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New Harmony wastewater too rich for IDEM blood By Valerie Werkmeister New Harmony Town Council members held a special meeting Thursday, February 19, to discuss the town’s options and plans to remove phosphorus during the wastewater treatment process. The town was notified by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) it was out of compliance on the amount of phosphorus that was discharged in the wastewater management system. The town has been working with Commonwealth Engineers and received recom-
mendations on how the town should proceed during a presentation by Eric Parsley. The engineering firm is providing assistance so the town may meet important deadlines set by IDEM. A construction permit application must be submitted by July 1 and is expected to be completed by April 2017 with full compliance expected by May 1, 2017. Parsley stated part of the problem lies in the fact that the current wastewater facility does not have enough sludge storage capacity. IDEM requires storage for 135,500 gallons and the current storage capacity is only
67,675 gallons. Additionally, the town is hampered by having only three-and-one-half acres of land that is eligible to spread the sludge. A ten-acre parcel would be more ideal. In addition, there is only one final clarifier and IDEM recommends having two. Parsley stated adding another clarifier would be very costly so he recommended waiting to do that at a future date. They identified the least expensive plan would still cost the town $253,000. The council would need to find a funding source for the project as grant opportunities are lim-
ited at this time. The council voted to move forward with the project in order to meet IDEM compliance deadlines. During the regular meeting held after the special meeting, council member Linda Warrum reported on the park board’s plans to replace several trees. Some of the trees have already been removed and others that are doing poorly have been identified. She also asked for the board’s approval of a proposed sign the park board would like to
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Residents ask ‘Why?’ closure of local bank North Region FFA Vice President Lindsey O’Hara, far left, presents a check for $2500 on behalf of Monsanto and Joe and Susan Gries, far right. The check was presented to officers of the North Posey FFA during National FFA Week celebrated last week. Pic-
tured are O’Hara, Parker Sturgell, Emma Carner, Monsanto Representative Erik Bender, Zach Goebel, Erin Will, Travis Koester, Olivea Glaser, Robyn Bender, and Susan and Joe Gries. Photo by Dave Pearce
First Lady of USI has actively watched growth By Lois Mittino Gray Betty F. Rice delights in reminiscing about her years of service as the first ‘First Lady’ of the University of Southern Indiana. Her husband, David, became president of the young institution in 1971 and led the university for 27 years. As the University celebrates its Golden Anniversary this year, Betty is in awe of what she has seen. “Just think about it. Few people ever get to see a university grow from its start in a small school building to what it is now. What an amazing 50 years it has been,” she said. “I just enjoyed every minute of my time as First Lady. It was worth it all. I loved it and I like people.” In her role as First Lady, Betty was the official hostess for the university and in charge of campus hospitality and goodwill. She planned and hosted special events, even before the President’s Home was ready for occupancy on campus around 1985. “We entertained and packed the people into our little two bedroom home on Mels Street. I was the cook and decorator and I had two students who would help me serve and clean up afterwards. I always had to plan what type of entertainment to do after dinner, too.” Sometimes children Michael and Denise pitched in and helped out at parties.
Briefly Kiwanis offer Irish Beef Stew Supper, Silent Auction New Harmony Kiwanis will hold an Irish Beef Stew Supper and Silent Auction March 3, 5 - 7 p.m. at the New Harmony Catholic Community Center (Main Street next to Holy Angels Church). Menu consists of Hearty Beef Stew, Bread, Ice Cream, and Drinks. Adults $10, children under 12 $5. Tickets are available at the door. North Elementary, South Terrace hold Kindergarten ‘Round-Ups’ North Elementary School in Poseyville and South Terrace School in Wadesville are now enrolling students for next year’s Kindergarten classes. Children that will be five years of age by August 1, 2015 are eligible. Parents or guardians should call the school as soon as possible to sign up and get registration information. Each school will hold a Kindergarten ‘Round Up’ to allow parents to fill out paperwork, get necessary information, meet the staff and view the school. Round-Up at South Terrace will be on Thursday, April 9 at 6:30 p.m., and North Elementary will have their Round-Up on Tuesday, April 14 at 9 a.m. Parents of new students for 2015-2016 at any grade level should also call the school for enrollment information as soon as possible; North Elementary (874-2710), South Terrace (985-3180). Chamber to host Report to the Posey County Business Community On Wednesday, March 4 at the New Harmony Inn and Conference Center, beginning at 5:30 p.m. the Southwestern Indiana Chamber will present a highlight of recent business impacts made in the Posey County community and for a celebration of 2015 Posey County award recipients. Keynote speaker for this year’s even is Jonathan Weinzapfel, Chancellor, Ivy Tech Community College. Register online at www.swinchamber.com or by calling 812-838-3639. Community Center to host Rummage Sale March 7 The Posey County Community Center, located at the Posey County Fairgrounds on Highway 69 South of New Harmony, will host a rummage sale on Saturday, March 7. The doors will be open from 8 a.m. until noon. Over 20 vendors have committed to attend. Clothing, shoes, boots, kitchen and household items, collectibles, dolls, jewelry, antiques, decorations, picture frames, books, glassware; are just a few of the many items that could be available at this event. For more information, contact the Purdue Extension Office at (812) 838-1331. TOPS holds meetings in Wadesville TOPS - IN 902 meets each Tuesday at the Wadesville Christian Church at 6 p.m. For more information, please contact Christine Crews 812-682-4306. Spot Shoot to benefit Relay set for Sunday The Robinson Township Conservation Club, located at Stierley Road North, just south of Blairsville, is having a Spot and Trap shoot Sunday March 8 beginning at noon. All proceeds will go to the North Posey Relay for Life. Come join us and help us fight cancer. For questions, please call Bill at 812-459-9675 or Carl at 812-483-1629.
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Later, as food service became available on campus, it helped out with cooking and hosting big events at the new President’s Residence. Betty still planned the meals and set dates for the events. “Money was tight at first when we moved in and had large dinners. We had to use plastic forks and spoons. There was no silverware or china or anything.” As the years passed, Betty had more resources to work with for entertaining. Mrs. Rice sat through many commencements, seminars, fund-raisers and dinners as a goodwill ambassador for USI. She always felt the need to educate people about the positive points of the young and growing university She helped to generate financial resources for the university and hooked students up with resources to help them reach their individual potential if it was needed. Betty was touted as ‘one of Evansville’s most active volunteers’ and deservedly so. “I joined about every woman’s group in the area and was always an active member. I had to get the word out about the university and do publicity and I attended all the meetings.” She is very proud of the work she did with the Westwood Garden Club restoring the log cabin and
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Group seeks use for New Harmony School By Lois Mittino Gray Thinking ‘outside of the box’ with a creative solution of a possible use for the closed New Harmony School building is a goal of the School Committee of the Friends of the Workingmen’s Institute. At least eight members of the library support group have met three times to date to work on a mission statement, a name, proposed feasibility study, and ideas for use of the building. The committee is chaired by local attorney Nathan Maudlin. The group has a vision of the school as an education-oriented facility that can offer a variety of extension classes, art studies, technical one day seminars, and other community projects. “There is a real interest here in developing it as a community learning resource center, under the auspices of the library,” said Ryan Rocicki, Workingmen’s Institute Director. “There is some real enthusiasm for this idea.” Committee member Fred Frayser noted that four of the classrooms have rest room facilities and could be converted to small apartments for visiting artists and writers to use while in town. Many people from other parts of the country and world visit the library to do research in the archives. The group is discussing a potential $30,000 feasibility grant study on refurbishing the school for many possible uses. If that were to be pursued, the town would need to deed the school building to the library group so they are the prop-
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erty owners. The committee is very interested in viewing a nearby closed school that now is a vibrant community center along the lines of their speculative plan. The group has arranged, through Tammy Allison, to tour the former Hedges Central Elementary School Building in Mount Vernon. The school was closed in 2010 and the district hoped that it would become useful in some other way to the community and not a ‘boarded up white elephant.. Today, the building is a thriving community asset. Several not-forprofit groups pay nominal rent, typically $150 a month, to have offices there. These include the Mount Vernon Homeless Shelter, Food Pantry, CAPE, Historical Society, and Family Matters. The new district Health Clinic is also located in the former school building. Mount Vernon School Superintendent Tom Kopatich announced the pending tour for the New Harmony group at the last school board meeting. MV Board Member Beth McFadin Higgins acknowledged that the closed New Harmony School is a tough situation. She added, “We were once in a tough situation like that and we were so fortunate to have it turn out so positive for us. It is a real community plus now.” The committee would eventually like to hear the same thing said about the New Harmony School building.
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By Lois Mittino Gray Social media is raging as customers are fuming on Facebook and tirading on Twitter about the recent announcement that Fifth Third Bank is closing its New Harmony Branch. Recent postings are calling for a quick response to the action encouraging patrons to pull accounts from the bank and take them elsewhere to another financial institution. Most people are shocked and wondering what the reasons are for the loss of the town’s only bank branch. New Harmony customers have been encouraged to transfer business and the contents of their safe deposit boxes to the Poseyville branch, the main site for consolidation of both branches. Branch Manager Bruce Baker directed all calls to the Indianapolis main office as to why the bank will close. This week several messages were left for David Hosick in Public Relations, but to date, no calls have been returned. A number was then given for Marketing Manager Jonathan Sharp. Sharp indicated he was aware of the branch closing, but did not know the reasons for the closure and would call me back after talking with the upper echelon. Sharp soon called back and explained that the bank does regular performance reviews of the branches and executives continuously monitor them. The New Harmony branch did not pass review this time and it was decided to close it. When asked as to how many other branches did not pass current review, Sharp replied that New Harmony was the only one. “I am not aware of any other branch in the state closing at this time,” Sharp said. Sharp gave nebulous reasons for the decision. “Our customer base is changing and preferences are a major factor in the decision. More and more are using mobile apps,” he explained. Sharp was then asked what criterium is used to determine if use is falling at the branch. Do they use number of customer visits or amount of money deposited or loaned? Sharp replied he was told they do not disclose that type of information, although it seems to be the critical issue here. Surprised that mobile app use could lead to the closing, Sharp was asked, “Are we to believe that New Harmony is the only one closing in the state because of high app use and less site visitation? New Harmony isn’t exactly the technological mecca of Indiana.” Sharp was cordial, but continued that the customer preference base has changed. He said he was not aware that this was the only bank in town. The building on the corner of Church and Main is owned by Fifth Third. Local branch employees were surprised when told about the closing because new windows were just installed in the building last October and the front offices were remodeled prior to that. Anger is rampant among local
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