T
P C N SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Volume 140 Edition 5
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
$1.00
Wind turbines continue to highlight county meetings By Lois Mittino Gray Ill winds swirled around the Posey County Commissioners meeting as the local legislators once again dealt with the contentious issue of zoning regulations for wind turbine farms planned for the northern part of the county. The January 22, meeting opened the discussion when Commissioner Randy Thornburg made a motion to reject the ordinance, as was presented to them for approval by the Area Plan Commission, on second reading, sending it back to the APL to separate the wind and solar portions. There was no second to the motion. Commissioner Jay Price made another motion to reject the ordinance as is and send it
New Harmony Town Board organizes for coming year By Lois Mittino Gray For the fifth year in a row, Alvin Blaylock will take the reins as the New Harmony Town Council President. He was unanimously voted to the position at the January 28, morning meeting, when Councilmen Gary Watson made the motion, seconded by Roger Wade. Other organizational decisions the council of five made were to retain Erin Bauer for another year as Town Attorney and to continue to hold meetings on the third Tuesday of every month at 8:30 a.m. Blaylock then announced assignments to head the town’s ten departments and their backups for 2020. Blaylock will head the Water, Fire, and Street departments, while Watson will be in charge of the Police and Sewage departments and Wade will be over the gas department. Councilwoman Virginia Alsop will head the Parks, Trails, and Solid Waste departments. Brand new Councilman Tom Williams was tapped to head the Cemetery department. Blaylock appointed himself to two committees, replacing former Councilman David Flanders in both cases. He will serve on the Economic Development Partnership and the Board of Zoning Appeals. “At the December meeting, we appointed Roger Wade to the BZA opening, but that was a mistake I made. I found out that appointment needs to be a member of the Plan and Historic Preservation Committee. Roger does not want to be on that one, and I am a member, so I appointed myself to replace David,” he explained. Two other appointments were made to the Parks Board. Kay Giles and Megan Patterson expressed interest in serving on it and were unanimously approved. The duo will replace Rose Backs and David Vonderscher, who
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back to the APL, with two amendments. One is to separate the wind and solar parts of the ordinance and the other is to amend section 153.1 to require a two mile setback turbine placement from the boundary of any school, public or private. Thornburg was visibly rankled that his motion did not get a second. “I made a similar motion two weeks ago and you didn’t second it,” he retorted. “My original motion to send it back and split it up stands as is. The APC can pass the solar part quickly and look at setbacks for wind turbines and Doppler radar limits. ” Thornburg is very concerned about interference with the Owensville Doppler radar by the
whirling blades of the generators, affecting tornado path prediction. “I have been in four meetings with top representatives in the nation and to me; there is no question about it. They interfere with the radar. You heard the speaker from Oklahoma. This is scientific fact, not speculation. Why would this board ignore the public safety of northern county citizens?” Commissioner President Carl Schmitz said the Doppler radar placement issue was his chief concern. “I’m asking if the ordinance is built strong enough and written to guarantee the public safety of citizens. I’m the one in the middle here. We need a new ordinance of some type or we’ll end up like Gibson County with none. I
will second Jay’s motion to get a document on the books.” Having a second, the commissioners voted on Price’s motion to send the ordinance back to APL to split it into two sections and to add the two miles around schools amendment. The vote was Schmitz and Price in favor of the motion and Thornburg voting against it. Some citizen comments were taken in discussion. Sarah Newton, of Poseyville, thanked the commissioners for protecting schools and their children and clarified that she is not asking to “kill the project, but to protect our Doppler
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More help is approved for Posey Health department By Lois Mittino Gray A specially-called joint meeting of the Posey County Council and the Posey County Commissioners was held Tuesday, January 22 at the Hovey House. It was held right after the regular morning meeting of the Commissioners, so that both groups could hear presentations about the Southwestern Behavioral Health Center, the County Broadband Initiative, and the Annual Board of Finance Investment Report. The Commissioners were on the docket first as they listened to Posey County Treasurer Vicki Peerman, acting as the Secretary of the Board of Finance; give the annual report on income from investments. Checking accounts in seven banking institutions paid out $430,351.14 in interest this year. An additional $14,573.15 in interest was generated by several funds, such as Highway EDIT, Congressional School and US Agency Bonds. The total earned in interest this year is $444,924.29. The county Mount Vernon High School seniors Kayleigh Krieger and Pake has over $27 million deposited in David were crowned homecoming royalty on Friday night. Photo by these banks. The December TreasurGarry Beeson er’s report to Council showed a total
in banks of $27,944.026.99 “The total interest income is up by around $97,000 from last year. We’re very proud of this figure. Our number one priority is to keep our tax dollars safe,” Peerman said. The Commissioners accepted and approved the investment review. After approving routine minutes and monthly reports, Council members listened to a presentation from Cheryl Reich, representing the Posey County Health Department. She requested approval for the Assistant Nurse position to go from part-time to full-time status. The expanded position was already approved by the County Health Board. Council President Heather Allyn asked about duties and why the extra time was necessary. “There is an increase in immunizations and home visits this year. The main thing she does is home visits, about twenty of them at least once a week, to do things like measure blood pressure, change dressings, and assesses needs,” Reich replied. The full-time position was
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Plans approved for downtown food truck fests By Lois Mittino Gray As these cold winds of winter blow, a comforting thought can be the new plan to host visitors every Thursday night this summer at the Mount Vernon riverfront to enjoy fine food and music while warm river breezes waft by. Randy Owens, Director of the Southwestern Indiana Chamber of Commerce, was given the green light at the January 30, Mount Vernon Board of Works meeting to block streets for a weekly Riverbend Food Truck Fest. Owens introduced the idea by stating that the monthly Riverbend Markets, started several years ago, did not generate as much buzz as the Chamber had hoped. “We want to make Mount Vernon a destination place and get people out to see our beautiful riverfront. Right now,
we’re not featured in too many travel guides. As a result, I’ve been approached by several citizens raving about how great the weekly Evansville Farm 57 Food Truck Fests on Wednesday nights have been, with over 14 trucks and music there. We decided the Chamber could host such an event here,” he explained. The board unanimously approved blocking Water Street from Main to Mulberry on Thursdays from May 21 through August 27. The two blocks will be closed to traffic from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. for set up and clean up, although the actual event will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Chamber has eight trucks already committed that regularly go to Farm 57 and possibly up to six more, trying to get as many local trucks as possible. Owens said it will have a nice va-
riety of food fare, with some oriental food, burgers, sweets etc. Some of the trucks that go to SABIC everyday will also be participating. Board member David Dodd asked if the popular Pizza Revolution was one of the eight trucks already committed to come. Owens replied they
had not contacted them, because they would be a direct competitor of local riverfront business, Bliss. Board member Andy Hoehn expressed the opinion that he does not like the idea of excluding anyone because of
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Police seek public help Members of the Mount Vernon Police Dept. are looking for a suspect who stole golf carts last week. According to the police, on January 24, several golf carts were stolen from Carts, Parts, and More on Leonard Road. Security cameras captured the suspect’s vehicle and trailer, which the golf carts were loaded onto.
The vehicle used in the thefts was a red Ford pickup truck, while the trailer was an enclosed white trailer with the numbers “31” on the side door. The three golf carts taken were Club Car brand. If you have information, you are encouraged to contact the Mount Vernon Police Department at 812-838-8705.
Beyonds the Walls now reaching inside Long-time minister of outreach becomes head man at Point Church By Pam Robinson The Rev. Bryan Thompson, a well-known community leader, has officially become the new pastor at Point Township Church of the Nazarene. District Superintendent Tim Crump led the installation ceremony at the church this past Sunday morning, February
2. A celebration dinner followed. A Point Township native, Thompson became a district licensed minister in the Church of the Nazarene last July. He lives in Mount Vernon now with his wife, Ashley, and the youngest three of their children. Their children include Cassandra (Brandon)
The Bryan and Ashley Thompson family stand together after the installation of Bryan as the new pastor at Point Township Church of the Nazarene this past Sunday, February 2. From left: Levi, Emma, Ashley, Bryan, Cassandra with her husband, Brandon Lauderdale, standing behind her, and Luke. Photo courtesy of Tonya Cox
(USPS 439-500)
Lauderdale (24) in Toledo, Ohio; Luke (21), a USI criminology major and soccer player; Emma (16), a junior at Mount Vernon High School, or MVHS, involved in soccer, cross country, and track; and Levi (15), an MVHS freshman and soccer player. The 1990 MVHS graduate is employed at Countrymark. Ashley serves as a probation officer for Posey County. He set the tone for his ministry at his installation Sunday. “Jesus said to the disciples, ‘They’re hungry now. Set the table so they can eat,’” Thompson preached in reference to John 6 and Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000. “Our thought or question is… Will you be willing to help us set the Lord’s table?” Thompson and his wife, Ashley, have high hopes for their ministry to the people of Point Township and the larger surrounding community. “We’re excited about the future and looking forward to the journey,” Thompson said. According to a survey he put out a couple of years ago, approximately 4,000 souls in the area live untouched by Sunday church attendance. That means business for Thompson. He wants to reach those souls while he serves and maintains the existing 100-120 faithful at Point. “Point Township has strong
disciples for Christ,” he said. “We want them to make more disciples.” To that end, he looks forward to an even closer bond between the main church campus of Point Township and the satellite campus of Beyond the Walls ministries. Beyond the Walls holds a special place in Thompson’s heart, for it was born from his calling to the ministry. He recalls hearing Russell Coffey speak in spring 2009 and declaring the field of addiction in the U.S. was the most neglected missionary field. “I couldn’t shake the message,” Thompson comments. “Beyond the Walls was born that same summer.” Although initially designed to minister to those fighting addiction, Beyond the Walls and some community friends feature a variety of programs and services now five days a week, excluding Friday and Sunday. People from all walks of life gather for a homecooked meal on Tuesday evenings followed by Thompson’s popular prayer service. His weekly sermons appear in Facebook videos at the “Beyond the Walls - 424 Vine Street, Mt. Vernon, IN” page. “Beyond the Walls will stay intact,” Thompson emphasizes. In 2017, the District Superintendent suggested Thompson take classes online from
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