T
P C N SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Volume 139 Edition 51
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
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Mount Vernon City Council OKs first zoning pass in split decision approved in final form by a vote of 8-0 recommending passage, with one abstention,” she explained. It must now be voted into the zoning ordinances of Mount Vernon, Cynthiana, Poseyville and Unincorporated Posey County. Councilman Andy Hoehn asked Bourne who served on the committee. She replied Mount Vernon Councilman Larry Williams, Ron Fallowfield, Don Koch, Chris Spurgeon, Attorney Beth McFadin Higgins and Mark Seib, as well as herself. Hoehn stated that his concern is what he sees as a conflict of interest by using Higgins as the legal counsel for the APC and a member of the APL ordinance committee, who is also the legal counsel for the Mount Vernon Council, representing the best interests of the city. “It seems the same legal firm has its hand in both ends of this paper trail and that is unethical to me. It seems that she is policing her own document.” Bourne replied the APC received assistance from Terry Hall, an attorney out of Indianapolis. She gave them a model ordinance to work from in writing theirs. Higgins added that she does not even have a vote on the
By Lois Mittino Gray Area Plan Commission Director Mindy Bourne and APL Board President Mark Seib attended the December 5, meeting of the Mount Vernon Common Council to answer any questions council members might have on the new 25 page amendment to the zoning ordinance dealing with solar and wind energy the APL recently certified. The zoning ordinance amendment was passed on first reading by a one-vote margin of 3-2, but not without some heated exchange among council members. Bourne started out with a history of the zoning amendment that began early this year as a response to potential wind farms being established in northern parts of the county. “A lot of time and effort has gone into this. A committee was formed, held lengthy meetings, and put in a lot of time and effort drafting the ordinance. The committee sent the plan to the APC, who made a few minor changes on November 20, and then held a public hearing for comments on November 25. The APC met and discussed the changes suggested from the public hearing, and additional changes were made at that time. It was then
council. Councilman Larry Williams spoke up and said that he was on the committee, too, and he has a vote. “Higgins was only advising, not policing,” he said. Hoehn replied he gets that, but she should not be advising on both ends. Higgins pointed out that every zoning decision that has passed since they’ve been here on the council has been this way. Hoehn added that has always been an issue for him. Williams asked why this was never brought up before until now. Hoehn replied this is a much bigger document and should not be tolerated. Mayor Bill Curtis stated he has been here for 13 years and if there is ever a legal question that arises, they can seek outside counsel. Hoehn moved the ordinance vote be tabled, so everyone could read the 25 page document in its entirety, as only Williams said he had done so. No one seconded his motion. Curtis stated that, according to Roberts Rules of Order, a second is not necessary for small groups such as this to have discussion and voting. He called for a roll call vote and Mark Pharr
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Molly Bender, daughter of Debra and Luke Bender, enjoys being in the lap of Santa Claus at the Trinity Church Christmas event over the weekend. Photo submitted
Poseyville MV’s Kenzi Paul awarded Lilly Scholarship OKs zoning ordinance
By Dave Pearce In front of a room full of people at the Poseyville Town Hall meeting room on Wednesday afternoon, members of the Poseyville Town Council unanimously approved the zoning ordinance for the wind and solar energy. Posey County Area Plan Commission Executive Director Mindy Bourne was in attendance and briefly explained the ordinance and the time and effort that went into preparing it. Opponents of the win energy indicate they are glad there is at least something on the books to protect area residents from being too close to the wind turbines, should they still come in. However,
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Members of Kenzie Paul’s family celebrate with her as she was awarded the Lily Scholarship this week. The Mount Vernon High School senior is surrounded by, left to right, Rylan Paul, Joe Paul, Kenzie, Aiden Paul, and Heather Paul. Photo submitted
Special to the News The Posey County Community Foundation has announced that Kenzi Paul is the recipient of the 2020 Posey County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. The scholarship provides full-tuition, required fees, and an annual stipend of up to $900 for required books and equipment for four years of fulltime undergraduate study leading to a baccalaureate degree. Kenzi is the daughter of Joseph and Heather Paul of Mount Vernon. She is a senior at Mount Vernon High School and plans to attend an Indiana college of her choice to study business. She excels scholastically, holding a perfect GPA while participating and holding leadership positions in numerous school clubs, organizations and academic teams. Kenzi is the founder of the Student Advocacy for Social Impact club, the Mount Vernon Riley Dance Marathon Club, and the Girl STEMpowerment Club. A 3-year member of DECA, she earned first place recognition at the state level. Her community involvement includes the founding of Kenzie’s Helping Hands prosthetics 3D
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Mount Vernon prepares for 2020, touts busy month By Lois Mittino Gray End of year activities and opening bids for 2020 supplies were the highlights of the December 5, meeting of the Mount Vernon Board of Works. Mayor Bill Curtis announced crews are starting to get things cleaned up on the Main Street Project in time for the Christmas on Main Street parade. Board Member Becky Higgins had maps and arranged street closures and made announcements concerning planned activities for the day. She stated that after ten years of doing so, this will be the last year she will chair the annual Christmas on Main Street event. Mount Vernon Clerk-Treasurer Christi Sitzman opened bids for 2020 supplies in the order in which they were received. Water utility products were bid on by USALCO for Del-
PAC 2020 at $0.144/pound and Chemtrade for Hyper+ion 4064 in tank trucks at $1.23 per gallon. E & B Paving bid $663,897.30 to supply materials for asphalt paving of cited locations , while David Enterprises bid $805,902.80 for its cited locations, and J H Rudolph & Co., Inc bid $679,486.65for asphalt paving. All bids were accompanied by legal bid bonds. The board acknowledged receipt of the bids and they will be taken under advisement for review by department heads and the City Attorney. In department head reports, Police Chief Tony Alldredge stated there were 178 calls since the last meeting. Fire Chief Wes Dixon announced his crews worked at total of 31 calls: 26 were medical calls, six fire runs, and two auto accidents in that same time period. Utilities Superintendent Chuck Gray report-
ed the old B & M Lift station at the East Side Gravity Flow Sewer Project was decommissioned that very day, and tomorrow they will be bringing the floor up to grade. His department has also flushed 8,098 feet of sewer main since the last meeting. Street Commissioner Max Dieterle said his department brought in $300 in special pick-ups and hauled 109 tons of trash to the landfill since the last meeting. Curtis thanked the Street Department employees for all their hard work with the leaf pick-up season, as well as helping hang the Christmas lights. Under Old Business, Curtis brought up the Employee Assistance Program contract, which was tabled at the last meeting for further clarification of details. It is a longtime agreement with Southwest Indiana Mental Health for city
employees to utilize the agency’s services. City employees are able to have three counseling sessions at no charge to them. The agency employees do not report to the city who uses their services. The counselors are also on call 24/7 in cases of emergencies, for example, a mass shooting, at a reduced rate. The city had been charged $420 last year and that fee will now double to $840 this year. The contract is based on the number of full time employees. The Mayor said utilization of the program by employees is not real great. Instead of paying per employee, there is an option to pay only when someone utilizes the program at the rate of $80 per hour. Mayor Curtis remarked he does like the program and feels it is beneficial as there are city jobs that are high stress. He will have the item on the agenda for the next meeting.
Christmas wrapped up in a van Friends helping friends...it’s all part of the original Christmas Miracle ByAmber Allyn Taylor Young received a call from a friend on Friday saying that she was bringing Taylor a surprise. Anticipating a baby gift for her newborn, Taylor was beyond surprised when her family was gifted a van from a kind and caring group of people from Posey County. The family had a vehicle that was much too small for everyone in their family, was loud, missing a bumper, unreliable and not safe for their premature baby. Brooklyn Beswick, the daughter of Taylor Young and Devhon Beswick, was born two and a half months early. Young was only at thirty weeks gestation when complications led to the unexpected early arrival of her daughter. Brooklyn was born on September 25 at only three pounds, two ounces. The baby was in the NICU for 68 days until finally able to come home on December 2, which was her original due date. Because the family did not have reliable transportation, Taylor appealed to Facebook for someone to provide a ride home from the hospital. Kay Kilgore, a friend and fellow River Days committee member, happily helped the family bring their daughter home. Now that Brooklyn is home she must go to therapy in Evansville once a week for a condition called Stridor, which affects her airway making it difficult for her to eat.
(USPS 439-500)
Taylor Young is a truly remarkable 22-year-old. At the age of 15, she was removed from her home by the Indiana Department of Child Services and placed into foster care. She was constantly bounced around from home to home. She noted how hurtful it was to not feel wanted or to feel like she was imposing on others. It was then that she became determined to rise above and to work hard to have a good future. Even though drug abuse ran in her family, she would not go down that same path. Young is a part-time secretary at the Posey County Sheriff’s Office, as well as serving as the secretary of the Mount Vernon River Days. Her husband is employed by J & J Welding. Prior to having a vehicle, Young said that she and her husband would walk to work. “We make no excuses. We want to work to do better so if we had to walk to work, no matter what the weather, we walked,” asserted Young. In addition to having a new baby, Taylor was recently named guardian of her little brother, Drake Young, after DCS removed him from the care of his mom. After her years in foster care, she knew she did not want that for her brother. She and her husband are happy to provide a stable home environment for
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Taylor Young and Devhon Beswick, her little brother, Drake Young. Photo submitted