For more information, contact Tammy Schroeder at 812-664-6648. BUICK 1050 Wernsing RD, Jasper • 812-482-5141 • Toll Free: 1-800-686-1444 HOURS: MON-FRI 9AM-8PM; SAT 8AM-4PM SALES TEAM DAVE LUEGERS, KYLE DAUBY, JEFF TEDER, MARK GUDORF, EDDIE LUEGERS, SAM BEACH, WOODY FISCHER, VALERIE LANGE, STEPHANIE MARTIN *See dealer for details. www.bobluegers.com FIRST RESPONDERS JUNE APPRECIATION MONTH Saving lives deserves a first-rate reward. We know you're not in it for the recognition, and that just makes you all the more deserving. And because you put so much on the line when you go to work, we've created a discount to be there for you when you need it. The GM First Responder Discount gives Firefighters, Police, EMTs, Paramedics and 911 Dispatchers special pricing on eligible, new Buick and GMC vehicles. It's our way of saying thanks for service that makes all the difference. www.gmfirstresponderdiscount.com Prep work for Charger Bridge Core drilling is underway at the Charger Bridge at Cherry Street, off Pike Avenue. Earth Exploration, out of Indianapolis, is drilling on both ends of the structure in preparation for the placement of the iron bridge, which will soon become a walking and biking feature on the south side of Petersburg. Earth Ex- ploration employee Mike Wells stated the company was drilling to see what the foundation would be rest- ing on prior to locating the renovated iron bridge. James Capozella photo Petersburg votes to build temporary roof over building to be demolished By Ed Cahill During its meeting on Monday, June 18, the Peters- burg Common Council vot- ed to spend up to $5,000 to put a metal roof on a down- town building that it intends to tear down. The city recently acquired a tax deed for an abandoned, dilapidated building at 606 East Main Street – the for- mer location of Double Play – and is in the process of ap- plying for a blight elimina- tion grant for as much as $400,000 to demolish both it and an adjacent abandoned building located at 610 East Main Street. Pike County Development and Boyd Realty owner Ed- die Joe Boyd, who owns the building at 602 East Main Street, appeared during Monday's meeting to ask the council to do something about the rain water that falls into the Double Play building – which has no ex- isting roof – and, especial- ly during heavy rain events, floods the first floor of his building. "What happens is, since the building is in such bad shape, it fills up with water ... so it comes through my wall," Boyd told the council. "That building's full of pi- geon by-products and every- thing else, and that's coming through and contaminating my building." Boyd told the council that he had met with Mayor R.C. Klipsch earlier the same day to discuss the continu- ing problem, but that he was "quite unsatisfied" with Klipsch's response. "I talked to the mayor, and I told him he was going to leave me no recourse here, that I was going to have to do something, and he pret- ty much told me to go ahead and sue the city, that he an- ticipated that I was always going to sue the city," Boyd said. "You guys know you own the building, and since I get no satisfaction out of the mayor, I need to talk to the council, because we need to do something." Klipsch, however, remind- ed the council that the city was in the process of filing for a blight elimination grant through Region 15 to tear the building down. "If you remember, we had a structural engineering firm review that, and came in ... and said it was too dan- gerous to even go into the building," Klipsch said. "So, at this point, I don't know what to do, and I sure don't want to send our people into an unsafe building." Boyd suggested that the city use a sump pump to re- move water from inside the Double Play building, but Klipsch rejected the idea since it would require city workers to enter the build- ing. "Safety is my concern," Klipsch said. "We don't go in with a backhoe. We don't start doing anything that could put anybody at risk." "Well, tear the building down, R.C.," Boyd replied. "What's that? " Klipsch asked. "Tear it down," Boyd re- peated. "I'm not going to wait a year. You told me it may be a year." "Well, it may be," Klipsch said. "Here's the status on that application." "I don't care about the sta- tus," Boyd said. "I don't care if you care," Klipsch shot back. City Attorney Brian Ma- honey subsequently stepped in to inform Boyd that the city did not have the money to tear the building down without a grant. "This is going to cost probably $100,000," Ma- honey said. "It could be more than that," Klipsch added. "But the thing is, what do I do? " Boyd asked. "I just keep picking up pigeon (fe- ces) ... and contaminating my building? " "How long has this been going on? " Klipsch asked. "This has been going on for a long time," Boyd re- plied. "Why did you take the building? " "To tear it down," coun- cil president Fran Lewis re- plied. "And we have planned to do that," Klipsch added. "But the thing is, that wa- ter is trespassing on me, and it's you guys doing it," Boyd said. "We just got these build- ings, Eddie Joe," Mahoney replied. "Please give us time to get the grant." Boyd told the council that he had never had a le- gal right to do anything to resolve the situation, but noted that the building was "now under the city's care, custody and control." "So the situation has not changed in the last four or five years," Klipsch said. "What has happened is own- ership has changed. And we have acquired that to tear it down." Boyd asked Mahoney whether the city was liable for damages. "I'm not sure after one or two weeks of ownership how that would be looked at, in the overall realm of us doing this, to get a grant, to tear it down," Mahoney replied. "The situation, everybody knew it before you took own- ership," Boyd fired back. "Would you rather we didn't take ownership? " Ma- honey replied. "I would prefer not to take ownership," Klipsch added. The contentious back and forth, however, ultimately became more conciliatory, as the council explored dif- ferent ways to resolve the is- sue. "Nothing's going to hap- pen in the next two or three weeks," Klipsch said. "If we can figure out some way to help, but we can't structur- ally go in there and start touching anything, we're just asking for trouble there. It's dangerous." Boyd then suggested that the council consider placing a lightweight metal roof on the Double Play building to funnel rain water to the rear of the building. "You think you'd hate to put a roof on a building and then tear it down, wouldn't you? " Klipsch asked rhetor- ically. "I don't know the solu- tion. I just don't know. That's one solution – put a roof on the building." Boyd added that he was concerned that the water from the Double Play build- ing was damaging the foun- dation to his building. "We've been dealing with this as long as I've been with the city," Klipsch said. "We're just trying to take the bull by the horns and do something, understanding that it is a big project that I wish we didn't have to start." "But we've got to start it," Klipsch continued. "It's not getting any better. As you can see, it's getting worse. I don't know the answer, oth- er than tearing them down, and I would really be sur- prised if we get them down this year." "I don't want to sue any- body," Boyd said. "Suing somebody is not going to fix the problem," Klipsch said. "The only ones that make money off of that are the law- yers," Leavitt said. On a motion by coun- cil member Brian Van Me- ter, which was seconded by council member John Mel- hiser, the council voted 5 - 0 to authorize Klipsch to spend up to $5,000 to have a metal roof installed on top of the Double Play building. "I hate to spend money on a building we're just going to tear down," Klipsch said. "But it may be a while before we tear it down. If we don't get this grant, it could be an- other year." MUSIC TO BE PROVIDED BY: e Gadabouts, Tony Rothrock, e Swampbilly and the Hootenannies. Sponsored by: Winslow Lions Club, Winslow American Legion Post #115, and Winslow Beautification. Free-Will Donation for Steve Nelson All proceeds will go to Steve to cover expenses from the passing of his wife, Becky Nelson. JUNE 23 NOON - 6PM Fish Fry Silent Auction and Miller Field in Winslow