Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1882
“OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZE, AND OUR RIGHTS WE WILL MAINTAIN.” Posey County’s ONLY Locally Owned Newspaper.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
$1.00
(USPS S4 439-500) 39 500) Volume 135 Edition 51
New fire truck, car shows, to come to Mount Vernon By Lois Mittino Gray Mount Vernon Fire Chief Wes Dixon got a shiny new half-million dollar fire truck for Christmas. The Mount Vernon Board of Public Works voted to purchase a new Rescue Pumper truck from Pierce Manufacturing of Appleton, Wisconsin for $599,800 at its December 10 meeting. This will reflect a ‘significant savings’ for the city purchased now at that price, as it will go up three percent next year. “This will be the first-to-go truck on every run. It is medically-equipped and carries one thousand gallons of water,” Dixon ex-
plained. “It will take the place of our truck that does that now that we’ve had for eighteen years.” Dixon said it will take about eleven months for Pierce to make the vehicle before delivery. The department has two other Pierce trucks and Dixon said they really like their quality very much. The board also authorized the purchase of 54 ultraviolet light bulbs for the water treatment plant. The disinfecting light bulbs cost $350 dollars apiece for a total expenditure of $18,900. Board Member Bill Curtis agreed they should buy enough to replace
them on the light boards all at the same time so they are all the same age. Water Department employee Gene Carroll reported that everything is in on the new boom truck, except for the bed, which is on backorder. He added it should arrive after the first of the year. In other board action: • Mount Vernon residents Don Kleinschmidt and Barry Tanner appeared before the board representing the Pony Express Mustang and Classic Ford Club Ltd. The nonprofit club, founded in 1979, puts on car shows of all makes and models, catering
especially to classic cars. The group had a car show last year at the River Days Festival and was impressed with the turnout and the welcoming reception received from the city. “We’ve been putting them on in Evansville for years and we don’t always feel welcomed there anymore,” Kleinschmidt said. “We would like to have the five shows here in Mount Vernon next summer instead. We also would save money by not having to get port-a-potties and by not having to hire a rent a cop.”
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Posey Auditor Haney to step down Jan. 10 By Dave Pearce In somewhat of a surprise announcement, Posey County Auditor Kyle Haney made it official this week that he will resign the position of Posey County Auditor soon to take a job in the private sector.
Kyle Haney “Many of my close friends and family already know but I wanted to make a more wide-spread announcement,” Haney said in a
Facebook post time-stamped Sunday afternoon. “I have been offered a pretty life changing offer with BWX Technologies (formerly known as B and W) in Mount Vernon. The offer is so great that I will probably never forgive myself if I were to let it pass me by. Therefore, I will be resigning from my position as Posey County Auditor to move on to this position with the hopes that it would be more beneficial for myself and my future family both financially and professionally.” Posey County GOP Party Chairman Greg Newman confirmed the announcement later Sunday afternoon and said he had been aware of the impending announcement but that it was something that he was made aware of only about the middle of the week. “Kyle has done an excellent job in the Auditor’s office and he will Mount Vernon Community Church held it’s third annual drive-thru Live Nativity on Sunday evebe missed,” Newman said of the ning. Adults and children alike were wowed by the heartfelt scene which included live animals. Seen announcement. “He was a conscihere are Ray Vanover, Jerry Sullivan, George McCarty, Erica Landolt, Derek Landolt, and Gary C. Continued on Page A5 Mays. Photo by Audra Straw
Autopsy/multipurpose building gets nod from county By Valerie Werkmeister Posey County will soon have its first autopsy room thanks to a decision by the Posey County Commissioners during their last meeting of the year. They agreed it made more sense to construct the building that will have additional storage as well as a means for the county to generate additional funds. Other area counties will have the option to use the autopsy room. County Council member Tom Schneider stated in a previous meeting the county could recoup as much as $1,500
per autopsy. The second storage building may still be built, but at a later date. The construction permits are good for a year and commissioners hope to revisit the idea once the autopsy building is completed. It will be located behind the jail by the county highway garage. “In looking at it, if we’re going to enlarge the jail, to have two construction projects going on out there both at the same time, the construction people is going to get in each others’ way. So it’s probably good to get
it done first and get it done before the jail construction starts, ah…give them room to work. And also on this trailer storage building, this time of the year we start building on it, they’re going to stand outside all winter in the snow anyway ah….because we won’t get it done before summer. But maybe we can have it done by next year for next winter,” commissioner president Carl Schmitz said. The building will be constructed by ECI at a cost of $194,400. Bullard Electrical was the low bid at $15,300 for electric installa-
tion; Sander’s Plumbing bid was accepted at $12,800; Beuligmann’s Heating and Air bid was accepted at $20,757; the equipment will cost $54,665; a $25,000 contingency amount was added and termite pre-treatment through Arrow will cost $460. Commissioners also finalized details to keep the jail expansion and renovation project moving forward. They approved a contract with Umbaugh and Associates to facili-
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Briefly BMV announces holiday hours Kent Abernathy, Commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), announced today that license branches will be closed on Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday. All license branches resume normal business hours on Saturday, December 26. In addition, license branches will be closed on Friday, January 1 in observance of New Year’s Day. All license branches resume normal hours of operation on Saturday, January 2.
Solid Waste District announces Holiday, Winter hours The Poseyville Yard Waste Site will be closed for the winter beginning December 24, 2015 until March 2016. The last day to be opened will be Wednesday, December 23. The Mount Vernon Recycling Center and the Marrs Township Recycling Center will be closed Thursday, December 24. The New Harmony Recycling Center will be closed Friday, December 25 and January 1. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Posey County Solid Waste District.
Bridges of Hope Store to close month of January The Bridges of Hope Store, a Fair Trade mission of First United Methodist Church, 601 Main Street, Mount Vernon, Indiana will be closed the month of January 2016 to give our volunteers a much needed break. We will reopen Tuesday, February 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. We wish everyone a joyous Christmas Season and a peaceful New Year. Find us on Facebook at BridgesofHopeFairTrade and at www. firstumcmv.com/mission/boh.
At The Cross Mission closed Christmas and New Years Day At The Cross Mission will not be open Christmas Day or New Year’s Day for the evening meal. However, will be open Christmas Eve from 5-6:30 p.m. for the evening meal and gifts will be given to all who attend. Christmas Eve evening meal menu: Ham, Mash Potatoes, Green Beans, Salad, etc., Dessert and Drinks. We are open Sunday – Friday for meals 5 – 6:30 p.m. Any Questions call Myers Hyman 812-838-9670 or 812-453-9427. Revmlhyman@atthecrossmission.org.
Alexandrian Public Library closes Christmas and New Years In order to keep everyone safe while the renovation crew conducts necessary demolition work inside the building and because of the up coming holidays, the Alexandrian Public Library will be closed on December 24 - 25, then again December 28 - January 1. The Alexandrian Public Library will be open the weekends of December 26 - 27, and January 2 - 3, but otherwise, they will be closed. Due dates will be adjusted accordingly, and the Alexandrian Public Library dropbox will be available if anyone needs to return materials. Don’t forget that the Alexandrian Public Library ‘digital branch’ at http://alexandrianpl.org is also always open.
Robinson Township Board to meet The Robinson Township Board will meet on December 29, 2105 at 6 p.m. at the township trustee’s office located at 201 Schroeder Road South, Wadesville, Ind.
Correction on ‘Oursler Grant’ headline A headline in last week’s edition of the Posey County News referenced an Oursler Grant picking up parks repairs in Cynthiana. As the story stated that grant is not available this year. The story was accurate but the headline was misleading. We regret this error.
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Three of the four new members on the New Harmony Town Council were sworn in following the last meeting of the current council last Thursday, December 17. Town Clerk-Treasurer Karla Atkins swore in Alvin Blaylock, Roger Wade, incumbent Don Gibbs and Gary Watson. The fourth new member, David Flanders, will be sworn in at a later time by Judge James Redwine. Photo by Valerie Werkmeister
Controversy ends, begins in NH By Valerie Werkmeister The last New Harmony Town Council meeting of the year was also the last meeting for a majority of the board members. Andrew Wilson, Karen Walker, Joe Straw and Linda Warrum said their good-byes and gave final reports on some of the projects they’ve been working on. Walker said the building for the phosphorus removal project is in the flood plain and the town was required to get an exemption from the Department of Natural Resources before they could proceed. The size of the building was reduced to 400 square feet in order to meet the guidelines. A pre-bid meeting will be held with contractors on January 12. The current town council has been working on this project since the Indiana Department of Management informed them that phosphorus must be removed during the wastewater treatment process. The bid opening will be held on January 21, during the next town
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council meeting. Andrew Wilson said the new council will make a final decision on hiring a new town marshal when they take office in January. Councilman-elect David Flanders took issue with Wilson’s statement during the open forum portion of the meeting. He questioned why the decision was postponed. “Ah, The Posey County News reported though that an offer of employment has been made and was announced at the Christmas parade and I’m curious if an offer of employment has been made,” Flanders said. Wilson responded that since Flanders was present at the interviews, he already knew the answer to the question. He stated that although an offer was extended to Caleb McDaniel, no one has been hired. He reiterated that a recommendation of the new marshal will take place after the new council is in office. Flanders further questioned why the decision was
School ....................A7 Social .....................A6 Sports .. .........B1, 3-5 TV Guide...........B7-8
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