T
P C N SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Volume 137 Edition 33
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
$1.00
New CountryMark reactor headed to MV Heavy haul could slow city traffic By Dave Pearce Recently, city traffic in Mount Vernon was slowed and/or re-routed due to a large piece of equipment making its way from a Mount Vernon plant to a plant in Robinson, Ill. Later this week, another massive piece of equipment will be making its way slowly down Mount Vernon streets. This time, however, Mount Vernon is the destination as CountryMark will be bringing a reactor from the Ohio River via city streets to the CountryMark plant on Givens Road. This new piece of equipment is a reactor that will be used in the company’s Fluid Catalytic Converter. At this time, it is expected to arrive at the BWX port in Mount Vernon on Tuesday, August 16. Weather conditions may alter the arrival date. Assuming that everything runs as scheduled, on Wednesday, August 17, the reac-
tor will be trailered for delivery into the CountryMark refinery. The drive through Mount Vernon is expected to take up to seven hours to get through town and will cause several roads to be closed and traffic to be rerouted. The reactor was built in Oklahoma and will have traveled via waterways for more than three weeks before arriving in Posey County. According to CountryMark, there are several reasons for the investment in its 76-year-old refinery. “This investment will enable CountryMark to improve fuel quality, reduce emissions, decrease maintenance and operating cost, as well as improve refinery reliability and safety,” said Joy Hansen, CountryMark’s Director of Projects. CountryMark’s new reactor will be installed in October.
Mount Vernon’s CountryMark is scheduled to receive a new reactor this week. Built in Oklahoma, the reactor will make its way into town via the Ohio River into the BWX port. Driving the new investment through town is expected to take up to seven hours and could cause traffic delays. Photo submitted
Poseyville residents ask for more lighting By Valerie Werkmeister A few Poseyville residents expressed their concerns for low lighting and “abhorrent activity” in their neighborhood during last Wednesday’s Poseyville Town Council meeting. Resident Jeanne Shell asked if additional lighting could be placed along the alley on Oak and Washington Streets. Council president Bruce Baker stated it may be difficult to put additional
lighting on a service pole already there since there are already three services utilizing the pole. However, there are no restrictions if Shell placed her own lighting in the area. Roger Hunt stated, “The reason we need the lighting is because we’ve had some abhorrent behavior in that area for many
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Cynthiana considers GPS vehicle tracking
North Posey’s Kyle Stewart gets outside for a long touchdown run during Friday night’s scrimmage against Boonville. Football season opens in earnest on Friday night. The Vikings host South Spencer in their opener at 7 p.m. Photo by Dave Pearce
By Valerie Werkmeister City leaders in Cynthiana are considering the purchase of a GPS tracking system to install on its city owned vehicles and equipment. During their meeting last Wednesday, August 9, Cynthiana Town Board members received information on various types of GPS tracking models. Board members must determine if they are interested in tracking mileage, gas usage, the length of time a vehicle is in one location and several other tracking factors. Once they narrow their goals, it will help determine which type of GPS model they will purchase. For now, the information was taken under advisement.
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Briefly Band Tag Day: Saturday, August 19 Mount Vernon End of Summer Concert: Sunday, August 20 Harvestime Church 101 Roosevelt Drive, MV Trinity UCC Pork Chop Dinner: Saturday, August 26 4:30 - 7 p.m. 505 Mulberry Street, MV Arts and Antique Stroll: Saturday, August 26 New Harmony Quilt Show: Gen. Thomas Posey DAR Saturday, August 26 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. St. Matthew School Gym Upcoming Festivals: MV River Days - Sept. 8-10 NH Kunstfest - Sept. 16, 17 PV Autumnfest - Sept. 23, 24
More information on these and other events inside today’s Posey County News (USPS 439-500)
Board tackles annual budget presentation By Lois Mittino Gray The longest meeting of the Mount Vernon School Board’s year took place on August 7, as board members and the audience hunkered down with food and pillows for the two and a half hour session. Besides routine matters, Director of Business and Technology Loren Evans did his annual
Powerpoint discussion of the 2018 budgets for the General Fund, Rainy Day Fund, and the Capital Projects Fund. After this lengthy presentation, board members will go over numbers and give permission to advertise the entire 2018 budget, with CPF funds and the bus replacement plan, at the August 21,
meeting. It will then be published in newspaper legals and a public hearing is set for Monday, October 2. The budget will be adopted in final form on Monday, October 16, and certified and sent to the state for its implementation at the start of next year. One of the biggest questions built into the budget variability is
how much the district can expect to get from the state next year for the General Fund. After the ADM count in September, the state will pay $6,066 per student in 2018, including full day kindergarten students. This is up $240 from fiscal
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At home in the park Posey County native joins Harmonie team By Lois Mittino Gray There’s a little plastic solar turtle that swims in a jar in front of Kassi Gray’s computer while a ceramic turtle sits atop her tray of papers. “I sure do like turtles. I just love all animals,” said the new Assistant Manager of Harmonie State Park. “I originally wanted to be a zookeeper, but this is a great place to work and see them in the wild.” Kassi took the Facebook photo that made the rounds in April of the large bobcat crossing the road right next to the park gatehouse during spring floods. Kassi officially started in the position on July 3, just in time to work the holiday weekend in her new role. She is very familiar with most all the seasonal jobs at the park, since she has been an intermittent employee there since 2012. Working summers through college and after graduation, she has manned the front gate, collected pool fees, acted as campground
clerk, helped with concession stands, and has done labor and custodial work. Kassi is also very familiar with the park features and the surrounding community. A New Harmony native, she is the daughter of Becky and Gayden Gray, and a North Posey High School Class of 2012 alumnus. She graduated from Ball State University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology/ Wildlife Biology. “I always liked to be in the outdoors as a child and loved to visit the park. This was the best outdoor job that I could find and I enjoy it here,” she observed. In her new position, right now Kassi is learning the park and its procedures. She starts her day by 7 a.m. to patrol the park and look for any happenings during the night. At 8 a.m.
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North Posey and Ball State alumnus Kassi Gray is settling into her position as the new Assistant Manager at Harmonie State Park. Photo by Lois Mittino Gray