Banner Graphic, Volume 20, Number 163, Greencastle, Putnam County, 16 March 1990 — Page 1

> BannerGri Greencastle, Putnam County, Friday, March 16,1990, Vol. 20 No. 163 35 Cents

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The DePauw University starting five have their sights set on the NCAA Division Hi national basketball championship this weekend. Led by Midwest/West Sectional MVP Brett Crist (top), the Tigers have climbed the NCAA tournament ladder behind a lineup that includes fellow underclassmen (clockwise from Crist) Brad Brownell, Greencastle High School product

Tigers enliven Jerry’s lair

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Jerry’s isn’t so much an auto repair shop as it is a refuge. A home away from home. A place where lawyer, professor, auto mechanic and retiree are equal. And everybody knows your name. The overhead door is always open literally. Young and old, Yuppie and puppie alike stick their heads in for a whiff of wisdom or a sniff of sanity. Regulars wander inside for a cup of coffee, a glance at the newspaper. Or perhaps a chance to warm their cockles in front of that icon of general stores past, the pot-bellied stove. AND IF IT WEREN’T for the 1990 calendar on the wall and copies of the day’s newspapers on the nearby cribbage table, you might wonder if you’ve stepped back to the future upon entering Jerry Hecko’s Foreign Auto Service at 9 E. Franklin St. Heck, you keep looking over your shoulder just to make sure Gene Hackman doesn’t pull up in his 1953 “Hoosiers” Chevy.

Luck of the Irish it’s not

Becoming cloudy overnight and Saturday. Cooler with a chance of rain through Saturday morning. Overnight low around 40. High Saturday around 50. Chance of rain 50 percent Southwesterly winds at 5-10 mph during the period. Indiana Extended Forecast Cloudy and cooler Sunday and Monday, then becoming

Brett “Moose” Hecko, Dave Farrell and South Putnam product Troy Greenlee. The Tigers, 236, meet Calvin College, 28-1, in an 8:30 p.m. game Friday (radio coverage on WGRE, 91.5 FM). Win or lose, the Tigers play again Saturday with either the national title or third place at stake. (Banner-Graphic photo by Steve Fields).

Daze Work

“I tell people this place is a zoo,” says Hecko, better known as “Papa Moose” these days with son Brett “Moose” Hecko helping lead the DePauw University basketball team into this weekend’s Final Four of the NCAA Division IE tourney. “But I like the place the way it is. Laid back ... a Continued on Page A 7

mostly clear on Tuesday. A chance of rain showers in the north on Sunday and rain or snow showers in the north on Monday. Highs Sunday in the 40s; lows from the lower to middle 30s. Highs Monday from the middle 30s in the north to the lower 40s in the south; lows from the middle 20s to lower 30s. Mostly clear Tuesday. Highs Tuesday in the 40s; lows from the middle to upper 20s.

Index Abby A 4 Calendar A 5 Church AS Classifieds A9,A10,A11 Comics A 6 Crossword AH Heloise A 4 Horoscope Ail Obituaries Al 2 People A 6 Sports AB,A9 TV B section Theaters Al 2

SISO million metals-coating venture Steel firms pick Ohio site over Greencastle

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Greencastie’s loss is Putnam County’s gain today. Unfortunately, the Putnam County we’re talking about is in northwest Ohio. It is there, in Leipsic a town of 2,171 people that U.S. Steel of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Kobe Steel of Japan will forge a joint venture for a high-tech metals coating facility. WHILE THERE IS joy in Leipsic over a $l5O million capital investment that will employ 90 Ohioans, it is anything but a defeatist attitude that is prevailing in Greencastle. At a joint Thursday afternoon meeting of the City Council and Citizens Advisory Commission for Industrial Development, Greencastle Development Center officials were the bearers of the bad news. The metals-coating plant that had

5-2 County Council vote in favor of CEDIT locally

By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor The Putnam County Council authorized legal advertisement of a .25 percent County Economic Development Tax, but not without discussion questioning whether it should be imposed now or not Discussion regarding CEDIT came during a 35-minute public County Council meeting Thursday night, which included county Commissioners Don Walton and Gene Beck, and Mayor Mike Harmless as members of the audience. ALTHOUGH THE Council authorized legal advertisement of the tax, that does not mean it has been approved. County attorney Bob Lowe said first a hearing must be held to give the public ample opportunity to respond. The public hearing is scheduled 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 30 in the commissioners’ court located on the first floor of the courthouse. That same afternoon, if the Council so desires, the tax can be approved. If it is approved, it will take effect July 1. CEDIT is an income tax like the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax, known as “CAGIT,” that Putnam County already has in place. It is a tax imposed upon wage-earners and is not a property tax. MONEY GENERATED from CEDIT can be used for economic development purposes, among other things. That is what has made it so attractive to some councilmen, who say CEDIT-generated funds can be used to make improvements in incorporated Putnam County towns like Fillmore, Russellville,

Added Northeast pod would help provide better flexibility

By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor The Greencastle School Board and its Elementary Advisory Council learned Wednesday night -that four classrooms recently added to the drawings of the Northeast building project are there to provide flexibility. The construction project will see $5.5 million of renovation and addition at Northeast It is scheduled to be done in time for the start of school in August 1991. THE NEWEST POD was first revealed at the advisory council’s March 8 meeting. When it was announced, it virtually halted the council’s progress as members struggled to figure out what to put in the four rooms while wondering what other changes could be in the offing. However, prior to Wednesday night’s school board meeting, Joel

been rumored for an 1,100-acre site just northeast of the city is a dead issue. Speaking freely after months of silence out of respect for the industrial client’s confidentiality, GDC Director Dick Andis confirmed that Greencastle was one of two sites that remained in the final competition that ended Thursday. “WE HAVE NOTHING to feel badly about,” Andis told the two assembled groups. “It boiled down to a business decision of ‘Where can you maximize profits both in the long term and short term?”’ The steel partners apparently figured that would be in Leipsic after starting with a list of 50 or more sites, including )5-20 in Indiana, CACFID member Bob Hutchings of Public Service Indiana said. Sites in Illinois and Kentucky were also in the hunt for the 350,000-square-foot facility. Leipsic, Hutchings said, “it a

Cloverdale, Bainbridge and Roachdale. That is what Putnam County Councilman Bob Evans likes most about CEDIT, the ability to generate much-needed revenue for Putnam County and towns. “No one likes taxes,” Evans told those gathered at the courthouse, “but this is a way to keep our money locally and determine how it’s used locally. We’ve always said we wanted ‘home rule’ and this is our chance to keep it local.” SOME OF THE money that will go to Putnam County can be used to build toward construction of a new jail, a much-needed venture since the present facility is overcrowded. “When do you plan on doing the jail?” County Councilman Max Nichols asked Commissioner Walton, who was seated in the audience. Although the state jail inspector told the commissioners earlier the jail is in dire need of repair and/or replacement, Walton said the state would not shut it down. However, the state inspector stressed Putnam County is leaving itself wide open for inmates to file suit over the conditions. “I THINK WE MAY be looking at something in maybe two or three years,” Walton told Nichols. “It could be five years. I don’t know. That’s really up to the local officials, the Council and the commissioners to work on.” “When we build a jail is totally up to us,” Council President Gene Clodfelter interjected. ‘The state (inspector) is just forcing us to face the issue.” Clodfelter added CEDIT money

Blum, an architect with the InterDesign Group, said the newest pod has been drawn in simply to offer the greatest amount of flexibility to the project as possible. “Basically, this renovation was made to give you as much flexibility as we can,” Blum told the board. PRIOR TO HIS presentation, Blum said it would be up to the council and the school board to decide if the newest pod gets built. Simply put, if the council and the board find there is no reason for the additional classrooms, then the newest pod won’t be built. However, if the board votes in favor of the construction the pod can be placed at the back of the school, between two other pods that will be built The newest of the new pods will be somewhat recessed to create a courtyard that will house a

little closer to their operations (steel mills in Gary, Pittsburgh and Birmingham, Ala.) with a little better transportation. God put us in Greencastle, Ind., not Leipsic, Ohio, so what are you going to do? ‘THERE ARE ONLY so many big projects that come along,” Hutchings, the CACFID president continued, “and the beautiful thing about this one was that it was a mega-project that would have had a significant impact on our tax base without stressing our present local employers.” The Greencastle site acres south of Crowe’s Bridge and north of the railroad bridge at Crowe’s Bridge Road/Round Bam Road in Greencastle Township was considered an attractive piece of property because of the convergence of two railroads, Conrail and CSX. It is one of only a handful of such locations in the Midwest. Col. 5, Back Page, this section

could be applied to costs associated with building a new jail and that would save the county having to float a bond issue. “If we float a bond for the jail, that’s paid back by property taxes. But if we use CEDIT money, that’s not property tax money.” STILL, NICHOLS questioned if now is the right time to impose any tax, be it an income tax or not. “We just passed CAGIT last year,” he reasoned, “and we just passed the hotel/motel innkeepers tax. (The innkeepers’ tax, which took effect March 1, is paid by persons staying at hotel/motels and is not an income or property tax). “We also have our new assessment coming out soon,” Nichols continued. “I’m just wondering how much more we can put on people. I have a doubt whether we should do this. Why can’t we do it later on down the road?” But Clodfelter said CEDIT money can accumulate, giving the county a bulk of money in a few years to do a major project like the jail. “If we raise the money ahead of time, it saves interest in the long run.” AS A POINT OF reference, Evans pointed out a person making $20,000 a year, would only pay SSO per year if CEDIT were imposed at a rate of .25 percent. ‘There’s probably not a family around making $20,000 that hasn’t frivolously tossed away SSO in a year,” Evans reasoned. “A family spends that much going to dinner in Indianapolis today. I don’t feel like it (the proposed .25 percent CEDIT rate) is excessive.” “I like the tax,” Nichols told his Continued on Page A 7

greenhouse, Blum explained to the board. The new pod gives school planners at least 3,500 square feet more to deal with at the elementary school. Blum said the newest pod’s cost has not been figured. However, early-on in the building program, he said he based his cost estimates on $75 per square foot for new construction. At that rate, the fourclassroom pod would cost $262,500 to build. ‘THE COST HAS NOT been set, but this is not a major issue,” Blum told the board, adding it could be built while keeping the entire project “in the $5.5 million range.” If added on to the project, Blum said the new Northeast would be 81,500 square feet in size, well above a 76,000-square-foot limit earlier placed on the construction. Col. 3, Back Page, this section