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SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times
T
P C N $1.00
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Volume 141 Edition 34
Wadesville-Blairsville Sewer Project appears to be a go By Trisha L. Lopez Members of the Posey County Council were told that the entire $12.7 million cost of the Wadesville-Blairsville Sewer Project will be covered by state and federal grant funds during Tuesday’s meeting at the Hovey House. “It sounds like we will be getting the money from the state to complete the project,” Councilman Aaron Wilson said. Posey County has been granted just under $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds. The first payment was received in May and the second is expected in 2022. Council President Heather Allyn explained that the applicable uses for those funds are very specific. The county plans to use about $1.1 million to go towards its commitment to broadband
services and, on Tuesday, council approved using $2 million to cover the state’s requested matching funds portion of the sewer project. Jim McGoff, director of Environmental Programs for the Indiana Finance Authority, told council at its June meeting that if the county could contribute $2 million to the project, the state would cover the rest. “Whatever the county is willing to put forth, the state will make up the difference,” McGoff told the members. The sewer project is expected to close in September or October. The county will contribute $1 million of the ARP funds to the project in 2021 and the remaining $1 million in 2022 when the second payment is received. Wilson said between the $4.3 million the state
has invested in the Harbortown sewer project and the $10.7 earmarked for Wadesville-Blairsville the state has invested $15 million in Posey County’s sewer needs in recent years. “In my opinion, it’s the only shovel-ready project that we have that we can contribute money to right now. It’s ready to go. Bids have already been taken. The contractors are ready. The state is ready. It is my opinion that we move forward on it,” Wilson said. “This is money that we are getting that we weren’t expected to get.” Councilman Tom Schneider asked if the county could get something in writing from the state to guarantee the state’s contribution. Wilson said as long as the council was willing to commit to the $2 million, the state could provide a written guarantee.
Original project estimates placed the Wadesville-Blairsville project at as high as $17 million due to the sharp increase in construction costs in recent months, but the final bid came in under that amount. Wilson said Reynolds Construction will build the project. Allyn said she’s been told that the sewer project, once operational, will be self-sustaining and not need to request future funding from the county. “The main key to all of these conversations that we’ve had for five years now, is to keep the rate down. Keep the rate reasonable,” Wilson said. “As of right now, because of the monies that we are getting, I don’t think that is going to
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Most everyone on board for North Posey Habitat home By Lois Mittino Gray An interested group of 32 persons attended the August 9, meeting and progress update of Habitat for Humanity North Posey Build to hear some good news. “To date, we have raised $143,400 and more arrives daily. This is enough money to build our first house and start on the second,” Chairman Mark McDonald proudly announced. “On a personal note, eight months ago when we started this idea to build a Habitat Home in northern Posey County. I thought it would take two years to get enough money raised for our first house. The response from the people has been overwhelming,” Deacon Mark enthused. Acknowledgement was given to the numerous individual donors and organizations that helped in this endeavor. Individual donors from Saint Wendel and Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Parishes were cited, as well as corporate donors and supporters, such as GAF, Toyota, Knights of Saint John, and the Posey County Community Foundation. Matthew Nix and his Nix Corporation were given special recognition. “Matthew is a local resident and significant business person who is so generous and kind with his expertise. He helped us with details we never even thought about. He’s a businessman and I’m just a first grade teacher.” McDonald quipped. Three special speakers were the highlight
of the informational meeting. Sister Jane O’Connell, Habitat’s Director of Donations and Major Gifts, was introduced and expressed her support and encouragement for the North Build program. “She’s gold. She is invaluable to our donor drive. Her enthusiasm even has enthusiasm. Who can turn down such a positive person?” McDonald voiced. Jim Bartlett was introduced to describe his Habitat Experience in Mount Vernon. “He was the first person to reach out of Evansville to take Habitat outside of the big city,” Chairman McDonald said. Bartlett sits on the finance board of Habitat and is also projector manager of all builds in Mount Vernon. To date, he has personally directed 14 builds which has significantly affected the community. Blighted homes have been replaced by solid, clean and energy-efficient houses. Most of these homes have been built in groups, creating new and thriving neighborhoods. Jim told the group he has found the projects “positively challenging and at times just plain fun.” Bartlett observed that there is a special bonding that occurs among the men and women that have participated in builds. Jim noted that teachers seem to love painting and hanging siding. In recent years, corporations have become more civic minded providing volunteers from their staff and sometimes
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Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch answers questions posed to her from Posey County GOP Chairman Greg Newman during the Lincoln Dinner held at the Posey County Fairgrounds on Friday evening. Photo by Connie Pearce
Wadesville resident Steve Orange spends Sunday afternoon working on his 1929 Ford custom vehicle, despite the heat. Temperatures are expected to border unbearable this week in Posey County. Photo by Dave Pearce
First MSDMV week grades A By Lois Mittino Gray School Superintendent Matt Thompson called the first week of school “a great success.” “I’m glad we went with wearing masks since the first day of school. I heard that some schools that made it optional are now dealing with many absences due to COVID.” Positive news was paramount at the August 16, Mount Vernon School Board meeting. Board member Mark Isaac participated virtually, so all votes were taken by roll call and were unanimous. Members of the public were able to attend, via the link located at www. mvschool.org, as required by law when a member participates virtually. The enrollment figure Thompson reported at present for the school district is 2,064 students. He thinks that by the official count day on September 17, the figure may be more likely around 2,000. “We need to find out who has transferred into another district and many other possible changes,” he said.
The main action of the night was the board approved the Notice to Taxpayers for the 2022 budgets, and granted permission to advertise online. The advertisement will be on the Gateway website and the school website. It no longer is required to be published in a newspaper anymore. The School Bus Replacement Plan, the Capital Projects Plan, and the following funds: Education Fund, Debt Service Fund, Operations Fund, and Rainy Day Fund are included in the budget. The estimated School Operations Max Levy is $10,554,077 to raise. In personnel action, the board confirmed the employment of Kathleen Guerrero as an Administrative Office Secretary, replacing Ashley Nichols. Three new teacher assistants were hired at West Elementary School: Heather Ball, Kristina Dell, and Ashley Mandel, while Rhonda Simpson will be a teacher
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Going above and beyond With Catt’s help, Ford Home residents are 100%
Kim Catt
(USPS 439-500)
By Lois Gray Kim Catt, the Director of Nursing at the Charles Ford Home, has been battling COVID-19 to keep her elderly charges healthy since the whole pandemic descended on us. She proudly states that the entire population of residents and staff at the New Harmony retirement community are “100 percent vaccinated.” “In the beginning days of the pandemic, it was horrible. The residents could not see friends or family and they were upset and lonely. The board okayed for us to buy every room an iPAD and our staff helped them connect with family and friends and taught them to use
the technology. It made thing so much better,” she described. Families can now visit residents, but the Ford Home still controls guest visitation, as they are cautious who gets to enter. They are not fully back into having all planned activities, but the Life Enrichment Team makes sure residents get exercise sessions. Masks are required in public spaces inside, such as the dining areas and lounges, but not in resident rooms. “We maintain safety by strictly following state mandates and CDC guidelines. We are hypervigilant about cleaning and sanitizing. We installed special filters on our air systems,” Catt explained. The
Ford Home currently houses 21 residents of both genders. In her thirty nine years as a registered nurse, nine of those have been spent at the Ford Home. “I have worked in many areas of nursing through the years: skilled care, home health care, geriatrics, a lot of hospice, and even a little bit in orthopedic surgery. I prefer geriatric care and hospice, so I am very happy here,” she described. Catt was born in Kentucky and raised in Princeton, Indiana. After graduation from Princeton High School in 1978, she attended Murray State University for several years and graduated in Nursing from Vincennes University.
She commutes to her New Harmony job from Owensville Township, near Princeton, where she resides with her husband of forty years, Jeff. Their daughter, Kassidy Brown, is the beautician at the Ford Home and lives in Fort Branch. Kassidy and her husband have two children, Abby and Mitchell. Kim and Jeff’s son, TJ Catt, is a Marketing Director for a group of Evansville townhouses. He and his wife also have two children, Addison and McKinley. The four grandchildren keep Kim active and hopping running around to attend their activities from
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