The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 4, Milford, Kosciusko County, 23 January 1985 — Page 1

Phones: J ■* Tfi <f* ff J ■> r-r* Ji f 457-3666 / f / 30 c Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL fEst. 18881 and THE SYR ACUSE-WAWASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907)

VOLUME 22

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THIRD TIME A CHARM? — Members of the Syracuse Town Board and James Architects & Engineers, Inc., Fort Wayne, are shown seated around the table tabulating the third set of bids received on the new town hall. The bids were opened Thursday, Jan. 17, and the lowest total combined bid was $488,006.

Lowest combined bid: $488,006 — Mood is 'go' on new Syracuse Towii Hall

By DEB PATTERSON and JO STURGIS Staff Writers It’s not known yet if the saying, “the third time’s a charm” will be true for the Syracuse Town Board concerning the bids on the new town hall, but the mood seemed to swing toward accepting the lowest bids received during this last bidding session at last night’s special town board meeting. The bids were received last Thursday, Jan

Explain African plight to Milford Kiwanians

The Oakwood Park program director, Anita Fenstermacher, was theguest speaker at the Friday, /jan.lß meeting—of the Milford Kiwanisr K She spoke about the situation in Africa. She and her husband and family spent several years in Africa as missionaries. They worked in what used to be called the Belgium Congo. They were present in Africa in 1960 when a civil war broke out and approximately 50 missionaries /ere killed. v Mrs. Fenstermacher said Africa is a country made up of a lot of poor people with the death rate of young children very high. She also said over 90 different languages are spoken in Africa. The missionaries’ goal in Africa is to give hope, a new way

I-WHB ■ JMMkW' ' B S IBL , ■ ' jl ■k .fl GUEST SPEAKER — Anita Fenstermacher was the guest speaker for the Friday, Jan. 18 Milford Kiwanis meeting. Mrs. Fenstermacher is pictured above with Dan Brown, Kiwanis vir O n rAcid»nt and Charles Snillman. oresident.

VI, and were approximately $44,297.23 higher than those opened May 30,1984. The opening of bids last Thursday saw the iowest combined bid total $488,006. The other two ‘previous bid openings, which were rejected, saw such figures as $589,775 in January 1983 and $443,708.77 on May 30, 1984. The latest set of bids were accepted and taken under advisement by the board who heard an analysis on the matter from James Architects & Engineers, Inc., Fort Wayne, and from Perry Glancey of Midwest Educational Services,

of life and a reason to be living. At a recent meeting, Karen Gunter. Public Relations Administrator for United Telephone of Indiana spoke to the Kiwanis, concerning the many changes which the telephone industry is facing today. Although United Telephone is a local service company, it still must deal with the risidual effects of the many changes ordered by the Federal Communications Commission on AT&T and the Bell operating companies. Grunter also brought the group up-to-date on current changes resulting from deregulation and competition. She explained long distance services, access charges, local measured service and touched on bypass and the effects of future rates.

Shown around the table are board members Steve Butt and James Hughes; Wesley Welsh of James Architects & Engineers, Inc.; Carl Myrick, town board president; Robert Reed, town attorney; Jerry Firestone. James Architects & Engineers. Inc.; and Bill Hess, board member.

Inc., in a special meeting held last evening called for this purpose. Costs on this project have bounced around since April 1984 when Monroe Zimmerman of James Architects, commented his estimate of $515,000 on the project was too high and it should have been $495,000 with the actual building cost guessed at $320,000. The estimated building cost was increased in May, by the firm, to $417,000. Last,Night’s Meeting Jerry Firestone, a representative of James Architects, advised the board of the best bids. He recommended the three lowest bids be awarded the contract. “From a performance standpoint, there is no reason not to recommend any of these bids. We have worked with all the companies before and they are reliable,” said Firestone. Firestone recommended contracts be awarded to Construction, Inc., Fort Wayne, for the general construction bid. They submitted a low base bid of 323,300, less $3,000 for skylight and less $7,400 on parking lot paving. He also recommended J O. Mory, Inc., Angola, be awarded the mecahanical contract with a bid of $108,854 and FAL Electric Co., Inc., Fort Wayne, be awarded the electrical contract with a bid of $55,852. The'Se three were the lowest bids submitted. The construction bid rose approximately 9.6 percent over the bid received in May of $292,217. The mechanical bid rose 8.3 percent over the $90,632 bid received in May and the electrical bid decreased 9.5 percent. The lowest bid in May was $58,300. This represents approximately a nine percent increase overall. Firestone said the bids may have come in higher this time because of an esculation in costs

Milford group focuses on industrial park

A group of Milford citizens interested in forming and developing an industrial park as part of the town’s future growth pattern metlast Wednesday night at the town hall in what was described as an organizational meeting. Meeting were Paul Reith, who will serve as president; attorney Bill Leeman, secretarytreasurer; and Jean Treesh, Bill Knowles, Dennis Wuthrich and Arch Baumgartner. Attorney Leeman was instructed to draw up papers to file with the Secretary of State of Indiana for the purpose of forming a for-profit corporation, under the name Milford Economic Development Corporation. Such an organization is essential, Mr. Knowles told the group, in order to seek grants that could

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23,1985

and that the bidders may have marked the bids up to protect themselves or b'ecause of overhead costs. The cost of the building is right at s6o 3 square foot with the low bids. Joe Morganthaler questioned how Construction, Inc., could submit a bid $60,000 less than the next highest bid. Firestone said that this was only an eight percent spread and really nothing to be concerned about. Perry Glancey approached the board with some estimated tax rates based on a maximum lease rental, using 15 years and a rate of 11 percent. Glancey figured the lease payment semi-annually would be $45,228 or $90,456 yearly. The tax rate to raise this amount would be $.46 a hundred. But, since she county has agreed to pick up. 18 percent of the payment or $16,282, the town board’s share would then be $74,174; thus lowering the tax rate to $.38*2. Also, since the budget has $4,800 allotted for rent, this amount could be applied to the lease payment, reducing the amount heeded even further to $69,374 and lowering the tax rate to approximately $.36. Glancey then presented an option to lower the tax rate further. He suggested lowering the Cumulative Building Fund by $.lO, which would mean an increase of $.26 on the tax rate or even lowering the fund further to lower the tax rate even further. It would also lower the tax rate by approximately $.02-$.03 if the bond would sell at 10 percent. Glancey said at the present time, participation bonds are selling between 10-10*2 percent. After both reports, Carl Myrick, board president, said he did not want to make a decision until all board members were present or at least had a chance (Continued on page 2)

speed the establishment of an industrial park on its way. The Milford Town Board has worked closely in the past with Indiana Department of Commerce field representative Frank Ryan in getting grants, and the new development group hopes to continue this close working relationship. The entire group hopes to attend and market its plans at the Indiana Department of Commerce-sponsored Hoosier Hospitality Days, scheduled to be held in June or July. Date and location have not been determined as yet, the department’s spokesperson said late last week. Meetings of the development group will be held at the Milford Town Hall the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m.

;,t ■ 1 fSonors x > g i -Beating problems at the 'v**Mnouth resulted Hi the temF: porary transfer of 14 prisoners from that jail to the Koscuisko Jail on Monday, to Koscuisko s<onnty Sher riff Al qLWfrfonqHnw- the heating nlant 1 in flooding Sherriff’s officers from both S? kT’the Wusko County jail on MonjjH Warsaw while the heating problem was corrected and were returned to Marshall

Sprague, Inc. plans to move to Nappanee ' Sprague Devices,. Inc., a Michigan City/Indiana. manufacturer of large industrial windshield wipers, plans to move its Milford facility to its new Nappanee plant some time before April 15. This announcement came late last week from James F. Barrett, chief operating officer for Sprague Devices. The Milford plant, located on North Main Street, began its limited production capacity of ’JffUdshxeld wiper parts on January 6,1982, according to production manager Robert Vardaman. The company planned to manufacture a new air-operated motor at its Nappanee plant, located in Nappanee’s industrial park. Mr. Barrett said the new motor has not been widely accepted among Sprague’s major customers, and that it was necessary to move the Milford facility to Nappanee to better utilize space in that new building. Mr. Vardaman, production manager with Sprague for 24 years, plans to resign when the move to Nappanee is made, and to seek other employment in the area. NIPSCO , Petitions Court J HAMMOND, Ind. - Northern Indiana Public Service Company January 16 petitioned the Court of Appeals of Indiana to rehear its December 27, 1984, decision which reversed the Public Service Commission of indiana electric rate order of September 28, 1982, allowing recovery of the utility’s cost of its cancelled Badly Nuclear-One unit. Edmund A. Schroer, NIPSCO chairman and chief executive officer, sSid, “We believe the great weight of authority in the United States conslusively supports the company’s case. The adverse December 27,1984, 2 to 1 decision of the Court of Appeals of Indiana was clearly erroneous, and if allowed to stand would adversely affect the financial health of the company and detrimentally impact customers and shareholders alike. We believe the rate recovery allowed by the Public Service Commission of Indiana should ultimately be upheld.” John Kroh injured in one-car accident John F. Kroh, 51, 424 Front St., Syracuse, was injured in a onecar accident south of Elkhart at 1:48 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 18. Kroh was eastbound on CR 20 west of CR 11 when he fell asleep at the wheel and his 1984 Chevrolet van veered off the road and into a utility pole. Kroh suffered a broken hip and was admitted t\ Elkhart General Hospital, room 4021. Kroh is’a well-known area businessman and the owner of Thornburg Drugs in Syracuse and North Webster.

Await thicker ice —

Winter Carnival: Feb. 2-3

The decision was made by the racing committee at a special meeting on Sunday, Jan. 20, to move the Syracuse-Wawasee Winter Carnival from Jan. 26-27 to Feb. 2-3. The entire Carnival committee was in agreement after learning that Syracuse Lake had only 5-6 inches of ice at this time and tha/ for safety reasons, 12 inches is required. The combined weight of machines and spectators demands a greater ice thickness than for the small group of pleasure-riders who have been taking advantage of the ice and snow to tour the lake on theirsnowmobiles already. At this time, most of the clubs and organizations involved as sponsors of Carnival activities have been contacted and are in agreement to reschedule their areas of responsibility to Feb. 2-3. A few activities are still scheduled for this weekend. The Winter Carnival Dance will be held at the American Legion Hall on SR 13 on Saturday beginning at 9 p.m.

Dr. W.G. Percy leaving Milford

By JO STURGIS Staff Writer “The practice just didn’t work out the way I had anticipated,” said Dr. William Percy in his doctor’s office located on the west. side of Main Street near the corner of Emeline Street in Milford yesterday. Dr. Percy is leaving his practice this Friday and heading back to Canada to his original practice in Oshawa, Ontario, near Toronto. He practiced in Oshawa for five years in a 34-man multispecialty group before coming to Milford. Dr. Percy came to Milford after he contacted an executive search group that had also been contacted by Kosciusko Hospital. He researched many places and decided on Milford and began his practice in August of 1983. Dr. Percy stated his great respect for the other two physicians in Milford — Dr. Douglas Strycker and Dr. John Dick, members of the Milford Family Physicians, located on south Main Street. “I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Dick and Dr.

From opera house to doctor's office

The saga continues on the west side of Main street at the corner of Emeline Street and Main Street as Dr. Bill Percy prepares to leave his practice and go back to Canada. The site originally housed an opera house, which 1 is believed to have been built by Henry Huffman, in the late 189bs or the early 1900 s. The opera house held band concerts on Saturday nights, Square Dances and home talent shows in its early days. Then on May 8, 1920, a fire broke out at the Milford United Methodist Church and the congregation used the opera house as their meeting place for one year. Later in the 19205, it became a garment factory and prior to WWII and shortly thereafter, Mel and Bessie Lyons operated the Milford Awning Co., in the building. During the early 19405, Gerald and Louise Coy and family lived in the upstairs. Lyons finally sold

Court decision

A recent Supreme Court ruling giving school officials the right to search students without a courtordered warrant will not change the current search policy at Wawasee High School, according to Principal Dr. Howard J. Hull. The court ruled 6-3 that, while students are granted some protection under the Fourth Ammendment, school officials do not need a warrant or suspicion of probable cause before searching them or their property. “The ruling is not going to change a thing that we do at the

Funds needed for fireworks Donations are still needed ,for the fireworks display slated to be held at the Winter Carnival. Anyone wanting to make a donation should do so by giving it to the State Bank of Syracuse and stating it is for , the Winter Carnival Fireworks Fund. , The fireworks will be held on Saturday night, Feb. 2.

The softball tourney will be held on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 8 a.m. at Vega Field. ‘ And, the Kiddy Pedal Pull will be held at Wawasee High School ag building on Saturday. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Also, the Wawasee High School Swim Club’s Polar Bear race has been cancelled due to the change in date. One event added to the Winter

< ! jaKL; ; M *' V DR. WILLIAM G. PERCY Strycker. They will be very effective at providing medical care in the community,” said Dr. Percy. Filing a petition with the Kosciusko County Board of Zon-

the building in 1950 to Dale Wagoner for $6,500. Wagoner built four apartments on the second floor before the building was taken over by Joe Hamsher one month later. Hamsher rented the bottom portion to the Milford Chapel. In 1960, orthopedic equipment was made in the building and in 1967, Milford Rubber found its home in E building. Then in 1978, a ichine shop business was ated in the building. Finally in October of 1982, Hamsher sold the old opera house to Kosciusko Hospital for $25,000. Another two-story building right on the corner of Main Street and Emeline Street and connected to the opera house housed a grocery store, owned by Carson and Clara Wise; Grove’s Drug Store, owned by Frank Groves; a general appliance sales and service store, owned by Ray and Erna Bray and an electrical business from 1944 to 1972. The building was then leased to Herman P. Frauhiger, Warsaw, who

! high school,” said Hull. “We have » a set policy, although it is not a written policy, and we will con- • tinue to follow'that.” t Hull noted that the school’s ’ policy is to ask the student’s permission to search and have the > student present when a search is - conducted. If students refuse to cooperate, he added, the police ; are called in. “We have always haj coopera- ' tion from the students,” Hull said. “It should be said that sear- * ches are a relatively uncommon occurrence here.”

NUMBER 4

" Carnival is a sledding contest on «Whitehead Hill. The Lakeland Daycare Center is sponsoring the sledding contest which will begin at 12 noon, on Saturday, Feb. 2. There will) be contests for children and adults in various age groups and double sledding competition: Persons wishing to participate are asked to take their favorite sled. No sleds will be provided. Prizes will be awarded in each contest. Any questions about the Winter Carnival may be directed to the Chamber of Commnerce office, ■ 457-5637, J Lakeland Daycare Center is < sponsoring the sledding contest • on Whitehead Hill. The event will 1 begin at 12 noon, on Saturday, 1 Feb. 2. There will be contests for children and adults in various age groups and double sledding 1 competition. Anyone wishing to s participate are asked to bring . e their favorite sled. No sleds will be provided. Prizes will be r awarded in each contest.

ing Appeals to permit the construction of an addition to his present medical building, Dr. Percy is adding the addition to his present facility in hopes that a physician or physicians either in the community or outside the community will move into the building very soon. The addition may be used for more examining rooms or a laboratory, said Dr. Percy. The only other comment Dr. Percy made was about Kosciusko Community Hospital. “Although I have heard of the misgivings of the reputation of Kosciusko Community Hospital, it has been my experience that it’s a well run, efficient hospital with excellent facilities and consulting staff,” he said. “I also apologize to my patients for any inconveniences that my move may cause them,” Dr. Percy added. The doctor will be missed as evident in one patient’s comment as she walked out of the examining area and said, “ I can’t believe he’s (Dr. Percy) leaving. I really liked him and wanted him to stay in the community.”

operated the Milford Laundromat in the building until he sold it to Hamsher, who sold it to Kosciusko Hospital, also. Kosciusko Hospital constructed the present day medical building on the site, beginning Feb. 7,1983, and sold it to Dr, Bill Percy when he moved his practice to Milford. School Board named in law suit A representative of the Indiana AFL-CIO has filed a suit against the Lakeland Community School Corporation over the wage scale to be used in the upcoming renovations at North Webster. Syracuse and Wawasee school sites. The suit, which was filed in Koscuisko County Superior Court, challeneges the school board’s decision to adopt its own (Continued on page 2)

Hull went on* to add that he thinks it is necessary for school administrators to have the means to create a secure environment in their schools. This decsion, he noted, is a step in that direction. Opponents of the Supreme Court decision voiced the concern that it might open the door for excessive or unwarranted searches by school officials. “The key to making such a ruling work is to be reasonable about using searches,’’ said Hull. “I think this is a good ruling if everyone uses it reasonably.”