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 13
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
$1.00
Town Hall staff to work from home By Lynda Baker A special meeting was called by the Poseyville Town Council last week for the purpose of appointing a representative for the town to the Posey County Board of Zoning Appeals, and to discuss the town’s response to COVID-19. Former Town Council member Ronald Fallowfield was unanimously appointed to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Council and Clerk/Treasurer, Christie Foster, announced that, for the time being, town hall staff members will be working from home as much as possible, and utilities will not be shut off due to overdue payments. Town hall staff will continue to make collection calls in order to keep customers mindful of their overdue bills. Payment penalties will also be suspended as long as the Governor’s emergency orders are in place. Town residents are reminded that it is a fineable offense to turn their own utilities off or on.
Utility personnel will still respond to service calls and will be wearing personal protection while doing so. They will be driving separate vehicles, washing their hands often and keeping their equipment as clean as possible during this time. Utility worker Oscur Briggeler informed the Council that the town’s water treatment chemicals are well stocked and were ordered ahead by Superintendent Jeremy Farrar. He added that area communities plan to share resources and personnel, if necessary, during the Coronavirus crisis. Briggeler would like to remind town customers to be careful what they are flushing into the town’s system, as not all items labeled as “flushable” truly are. Items other than toilet paper will clog pump and lift stations. The Council approved a 14-day sick leave policy for personnel who may become ill during the crisis. Town employees were encouraged to limit interstate travel. There was a discussion regard-
ing the possibility of certain county, state and federal tax funding for the town being delayed over the next few months, which would affect the town’s income. Income from town utilities will also be affected by the closure of some of the larger businesses in town, the impact of which should be known by April. All town departments were encouraged to conserve their allocated funds and to purchase only necessary items. Council President Bruce Baker advised that the Council will be watchful for any grants or other funding that may become available from the federal government. The Council decided to proceed with some necessary preparation work for the Community Crossings summer street project, with any unnecessary projects to be put on hold. They will revisit the matter in June, when the town expects to receive property tax distributions.
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MV Main Street clean-up overdue By Lois Mittino Gray The eyesore that is the Tresslar Building in Mount Vernon is on its way to having the “walls come tumblin’ down” for good. The Mount Vernon Common Council has made it a goal to get the disintegrating building demolished by the end of the year, whether the city gets a much-sought after OCRA grant to do it or not. Mount Vernon Mayor Bill Curtis said the deteriorating structure is shored up and safe for now, as bricks recently fell off the back of it. The March 12, meeting of the council served as the first public hearing on the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) application for the community development grant. Councilwoman Jillian Brothers made the motion to move forward in applying for the demolition grant and authorizing Curtis and Clerk-Treasurer Sitzman to sign supporting documentation necessary in the application process. It passed unanimously.
As a result of that action, Steve Marchand and Andy Zellers, representatives of the Economic Development Coalition, conducted the required first of two public hearings before the application can be sent off. Marchand presented the budget and said EDC will assist Mount Vernon in the demolition of 403, 409 and 411 Main Streets on a Blight Clearance Program. The total cost of the project will be $600,000, with $500,000 coming from OCRA and $100,000 to be paid by the City’s EDIT Fund. Going over the timetable, the grant application will be submitted by May 15 after the second public hearing at an April council meeting. If the city gets the grant award, it will be notified in June, papers signed in July, and the bid documents finalized in October. After advertisement, the sealed bids will be opened in November and the contract awarded to start demolition in December. The whole
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Little Willow Kimball enjoys the sunshine riding her tricycle in New Harmony this week. The outside offered a reprieve from the COVID-19 quarantine. Photo by Dave Pearce
Axton concludes record-setting 40 year DNR run By Lois Mittino Gray Paul Axton recently set a record when he retired as an Indiana Conservation Officer. The Wadesville native is the longest serving conservation officer in Indiana history, working a total of 40 years, seven months and two days before taking off the badge. “When I started the job, I never expected to do it for so long, but it involved so many of the outdoor activities that I loved to do,” he reminisced. “I was always outdoors as a child. I delivered papers for five years all over town, since I was nine-yearsold. I camped and fished as a youth and was active in Boy Scout Troop 490. In fact, I was the first to make Eagle Scout from our troop,” he recounted. “As a teenager, I attended a summer law camp at the University of Evansville, but that was focused more on being an attorney, and it just didn’t interest me. Then, between junior and senior year at North Posey High School, I was sent to the state police career camp and there I was Paul Axton receives a plaque from fellow conservation officer introduced to my first conservation Duane Englert showing his off duty clock and his three badges worn officer. I had no prior contact with as he moved up through the ranks . Photo submitted an officer like this before and I was
impressed with what I saw,” he observed. Axton set being a CO as his goal and worked his way up through the Department of Natural Resources by starting out with summer employment at Harmonie State Park. Graduating from high school in 1976, he attended the University of Evansville
and then transferred over to the Vincennes University Conservation Law Program. Vincennes was one of only three schools in the nation offering that course of study at that time. He was hired by the Indiana DNR immediately out of college in 1979. Axton
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Cynthiana meeting set The Town Council of the Town of Cynthiana will hold its April meeting, which is schedule for Monday, April 6, 2020, at 7 pm for purposes of conducting essential Town business. At this meeting, the Council will consider the establishment of a Cumulative Capital Development Fund under the provisions of Indiana Code 36-9-15.5 for the purposes as follows: For all uses as set out in Indiana Code 36-9-15.5 . The meeting will be held at Town Hall, which is located at 10765 Main Street, Cynthiana, Indiana. With regard to the Cumulative Capital Development Fund, the
Town previously published notice in the Posey County News entitled “ NOTICE TO TAXPAYERS OF HEARING ON PROPOSED CUMULATIVE CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND ” . Due to COVID-19, the public will have the opportunity to be heard on the Cumulative Capital Development Fund both: (1) in person and (2) remotely via a web meeting. The instructions for the web meeting are as follows: Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android at: https://meetings.ringcentral.com/j/8125064074 or by Telephone Dial: +1(720)902.7700 Meeting ID: 812 506 4074.
A little child shall lead them
Ten-year-old gets creative in keeping ‘in touch’ with her friends By Conner Voegel Words and phrases such as “social-distancing,” “shelter in place,” and even “collapse” have Americans on edge. Measures inhibiting socialization simply go against our very nature and understandably cause great anxiety. Economic uncertainty has shaken every household and industry in the nation. People are worried, and rightfully so. Nevertheless, rays of hope rise every morning as we hear about China and other countries gradually releasing lockdown measures, the heroic measures healthcare workers are taking every day, and possible therapies being tested in multiple states. However, the brightest rays of hope have quite possibly gone somewhat unnoticed while they draw with chalk on your driveways and run around your backyard. Maddie Thomas, a ten-year-old girl and fourth grade student at North Elementary School in Poseyville, began writing letters to residents in her neighborhood to keep connected with others while the MSD of North Posey is out of session. When asked why she decided
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to begin writing these letters she said that she wanted to keep in touch with the neighborhood kids since they cannot play right now, wanted to get to know some of the residents she has never met, and also reminded me it began because of her thoughtful nature. Maddie has received help from her younger brother, Mason Thomas, a six-year-old kindergartner at North Elementary. Mason has provided great ideas for Maddie to write about, and is also the artist of the pictures drawn at the bottom of the letters. Maddie and Mason started this project to spread joy and keep connected. In fact, Maddie said she is so excited her work will go noticed because “she never believed anything like getting her name in the paper would ever happen.” She is even more excited because once school reopens, she plans to show the article to all her friends and tell them about her experience. Although it is tough to learn a while lot about a person’s life from just one or two examples, you can learn a little about Maddie
from talking to her and seeing a few of her letters. One thing clearly stands out. She undoubtedly embodies North Elementary’ s mascot, North Elementary Stars. Maddie hopes to one day become a professional gymnast or a veterinarian, but said right now she is thinking a veterinarian is her best option so she can use her thoughtful nature caring for and working with her favorite animals, specifically hamsters. Until then, she plans to continue spreading joy throughout her subdivision. Therefore, as you spend these coming days with your children and notice all their mischievous decisions, also take time to listen to their words and see how they react during these times. The therapies, vaccines, and flattening of the curve will certainly help now, but seeing how children react will help us all for the future. Life tells us we cannot always act or think like children, and I do not dispute that; however, life also shows us that children have the best outlook on life, and maybe sometimes it is ok for us to briefly see life through their eyes. Thus, in these coming days I think it is
Maddie Thomas a great idea to not only see and listen to your children’s reactions during these times, but also briefly think and act like them when anxiety kicks in.