Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 174, Greencastle, Putnam County, 31 March 1988 — Page 1

Banner Graphic Greencastle, Putnam County, Thursday, March 31,1988 Vol. 18 No. 174 25 Cents

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Pointing out a smashed end of a drain pipe that went under South Jackson Street, between Sunset Drive and Berry Street, Greencastle Street Commissioner Jim Wright says a combined dty-county-Public

Pooled efforts solve flooding problem

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor After 15 years, 18 tons of stone, 7 tons of riprap, untold hours of work and one soaked pair of work shoes, Street Commissioner Jim Wright thinks a South Jackson Street water problem has been solved. Wright returned to the scene of the grime last week to point out a crushed 18-inch drain pipe that had extended under the roadway on the east side, between Berry Street and Sunset Drive. WRIGHT SPECULATES the smashed drain pipe is older than South Jackson Street itself. He believes it was put while the city street was still a county road, but was squashed about 12-13 years ago when a Public Service Indiana subcontractor placed a utility pole right through it That PSI pole has now been moved 15 feet to the south. And the combined effort to pump the stagnant water from the area and make it drain properly again would have made Eisenhower proud at Normandy. Wright said he borrowed a large pump from the Water Department and rented another to divert the water out onto the South Jackson Street curb, where it drained

Two-hour parking tickets revived April 4

If you’ve gotten used to parking all day downtown without threat of a parking ticket, Monday will be a good day to break that habit Greencastle Police Chief Jack Hanlon has announced that renewed enforcement of the city’s two-hour parking ordinance will begin Monday, April 4. The ordinance makes it a $5 fine to exceed two-hour parking in the downtown area. Tires will be marked by meter officers and signs have been posted througout the effected area, Hanlon said. THE TWO-HOUR parking provision is in effect 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A not-so-good Friday

Cloudy with a chance of rain overnight and low in the mid 40s, Chance of rain 50 percent. Rain likely Friday with high in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 70 percent. Northeasterly winds at 5-10 mph during the period. Indiana Extended Forecast Saturday through Monday: Rain showers likely Saturday and Sunday, ending Monday. Mild through the period. Lows in the upper 30s and 40s. Highs in the upper 50s and 60s.

Service Indiana effort has solved a longstanding problem at that location. Moving a PSI utility pole, which smashed the city pipe, and replacing the pipe and draining the pooled pond should remedy

Lieber egg hunt set for 11 a.m. Saturday

More than SI,OOO in prizes and numerous Easter eggs await young hunters Saturday in the third annual Lieber State Park Easter Egg Hunt THE HUNT WILL begin at 11 a.m. Participants are advised to enter through the main gate at Lieber and proceed to the campground gate, where all activity will be coordinated. Hunters will be divided into four age groups toddlers, ages 4-5,6-8 and 9-12. Golden egg finders can turn

properly into a storm sewer. HE BORROWED THE Fire Department’s air chisel to cut through the area where the pole had been set, enabling the 7!/2-foot-long drain pipe to be removed and replaced by a 12-foot section. The new pipe extends further to the east to prevent pooling of the natural drainage at roadside. And it just so happened that the day all this activity was going on, the city had been visited by the

Hanlon said additional signs will be placed to ensure everyone is reminded of the ordinance. He also expects striping of parking spaces to be improved. Residents are reminded that the two city lots still require meters to be fed. An expired meter can also mean at $5 parking fine, Hanlon added. THE CITY’S two-hour parking ordinance was suspended late last spring by then-Mayor Bobby Albright at the height of downtown renovation work that restricted parking. The new administration had said it would wait until the new signs, designating the areas affected could be placed, before reactivating the local law.

Index Abby A 4 Calendar A 5 Classifieds A9,A10,A11 Comics A 6 Crossword A 9 Heloise AS Horoscope All Obituaries Al 2 People A 6 Sports A7,A8,A9 TV A 4

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their booty in for a big Easter basket and giant chocolate bunny. Meanwhile, youngsters can also register for a prize raffle with such give-aways as bicycles and scooters. THE EASTER Bunny and Smokey the Bear will be on hand to greet youngsters. Last year more than 500 children took part in the festivities, billed as the largest egg hunt on stateowned property. Rain date for the hunt at Lieber is Sunday (11 a.m.).

company that sells Vactor equipment, a machine used to clean sewer and water lines by creating a vacuum effect that unclogs the pipes and is more effective than water or air-pressure techniques. Wright had the Vactor people flush the line as part of their demonstration for the Sewage Department and Supt. Charlene Nichols. Hiring such work done, he said, would have cost approximately SBOO.

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Rev. Harris hires consulting firm, P.l.

By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor Court documents reveal that the defense in the case of Rev. Wayne T. Harris has hired a private consulting firm and a private investigator to help prepare the case for the defense. Rev. Harris, 34, Indianapolis, has been charged in the Dec. 10, 1987 fire at a Heritage Lake home he was buying on contract Investigators from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was intentionally set, and Rev. Harris was formally charged with

the situation, Wright said. Water often pooled as deep as seven feet near the east side of Jackson Street at that site because it could not drain away under the road. (Banner-Graphic photos).

THE PUTNAM COUNTY Highway Department also joined in the effort with men and machine, grading the site for approximately eight hours, Wright said, estimating another SBOO savings through that cooperation. Next on the agenda will be constructing a new catch basin and grate at the site to keep limbs and trash from going down the drain and clogging the system. That will be approximately a SSOO-S6OO expense, the street commissioner said. The Water Department, meanwhile, will return to the site to push the dirt moved back into the east-side-of-the-road valley. Wright said his department and city officials are proud that the problem was corrected in “such a relatively short time.” The problem was made an issue at the February City Council meeting, and by Feb. 24, Wright said, he had received PSl’s cooperation to remove the pole. The infamous ice storm interceded for a day or two before the move could transpire, however. THE EFFORT ALONG South Jackson Street should solve a persistent flooding problem that often resulted in water seven-feet deep dangerously pooling up on the east side of the road. The problem inCol. 3, back page, this section

arson on Dec. 22,1987. HE IS CURRENTLY free on bond, awaiting a June 20 trial in Putnam Circuit Court The revelations of the roles of the private investigators came when Indianapolis attorney Duge Butler, who is representing Rev. Harris in the case, filed a response to a staterequested discovery motion. According to court records, the defense has hired Thomas Hulse, of Forensic and Technology Resources of Carmel, to investigate the fire scene, while private investigator William Snyder, In-

Wards site was best alternative to Library Board

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the fourth article in a series related to the Putnam County Library Board’s desire to expand the current facility, and the feasibility study conducted by Indianapolis architect Parke Randall. Today’s segment deals with what transpired then, and since the 1985 study was com* pleted, according to Putnam County Library officials. By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor A lot has transpired since Indianapolis architect Parke Randall inked a feasibility study for the Putnam County Library Board back in 1985, library officials say. Initially, Randall was hired by the Library Board to compile a feasibility study to investigate how to address space concerns at the current 102 E. Walnut St. structure. He looked at three options. THOSE OPTIONS included building an addition onto the present building, remodeling the former Montgomery Wards building in downtown Greencastle as a library, and the possibility of new construction. Although library officials say Randall favored new construction, board members said another study shows that was not the best, or most cost-effective alternative. The study to which library officials refer to was completed in October 1985 by the Indianapolis architectural firm of Woollen, Molzan and Partners. That firm was hired after the Randall’s May 1985 feasibility study was done. Through the summer of 1985, the Library Board and staff screened and interviewed architectural firms, who would eventually be hired to work on preliminaries leading up to a building program. ON SEPT. 12,1985, and following interviews, the board entered into a contractural agreement with Woollen, Molzan and Partners. Principal architect Evans Woollen, and project architect Larry O’Connor, compiled a written library building program, complete with cost estimates and preliminary drawings. “What Parke Randall was working with was wide open,” Library Director Ellen Sedlack said recently. “He had three options to work with.” Again, those three options included building onto the present building, remodeling the Wards building or new construction. But Mrs. Sedlack said circumstances, involving the Wards building, changed dramatically in April 1985. That was because DePauw University, the current owner of the Wards building, offered to sell the structure to the Library Board for half of its appraised value. “BY THE TIME these offers were made by DePauw University, you can bet we stressed the Prevo (Wards) building,” Mrs. Sedlack said, alluding to the great cost savings the board would experience due to the building being donated. And the Library Board, Mrs. Sedlack stressed, never intended to go after a 30,000-square-foot building program. The square footage the board was interested in was

dianapolis, has been retained to interview prospective witnesses. BUTLER’S RESPONSE said neither investigator has filed a report, though both are expected to. He wrote in his response that once the reports are filed, they will be made available to Putnam County Prosecutor Robot Lowe, who is representing the state in the case. Lowe’s own response to a defense-requested discovery lists 39 witnesses he might call, including Rev. Harris’ reportedly estranged wife, Deidra Harris. The couple has previously filed a petition for

Courthouse to close on Friday Due to the holiday, the Putnam County courthouse will be closed Good Friday. All offices will resume their normal working hours beginning Monday.

between 21,000-23,900 square feet, she added. “Evans Woollens’ building program was based upon figures of 21,345 square feet (as one option) and 23,900 square feet for the Prevo building (as another option),” Mrs. Sedlack noted. One of the most attractive points about the Woollens’ study, current Library Board President Bob Haymaker said, is that the cost per square footage listed was well below Randall’s feasibility study cost estimates for remodeling or new construction. “PARKE RANDALL listed remodeling and construction costs at $70475 per square foot,” Haymaker pointed out recently. “We (the Library Board) thought that was too high.” Haymaker said that belief was supported somewhat by the remodeling cost figures former Library Board President Larry Wilson said he had to pay, when he renovated an older downtown Greencastle building as his current office at 16 S. Jackson St. “We also knew,” Mrs. Sedlack inteijected, “that we could fill (remodel and furnish) the Prevo building within our bonding limitation.” The Woollens firm brought its own architecural and structural engineers to Greencastle to look closely at the Prevo, or Wards, building. What they found, she said, was that it could structurally accommodate the library. “THEY DID TELL us that there would need to be some reinforcement,” the library director pointed out. “But there were no structural problems with the (Wards) building which couldn’t be solved in this budget” “We progressed from the point of Parke Randall,” Haymaker noted. “He came in as an expert and then proposed what he thought we needed. In the ensuing study, he favored new construction. “But while we were looking at this (addressing space concerns), he (Randall) didn’t listen too well,” Haymaker said. “What we (the Library Board) had communicated to him (Randall) wasn’t ending up in his documents.” “That’s why,” Mrs. Sedlack pointed out, “we wanted to listen to other architects.” “HE,” HAYMAKER continued, referring to Randall, “wasn’t reacting to the things we (the Library Board) wanted to see in the drawings.” “And the (library) staff,” Mrs. Sedlack added, “felt like they weren’t being taken seriously in the course of their discussions with him.” That’s why, the director pointed out, the decision was made to seek other architectural firms. Col. 1, back page, this section

divorce, which is pending in Boone County. Lowe also listed 17 transcripts of interviews conducted with potential witnesses, as well as a videotape of an experiment involving mineral spirits. REV. HARRIS HAS maintained he was cleaning the kitchen floor of the Heritage Lake home with mineral spirits when ashes from his pipe ignited the'cleaning solution, starting the blaze. Investigators from the fire marshal’s office questioned Rev. Harris’ story, Col. 3, back page, this section