Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 297, Greencastle, Putnam County, 24 August 1988 — Page 1

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The Greencastle Jaycees were out in force this week, making good on their promise to add the brick accents to the Putnam County Public Library’s new front sidewalk. Although the temperature then was steamy, the workforce took haste in completing the task in the early-evening hours. Manning the broom detail is Brad

Sears move to square complete by Monday

An expanded, 4,000-square-foot Sears store will open Monday on the east side of the square in Greencastle, owner Barbara Lane has announced. Both Kenmore and Craftsman products, as well as other hard goods, will be available at the 15 N. Indiana St. site. Those products, Mrs. Lane said, will be supplemented by Sears catalog sales. THE GREENCASTLE Sears store, she said, will operate as “an authorized merchant store,” independently owned by Mrs. Lane, who purchased the catalog store on North Vine Street from Betsy Doan earlier this summer. Barbara and husband David Lane own the building, which last housed a used clothing shop and antique store. The Lanes have undertaken an extensive remodeling effort since the deal was finalized June 1 and the building acquired the first of July. The whole family could be seen the other day moving a huge, 15-foot sales counter down the middle of Franklin Street en route from the Vine Street store to the new location. The downtown location was vital to her purchase of the Sears store, said Mrs. Lane, a former president of Main Street Greencastle. “IT MEANS MORE visability,” she offered. “We wanted to be downtown because we feel that’s where the action will be.” To help spawn that action, she is offering expanded store hours of 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The larger facility will enable the company to house increased inven-

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Collins (left), president of the Greencastle Jaycees, while Kevin Starr takes shovel in hand to fill in the sand base. Laying the brick are (from right) Jaycees Brent Shuee, John O’Hair (back to camera), Brad Cross, Main Street Greencastle Director Bill Dory and Jaycee Brian Cross. Contractor Arthur Denger of Quincy, and his employees,

Public record group slated The Putnam County Commission on Public Records will meet 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30 in the Putnam Circuit Court office of Judge William C. Vaughn 111. Members of the Commission include Judge Vaughn, County Clerk Nancy Michael, Putnam County Recorder Rose Buis, Putnam County Auditor Myrtle Cockrell, Greencastle Supt. of Schools Gary Druckemiller, Commissioners’ President Gene Beck and Greencastle City Clerk-Treasurer Judith Berry. Clerk Michael said the session is necessary so the commission can consider requests for the destruction of certain public records. In addition, the commission will discuss the condition and records now stored in the courthouse basement.

tory and sell right off the floor, Mrs. Lane said, listing paint, fabric, carpet and floor samples, appliances and custom kitchen cabinets are some of the available merchandise. ALONG WITH THAT, she said, will come expanded customer service, repair service by calling the store and a loading zone for easy access. “It’s a very busy little place, even where we’re at now,” she said, Col. 5, back page, this section

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Greencastle man reports hitchhiker robbed him, stole car

NEW WINCHESTER Hendricks County authorities are investigating a complaint by a Greencastle man who said he was robbed by a hitchhiker who also stole his car Monday evening near New Winchester. According to Capt. Steve Stoddard of the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department, Brent Sims, 30, Greencastle, reported Tuesday morning that he was coming home from work about 7 p.m. Monday when he picked up a hitchhiker on State Road 75, about a mile south of U.S. 36. SIMS TOLD THE officers that after picking up the hitchhiker, the man displayed an automatic pistol and robbed him of S2O. Sims was then reportedly or-

Compensation rate questioned

Sheriff seeks retirement plan update

By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor A request to update the Putnam County Sheriff Department’s retirement plan was proposed Monday night to the Putnam County Council, as the board met to also consider several additional appropriations and transfers. The retirement matter was brought before the board, now for informational purposes only, by Sheriff Gerry Hoffa. THE PLAN HAS been on record at the sheriff’s department since 1972, according to Hoffa, with little change being made since that time. “The retirement plans were mandated by the state,” Hoffa pointed out, “and Putnam County was one of the first counties to adopt it.” Currently, the plan allows deputies, who serve more than 20 years with the sheriff’s department, to receive 50 percent of their average monthly wage when they retire. THE SHERIFF SAID his department recommends the compensation be increased to a deputy receiving “74 percent” of his

completed the cement portion of the work previous to the Jaycees’ efforts. Now complete, the library’s sidewalk follows the look which started with the Main Street Greencastle design sidewalks located in downtown Greencastle. (Banner-Graphic photo by Becky Igo).

dered out of his 1980 Buick Skylark, and the suspect drove away, leaving the victim along the roadside. The Putnam County man said he walked home and intended to call police about the incident, but Hendricks County deputies had already contacted his home seeking information about who had been driving the car. Sims was unable to return to Danville until Tuesday, authorities said. DEPUTY DAVE Richardson had clocked a car on moving radar Monday night at 83 mph in a 55-mph zone on State Road 75. When he turned around and started to pursue the Sims vehicle, he found it parked in the middle of the highway with no one around.

Persons interested in courthouse work sought

Putnam County Commissioner Gene Clodfelter invites contractors, or other persons who may be interested in working on the upcoming remodeling projects at the courthouse, to express their interest. The projects include remodeling the commissioners’ court into a new office for County Assessor Charlotte Gould, remodeling the former Greencastle License Branch to house

average monthly wage, upon retirement. Currently, the county pays SB,OOO to provide the plan, Hoffa advised. If the change was implemented for next year, it would cost the county $10,200. “The intent of the retirement plan is to keep quality people on the job and give them an incentive to stay,” Hoffa told the Council. So

It’s plan now for growth, mayor’s gospel asserts

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Whether the subject is South Side growth or East Side traffic, Greencastle Mayor Mike Harmless is out there preaching the gospel. “And that gospel is,” he said following Monday night’s City Plan Commission meeting, “that we’d better be planning right now for the future. “On the South Side, for instance, if we don’t start planning for the future, we’re going to end up with another (State Road) 240 on our hands,” he told the BannerGraphic, alluding to the strip development and subsequent traffic congestion plaguing that area. WITH THE SOUTH Side sewer ban lifted and new local industry heading toward full employment, the mayor envisions “as many as 300-500 homes” being built locally. “A number of developers,” he said, “are looking at this community, trying to get a feel for what’s here and what’s in what price range.” Another 800 new jobs will go on line in the city’s six new industries within the next 12-18 months, the mayor said, noting that both the Greencastle Housing Authority and Greencastle Development Center are presently conducting housing surveys to assess availability and needs. Industry isn’t as likely on the South Side because water and sewer availability are still prohibitive, the mayor said. ‘THE POINT IS,” he continued, “we need to evaluate and plan so it just doesn’t happen and then we have to react to it.” City officials, Harmless warned, had better be prepared to address South Side problems “because that is probably an area that will be developed.” Strongly urging continued study and pointing toward the revision of the comprehensive city plan as a guide, Plan Commission Chairman Bessie Rector said the South Side isn’t the only area of concern. “The East Side is going to have to be dealt with, too,” she said, “and not just along 240.” THE EAST SIDE, of course, is an area of commercial and industrial development that has become a source of traffic problems. The Plan Commission has proposed two ways to help alleviate those headaches a new north-south access to Albin Pond Road, known generally as an extension of Judson Drive, and a new east-west

the County Extension Office and remodeling the current Extension Office into a meeting room for the commissioners, County Council and other public groups. Persons may contact Commissioners Beck, John Carson or Don Walton to express interest about the work, or may call the Putnam County Auditor’s Office at 653-5513 for more information.

far, only Deputy Jim Baugh is close to meeting the 20-year requirement, the sheriff pointed out. “After Baugh, the closest one is nine years,” he added. MEANWHILE, THERE is $300,000 built up in the sheriff department’s retirement account, Hoffa advised. The sheriff did not ask the Council to make a decision Mon-

roadway, envisioned as an extension of Shadowlawn Avenue to at least Round Bam Road, and possibly all the way to Fillmore Road. The City Council has voiced agreement with those general ideas. But no funding has been designated, no plans drawn, no commitments made. That appears to be why Plan Commission members seemed so bewildered by questions presented by residents of Brentfield Lane on the city’s North Side. Robert Lowe, David Archer and George Schneider all expressed concern that the extension of Judson Drive might involve Brentfield Lane or nearby Evensview Drive. Those streets, Lowe said, are only 36-feet wide instead of the prescribed 50 feet, and would thus be too narrow to handle heavy traffic. THE NEIGHBORHOOD was laid out as a cul-de-sac, Lowe stressed, and should never be anything else. Schneider, meanwhile, noted the presence of a 90-degree turn that has already spawned one school bus accident “The Plan Commission,” Harmless commented later, “is in total agreement with everything that was said. We have exactly the same concerns. There is no intention whatsoever of using Evensview Drive or Brentfield Lane.” Meanwhile, Warren Harlan of the Plan Commission reiterated that the Plan Commission proposal consists of “just lines on a map.” ‘THERE IS SOME vision that we should be thinking about some streets somewhere,” he said, noting that the lines were a generalization. There is no legal description of a platted roadway. Mrs. Rector explained that the Plan Commission has indeed recommended the extension of the two streets. Execution of that recommendation, she noted, is “in the hands of the City Council.” Councilman Sheri Roach, a Plan Commission member who introduced the discussion, said either Judson Drive or Shadowlawn would “be a really expensive project.” According to city officials, developer Jerry Masten has agreed to reserve land for a possible extension of Judson Drive. In general terms, it moves from its present termination northwest to intersect with Albin Pond Road somewhere beyond the Gene Sawyer property, Mrs. Rector said. None of that, however, is concrete, officials stressed. Col. 1, back page, this section

day night, but did say if approval is forthcoming, a resolution to that effect must be passed “by the first of the year.” Councilman Bob Evans noted the request is going against current trends in business, as companies are giving incentives for their employees near retirement to do so. “SOMETIMES YOU may end up with better employees, but it is costing you more,” Evans reasoned. However, audience member Laura Jean Wilson of Greencastle disagreed. She noted experience and loyalty often counts more in the workplace, than ridding a company of valuable employees just because of the expense. Councilmen Jack Waldron later noted the county might have built up enough revenue to adequately take care of its deputies’ retirement. “I HAVE A question whether we might not have reached that point in time where we’ve already funded enough for it (the retirement fund) to be self-supporting?” Waldron proposed. After the discussion, councilmen Richard Asbell, Dorothy Edwards, Col. 2, back page, this section