SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Volume 137 Edition 4
Teamsters, board come to agreement Health insurance contention resolved By Lois Mittino Gray Chuck Whobrey, President of Teamsters Local Union 215, attended the January 16 meeting of the Mount Vernon School Board to sign two agreements that were finally hashed out between his union and the school district. School Superintendent Tom Kopatich praised both sides by observing that, “Our leadership teams worked through it to reach an agreement in both areas.” Whobrey, who said negotiations weren’t always “harmonius,” agreed it was a good action to take.
The first agreement is for one year with the school district bus drivers and attendants. It spells out seniority rules, grievance procedure, transfers, resignations and military leave of absences, and work rules and penalties for offenses. These include anything from leaving a child on a bus to drag racing and speeding, theft, and not reporting accidents. The main point of contention was health insurance and its provider. Drivers attended prior school board meetings to complain the rates were too restrictive with the district plan
Man charged with attempted murder in MV Special to the News On January 22, 2107 at approximately 4:30 a.m., Mount Vernon Police Officers and Posey County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call of a man on the ground at Southwind Apartments. The man had an injury to his head and was transported to the hospital by ambulance. His condition is not known at this time. Tyler Englebright, 19, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. The incident is still under invesTyler Englebright tigation by the Mount Vernon Police Department and Indiana State Police. Englebright was scheduled to be in court Monday, January 23, 2017.
and they wanted to continue using Central States Insurance as in prior years. The district agreed to pay $375.02 monthly for an employee, single or family plan, toward hospital/medical insurance for any employee enrolled in the district health plan. The employer also agreed to contribute $2.50 a week per employee to the Teamsters Local 215 Scholarship and Educational Trust Fund, up fifty cents from $2. Whobrey’s second signature was a memorandum of understanding agreement between the district and
custodial and maintenance personnel, covering two years until December, 2018. The district will pay $140.80 a week per single employee or $342.40 weekly per family plan for each employee enrolled in Central States Insurance plans. It also outlined benefit amounts in differing values if they enroll in the district health insurance plan. The district also agreed to contribute $2.50 a week per employee to the Teamsters Local 215 Scholarship and Educational Trust Fund. In other board action: • An annual Board of Finance meeting for the district was called to review and acknowledge the 2016 investment report. Beth McFadin Hig-
gins was elected President and Mark Isaac was elected Secretary. The routine review of the overall investment policy was accepted. • The board adopted transfer of fund certificates and resolutions for account transfers to balance the 2016 fund budgets. The transfers did not involve any new money, but were made to ensure there was a positive balance in three line items. • In personnel matters, the board confirmed the employment of Lynn Culley-Sims as assistant girls’ swim coach at the high school, replacing Michea Wittenbraker. Sims is an
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North Posey Homecoming Court
The North Posey homecoming court for the 2017 basketball season have been announced. Front row: Megan Brenton, Jasmine French, Annie Goetz, Cidney Colbert, Kendra Schorr, Kristin Schorr, Kimberlyn Weaver, Mariah McKinney, Madasyn Rohrscheib. Back row: Tyler Holman, Dayne Morris, Logan Ungetheim, Noah Scheller, Sam Morrow, Quinton Fife, Zach Adkins, Nolan Alvey, Rylee Thompson.
Public Works to pay $9,840 to repair Appointments underground water main collapse made during By Lois Mittino Gray The Mount Vernon Board of Public Works agreed to pay $9,840 at its January 19 meeting to repair a collapsed water main that was discovered with the aid of robotic modern technology. The break cannot be seen above ground, as the aged pipe is located about ten feet deep underground in the 1000 block of East Water Street. “My crew was in the process of inspecting all the city water lines and mapping out problem spots with our camera truck, before they become sinkholes. It has what looks like a little robot tank on a long cord, remotely-controlled, that photographs as it rolls through the pipes. That’s how we found this completely collapsed pipe that needs to be repaired before it causes major
problems,” explained Utilities Superintendent Chuck Gray. Gray fears that a heavy rain could back up the pipe and flood the neighborhood and possibly collapse the ground above it. Since the funds were approved, TMI will be hired to fix the pipe at the earliest convenience. Gray also reported that he is still waiting on the final parts to repair the Belfontaine Lift Station that was hit by a truck in December. It should be ready to put in next week. In other board action: Mayor Bill Curtis said City Attorney Beth McFadin Higgins has reviewed all of the 2017 supply bids and deemed them to meet legal requirements. It seems that the only items in question were Items 5 and 6.
Briefly Friends of HSP to hold quarterly meeting The Friends of Harmonie State Park will hold its quarterly meeting on January 26, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Red Bank Branch library. The agenda will include reports of progress on the Outdoor Education Pavilion, the park in general and also the budget, There will also be discussion of ideas for new projects. Anyone interested in the future of Harmonie State Park is welcome and encouraged to attend. NP Hall of Fame tickets now on sale North Posey Hall of Fame will be held on February 25, at the North Posey High School Cafeteria at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $15/ person by calling the Posey County News Office at 812-682-3950. Community invited to Saint Francis Relay For Life event You are invited to the St. Francis Relay for Life Team and Friends’ Brunch for Relay. This year’s menu will be grilled sausage, biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, egg casserole, fruit and drink - all for $8 for 13 and over; $5 for those 12-3; and two and under are free. Serving from 7:30 - 11:30 a.m. Sunday, January 29. New Location: Poseyville Community Center, 25 West Fletchall Street.
$1.00
(USPS SPS 4 439-500) 3 9 5 00
The two bidders for that were J H Rudolph and E and B Paving. Street Commissioner Max Dieterle announced that Rudolph was the lowest bid. A motion was made to accept bids for 2017 chemicals and supplies from J H Rudolph, Mulzer Crushed Stone, and Brenntag Mid South and it passed unanimously. Brittany Johnson appeared before the board to request closing Water Street, between Main and Walnut, for the Water Street Winefest on Saturday, May 6. Cleanup is slated for Sunday, May 7. “It was very successful last year and we would like to do it again. We have changed the hours though. Wine tasting is from 3 to
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commissioners second meeting By Valerie Werkmeister Posey County Commissioners approved several board appointments during their second meeting of the new year. With Jim Alsop at the helm as commissioner president, he requested approval to appoint Jeff Greenwell to the Coliseum Board. Greenwell replaces Charlie Seibert who has served on the board for the past 23 years. David Meyer will replace Connie Weinzapfel on the Tourism Board. He will finish Weinzapfel’s term that ends December 31, 2017. Dave Flemming was appointed to the District 10 Plan-
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Keys to the past New memory care unit up, running By Lois Mittino Gray Memory boxes decorate the outside of each resident room in the brand new Memory Care Unit of the Mount Vernon Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The shadow boxes are filled with family and pet photos, awards, and memorabilia, such as an Army hat or a favorite piece of homemade jewelry. The boxes serve a dual purpose. One is to tell the story of the special person who lives there and the other is to stimulate the failing memory of that person with reminders of their past life. The new 36-person unit is now open for business at the center with several patients already occupying rooms in the safe environment with locked doors and a keypad code to enter. “The trend is that people are living so much longer these days, but their brain may be failing with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Families want them to be in secure and safe areas where they can continue their life journey,” explained Joelle Butcher, Executive Director of the center. “We already had a growing population here with those needs, so we decided to take advantage of our existing space and build the secure Memory Care Unit.” Construction work began around last July to redesign the area and it was done by Empire Contractors of Evansville who completed it about three weeks ago. “We opened up four rooms there to create a large dining room inside the unit with a lot of light. There is a large activity area, kitchen, spa bath-
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Belinda J. Sweat, Memory Care Facilitator, shows off the new memory boxes that add a personal touch to rooms in the new memory care unit at the Mount Vernon Nursing Home. Photo by Lois Mittino Gray