May 27, 2014 - The Posey County News

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2014

Since 1882 ~ Successor to The Poseyville News and The New Harmony Times • New Harmony, IN

“Our lib “O liberties ti we prize, i and d our rights i ht we will ill maintain.” i t i ” Posey County’s only locally-owned newspaper

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

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(USPS S4 439-500) 39 5 0 0) Volume 134 Edition 21

New make-up of North Posey School Board nears OK By Valerie Werkmeister North Posey School Board’s resolution to restructure its board due to the annexation of Harmony Township will soon be approved by the state. Attorney William H. Bender informed board members during their May 22, meeting he had received a letter from Posey County Clerk Betty Postletheweight, advising him the protest period has passed 120 days without any protest notices. He anticipates the State Board of Education will pass the resolution during their June meeting. The resolution stipulates that the board will consist of five members who are each elected to four-year terms. Two members must reside

in District 1 which consists of Smith, Robb, Bethel, Harmony and part of Center Townships. Two members must reside in District 2 which consists of Robinson and the remaining part of Center Townships. The final member will be an at-large seat and can reside in either district. However, this year’s election will be a little different. All five of the current board members’ seats are up for election. Three members will be chosen from one district and two for the other district. Each candidate from District 1 and 2 with the most votes will have the option to choose either a two-year or a four-year term. The

candidates from each district with the second most votes will then be seated to the other term within that district. The final candidate with the most votes from either district will be seated to a two-year term as the at-large member. Anyone interested in filing for office may download the forms from the North Posey website at www.northposey.k12.in.us. Forms may be filed beginning July 23 and must be turned in before August 22. A discussion was held regarding Superintendent Dr. Todd Camp’s contract. The public was invited to comment or ask questions. Only one question was asked regarding

whether his raise and stipend was based on the RISE performance evaluation. Camp and board president Steve Bender explained that the board created its own evaluation rubric in 2009. Since that time, the state developed the RISE performance evaluation for superintendents and it will be used by the board in the future. Details of the superintendent’s contract are available online at the aforementioned website under contracts. In other business, the board approved: • Textbook rental fees for the 2014-2015

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Mount Vernon names various replacements

Charles Huck and Gayla Schapker prepare to take their speaking posts behind the podium at the Poseyville Cemetery on Monday morning at the annual celebration of Memorial Day. In the background is a part of the color guard. Photo by Dave Pearce

Zoning puts business in jeopardy By Valerie Werkmeister A rezoning request brought a Posey County businessman to the Posey County Commissioner’s meeting last week to plead for his business. Scott Pate has owned a machine shop located at 2591 Juanita Avenue in Wadesville for the past nine years. His two sons assist him and their business has grown to the point where they need additional room. Pate planned to expand his 4,158-square-foot building and brought his request to Mindy Bourne, Area Plan Commission (APC) Director. That’s when he first learned that his request would be an uphill battle. Bourne informed him that his business was not properly zoned and is currently operating under a nonconforming use status. Pate stated at the time he purchased the property, he thought it was already zoned M1 for manufacturing. He said his bank

would not have approved his business loan if it hadn’t been properly zoned for commercial use. The business is located in a residential area and has been operating as a machine shop since 1977. Bourne stated the business had been ‘grandfathered’ in and as such if the business burned or, as in Pate’s circumstance, an addition was required, the property would have to be rezoned from R1 (Residential) to M1. The APC denied Pate’s request during their May 8 meeting. The board felt his property was too small to allow for his expansion request. Remonstrators also appeared at both the APC and the commissioner’s meeting to voice their concerns, most of which centered on semi traffic that they felt was contributing to deteriorating road conditions. The county apparently does not maintain the roads and neighbors in the area paid for the roads to be

Briefly

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at West Elementary. She replaces Trudy Moye and taught previously for the district from 1990-2000. Carrie Staib will also teach at West in the position held by Mary Ries. She taught for the past ten years at Charles Brand Chesney Elementary School in Duluth, Georgia and will relocate her family to Mount Vernon. Monica Collins will replace Amy Beshears at Marrs Elementary School. The Mount Vernon and USI graduate worked her way up through the ranks as a teacher and Title 1 Assistant and a technology integration specialist before landing this first teaching job. Marc Hostetter will fill the new position of Assistant Athletic Director at the high school. He will be teaching now at the high school and serving as the boys’ head basketball coach. Hostetter’s former position as the Physical Education/Health Teacher at the junior high school will be filled by John Schelhorn. He has worked for the district as a substitute teacher and boys’ assistant basketball coach. Lucas Dargo steps into the shoes of Chris Diaz as the new Health Teacher and Athletic Trainer at the high school. He has served as the head athletic trainer at Meigs High School in Pomery, Ohio during the past school year. In addition, Junenna Helt was hired to be the Summer School IREAD-3 Teacher and Sophie Roby will be the Summer School Bus Driver. Both already work for the district. In other personnel matters, the board accepted the intent to retire from Donna Juncker as a teacher assistant and also accepted the resignations of Amy Hueftle and Nancy

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Posey’s Robb wears many hats

North Posey Band to hold car wash May 31 The North Posey Marching Band will have a car wash fundraiser on May 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at TDS on Main Street in Poseyville. All donations are welcomed. Robb Township holds school reunion Attendees of the Robb Township School in Poseyville will hold their 39th Annual Alumni Reunion on Saturday, June 14, 5 p.m. at the Poseyville Community Center in Poseyville. For reservations, please send $14 plus $2.50 for alumni dues to Billie Sue Robinson, 314 Greenfield Road, Evansville, IN 47715 by June 9, 2014. KG Relay for Life pull scheduled This years Relay for Life pull will be held on Sunday June 1 at the Posey County fairgrounds. There will be several classes of antique tractors and garden tractors. The Tri-State Garden Tractor Pullers will also be there for a sanctioned pull for their organization. Driver sign up will begin at noon and the pull will begin at 2 p.m. St. Philip’s Catholic Church to host Red Cross blood drive St. Philip’s Catholic Church located at 3500 S. St. Philip’s Road in Mount Vernon will hold a blood drive to benefit the Red Cross at the church on Sunday, June 1, 2014 from 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Space still available at Harmonie State Park event There is still space available in our Wild About Nature Camp at Harmonie State Park. You do not have to live in Posey County to attend. Children entering sixth, seventh, or eighth grade this fall are eligible. Please call 812-682-3658 or email ameliawildeman@gmail. com to sign up today. The dates are June 18, 19 or June 25, 26. Poseyville High School annual meeting slated for June 14 PHS Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, June 14, 2014, at the Poseyville Community Center, Poseyville, Ind. A reception will held at 5 p.m. with the dinner/program beginning at 6 p.m.

Retrospective ...... A 4 Legals ............... B 6 - 7 Classifieds .... B11-12 Community ......... A 5

paved out of their own pockets. John Hostetler lives on Rose Lane and is an adjoining neighbor. He said he must pass Pate’s business in order to access his property. He felt that if the county approved Pate’s rezoning request then they should take over the roads so the neighbors don’t bear the burden of the cost of road maintenance for Pate’s benefit. Pate said that since he has owned the property, he has made many improvements including landscaping, painting the building, and general maintenance. He stated that he has a semi drop off supplies once every six months. He felt the three different garbage disposal service trucks do more harm to the roads on a weekly basis that the semi does. He did offer to stop the semi service to his door. Instead, he would go directly to the terminal with his own truck to pick up his materials.

By Lois Mittino Gray With this school year rapidly coming to a close, members of the Mount Vernon School Board turned their attention to hiring new personnel for the upcoming school year at its May 19 meeting. One Assistant Principal, nine new teachers, summer school IREAD staff, and an Assistant Athletic Director were added to the MV school roster. Matthew Thompson will be the new Assistant Principal at the high school, replacing Chad Rodgers. He taught social studies for the past eight years at Heritage Hills High School and prior to that, worked two years at River Valley Middle School in Jeffersonville, Ind. He will be relocating to the area this summer with his wife, Senta, and their three children. Whitney Baker will be a Mount Vernon Junior High science teacher, replacing Camella Rodgers. This will be her first teaching assignment but she did her student teaching at the high school and was actively involved in STEM Activities. Another tyro teacher is Eric Schnur who will teach social studies at the high school. He did long-term substitute teaching at North Junior High and Mater Dei prior to getting this permanent position. Patricia Lynn Culley-Sims returns to the district as the Family & Consumer Science Teacher at the junior high school, replacing Rhonda Moore. She taught here from 20002001, but moved out of state when her husband had a job transfer. Ashley Cook was hired as a Special Education Teacher at the high school, replacing Pamela S. Damm. She taught five years at Mitchell High School and one semester at Harrison High School after moving to this area. Also assigned to do Special Education is Amy Hueftle

By Cathy Powers When Posey County residents answer their phones and there is a recorded message informing them of a water boil order, or perhaps a flash flood warning, it is Larry Robb’s voice they hear. As director of the Posey County Emergency Management Agency, he is one of the main reasons we can all feel quite safe to live in this county. For the past fourteen years, he has held this position. Robb has performed some type of Posey County service job since 1980, when he became a 911 dispatcher. After a month , he began to work for the sheriff’s department, as a jailer. He was to spend the next twelve years there, with the last four of them as jail commander. He then transferred back to become a dispatcher once again, and spent the next eight years in that position. He was the 911 director for one year. Robb has always been interested in doing this type of service work. He became a volunteer fireman and EMT in his hometown of New Harmony, and has been a volunteer fireman for over 30 years. There are 12 directors in Southwest Indiana, and they meet monthly. Frequently they travel to one of the other counties in their region to lend assistance, when it is needed. During the 2011 flooding emer-

Deaths .............. ...A3 Church ................ A 6 Social .................. A 6 School ................. A 7

New Harmony native Larry Robb has been in public service nearly all his life. He has held several positions in Posey County for many years. Robb finds pleasure in being there for others. Photo by Cathy Powers gency, four or five other directors guidelines that are in place for these showed up in Posey County to offer trained professionals to use during advice and aid. just such an emergency. After the recent violent storm in Indiana has 10 separate response Boonville, Robb and others were districts, with Posey County being there to assess the damage and sug- part of district number 10. It congest the proper procedures to begin the clean-up and recovery. There are Continued on Page A11

Sports ............... B 1 - 5 Bus/Ag ................ A 8 Opinion ............... A 2 TV Guide........ B9-10


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