SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Volume 136 Edition 37
Cost of jail construction comes in at over $16 million By Valerie Werkmeister Construction bids on the expansion and renovation of the Posey County Jail came in nearly $4 million higher than anticipated. The Posey County Commissioners and Council members met in a joint meeting last Tuesday to discuss the bids and how they
would finance the project. A representative from Garmong Construction Services, the construction management firm hired by the commissioners to help oversee the project, read the list of low bidders for the project with one unusual problem. The low bidder for the general contractor
was deemed unfavorable. After completing due diligence, Garmong determined EvrardStrang Construction from Marion, Ill., would not receive their recommendation for the jail project. Garmong checked their references and found the company had a history of poor
quality construction, failure of supervision, a history of project delays, excessive requests for additional funds and a history of persistent problems relating to their projects. Garmong then recommended the second
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Clinic care seems sure bet for County health insurance woes By Valerie Werkmeister Soon, Posey County employees will have the convenience to go to a local medical clinic shared by the MSD of Mount Vernon and North Posey. Posey County Commissioner Jim Alsop explained during last Tuesday’s joint meeting with the county council and commissioners that the county explored ways to reduce health insurance premiums. They recently were given a presentation by Tri State Community Health Clinics and decided to partner with the school districts in order to receive routine health care treatment. An office in Mount Vernon will add eight hours to its current schedule while the North Posey clinic location will add four hours. Alsop stated adding the usage of a health clinic
for county employees will help lower their overall premiums. At the beginning of the year, Alsop stated the county’s loss ratio was high, but it has improved over the course of the past six to seven months. As a result, he felt the next premium quote will be flat. The county’s healthcare insurance carrier is Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The county will pay $165,000 for the use of the clinic. Posey County Councilman Tom Schneider commended Alsop for his work on the county’s healthcare insurance. The Wadesville-Blairsville Regional Sewer District is still seeking a resolution to its
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Storyteller Susan Fowler delighted local elementary students during their River Days Field trip. Susan filled Murphy Park’s gazebo with fascinating props like this massive ball of yarn and miniature boat. See more River Days photos on Page A2. Photo by Z. Straw
Taylor lays groundwork, leaves opportunities for successor By Pam Robinson “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender,” insisted Vince Lombardi, the greatest coach in Green Bay Packer and NFL history. John Taylor, Executive Director for the Posey County Economic Development Partnership, or PCEDP, would agree with Lombardi’s assessment—and not because Taylor has been a Packers’ fan since age four. At the end of this month, he will complete his work at PCEDP, but he leaves Posey County confident in his accomplishments over the past four years and in the future of economic development in the county. Posey County’s elected officials and county leaders receive high praise from Taylor. “There’s been a lot of learning on behalf of elected officials and other people as to what tax abatement and tax increment financing [or TIF] mean. They are the only two real tools we have in economic development to try and level the playing field between us and a city somewhere else in the country or overseas.” In his first days at PCEDP, however, Taylor needed to motivate county leaders to lay down their white flag Retiring Executive Director for the Posey County Economic Develop- and forge ahead with economic development opportunities. ment Partnership, John Taylor with wife Jamie. Photo submitted
“My second day on the job, I was with Bill Newman, and he was going to introduce me to the County Council. They were talking to this guy, Jeff See, from Aventine, and they said, ‘We’re going to take this under advisement. You come back next year, and we’ll talk about a tax abatement.’ I turned to Bill, and I said, ‘Okay, I’m getting ready to do what you’re paying me to do.’ I stood up, and I hadn’t even been introduced, and I said, ‘You’re getting ready to tell the world you’re not open for business. . . You seven are the ones who will make this decision, but I’m telling you if you don’t grant this abatement, you’re going to cause havoc in economic development opportunities for this county,’” Taylor recalls. “They went ahead and granted it. Of course, Aventine did open, ran for a while, then closed down, and now we’ve got Valero here. It’s good the county made that decision.” Recently, Taylor points out, elected officials have authorized payment of half the cost for and called for the study by Lochmueller of the county’s transportation needs over the next 25 years. “The county is start-
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Briefly PCN asks for community help We are searching for photos from the filming of ‘A League of Their Own.’ If you have any, please contact us at 812-682-3950 or email to: news@ poseycountynews.com New Harmony announces dates for the 34th Annual Kunstfest On September 17 and 18 The New Harmony Business Associates will sponsor their 34th annual Kunstfest. The festival celebrates German food, music and crafts and to celebrate New Harmony’s founders who came to the area in 1814. The festival runs September 17 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and September 18 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in downtown New Harmony, Indiana. This is New Harmony’s largest festival and we expect to draw a crowd of over 20,000. The distinctive German flags and buntings of black, red and gold will grace buildings and homes in celebration of the event. During Kunstfest the town’s streets will be lined with over 200 booths. This celebration of German heritage and art is one of the biggest of its kind in Indiana, and this year the town will welcome the The Tippecanoe Ancient Fife and Drum Corps. St. Philip Burgoo to take place Sunday, September 25 The St. Philip Burgoo will take place on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016. The Burgoo Drive Thru and Carry-out begins at 7 a.m. - bring your own container for carry-out or containers are provided for a nominal fee. No glass containers. The cafeteria will be serving Burgoo, Hamburgers, Pies and Drinks from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. There will also be a raffle for a Grand Prize of $20,000 along with 20 other prizes. Only 3,000 tickets will be sold and you need not be present to win. Each ticket is a $20 donation. The Burgoo and Raffle are sponsored by the St. Philip Men’s Club. St. Philip is six miles West of Evansville out Upper Mount Vernon Road or West on the Lloyd Expressway to the St. Philip Road sign. License No. 136254. Poseyville Autumnfest to be held September 23-25 The Kiwanis Club is once again putting on the Poseyville Autumnfest on September 23-25, 2016. The Autumnfest Princess and Miss Autumnfest Contest will be held Friday evening. For the Saturday evening entertainment there will be a band performing for a couple of hours followed by a 30 minute professional fireworks display. This year will also see some games added: cake walk, beanbag and egg toss, ugly hat and ugly apron contest, water balloon contest, paper air plane contest, sack race, pie eating contest, and power wheel and big wheel race. If you have any questions or comments concerning the Autumnfest the Kiwanis Club would like to hear from you, please call our Autumnfest Chairman, Warren Korff at 812-550-7662; Don Schenk, at 812-874-3249; or James Reynolds at 812-963-5700. Correction Due to incorrect information supplied to the Posey County News, an error was made in the caption under the photo of Mount Vernon School Superintendant Tom Kopatich and former Mount Vernon teacher Ron Greenfield. Greenfield was in fact honored for his role in helping develop soccer in Mount Vernon, however, the field was not named in his honor. We regret this error.
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Long-time Mount Vernon High School teacher Jerry King hands off the Indiana Bicentennial Torch to Mount Vernon businesswoman Michelle Hudson on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Dave Pearce
Heavy smoking is custom for Double Z’s
Pictured from left are the Double Z Smokers’ ‘Core Four:’ husbandwife team Bob and Linda Reutter, Gary Kemper and Paul Schorr, who formed Double Z ten years ago. Schorr and volunteers have fired the smokers 12-14 times each year and have worked with about 150 organizations since their beginning. Here, the Core Four pauses after smoking pork ribs and butts to benefit the River Cities’ Marine Corps League. Photo by Pam Robinson
By Pam Robinson Posey County native Paul Schorr got serious about smoking pork several years ago. He built his first charcoal-fueled smoker in 1995. Soon afterward, he built five more smokers and kept going. Today, he can count quite a few handcrafted smokers to his credit, all built for church groups to use for their events and functions, including fundraisers for good causes. Schorr organized one such group of likeminded Christians, the Double Z Smokers, in 2005. Celebrating ten years of heavy smoking (of pork, that is), the Double Z’s got their name from the two churches—Zion Lippe United Church of Christ and Zoar United Church of Christ—supplying volunteers. “We kept the name,” Schorr says, “but no one from Zoar cooks with us anymore.” Zion
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