Wednesday’s Harrison County Parks Board meeting included, among other items, a discussion on new branding for the Indian Creek Trail. Superintendent Larry Shickles also gave the board a report out on the Christmas hayrides for 2021.
Shickles also gave some more information regarding the Parks Department’s hayride refund policy at the 34:42 mark on our audio recording:
At yesterday’s commissioners meeting, Harrison County resident and Harrison County Planning Commission board member Larry Ott publicly addressed a recent change of zoning on a property directly north of the Amazon distribution center currently under construction.
He asked them not to approve the zoning change so that a buffer of dense trees remains intact, but the commissioners went ahead and approved the change.
In a meeting on Monday, November 22, the county council considered a proposal from Sheriff Nick Smith & Auditor Chad Shireman to allow the Sheriff Dept & Emergency Services to payout employees for accrued vacation hours beyond what they could carry over into next year. It is hoped that this will allow a little more scheduling flexibility so that employees can in some way take the benefits awarded to them without forcing the Sheriff Department to pay another employee overtime for them to do so. This will likely save the department money. They will vote to adopt the final language at the next meeting on December 3rd.
Harrison County Parks superintendent Larry Schickles was on hand to request funding to proceed on the Morvin's Landing. He requested $68,700 to replace money previously transferred away from the project, which will be directed towards installing electricity & lighting. He also requested $77,654 from the Morvin's Landing lease fund to begin permitting and acquire hardware for a boat dock. His tentative estimate of total costs for the dock is in excess of $155,000 based on numbers he provided to the council. He will return to request additional funds after the new year. Votes for both will be on the agenda for the 12-13 meeting.
The council approved a $250,000 five year loan to the Harrison County Regional Sewer District so that they could install the new force main for the New Salisbury area. The HCRSD now has funding to complete all of their current expansion plans in that area. Councilman Nix has already identified areas where the RSD should expand access following their current round of expansion. He also broached the idea of the RSD giving over all of this not-yet built infrastructure to the not-yet incorporated town of New Salisbury so that New Salisbury could direct future expansion.
The council approved $25,000 for the commissioners to begin the incorporation process for New Salisbury. This will involve doing initial surveys of the area and polling residents for interest. Council members Schultz and Castetter sought assurance that the public would be involved in this process and councilman Hussung seemed to think it would be in the county's best interest to absorb the large upfront. In a conversation about the known level of interest in the New Salisbury community, Commissioner Charlie Crawford responded:
Last night the board also voted to send Shickles on to the county council to ask that recently approved funds from the county and the Town of Corydon be put into a special non-reverting fund specifically for the Christmas Village.
These funds totaling $15,000 were originally approved on the condition that they would revert if gone unused.
The regional sewer district (RSD) has asked for $250,000 to expand their pipes as part of the plan to expand service to the recent developments and future developments near New Salisbury. They would be able to repay this as a loan in a five year term.
Councilman Nix mentioned several times thoughout the meeting that he would like to see it as a grant, but with additional oversight stipulations attached. In his view, the Commissioners should have some additional sway on the board to encourage certain, unspecified expansion plans in the New Salisbury area.
However, the council & commissioners collectively appoint five out of the nine board members. The council has previously requested that the RSD request permission from their governing agencies to change the term of their appointments so that they can install new people. It seems that RSD is unwilling to make this change. Of note is Councilman Nix's suggestion that the council can have their appointments removed.
Sheriff Smith presented a request for new radios desperately needed for the county. The council would very much like for the Harrison County Community Foundation (HCCF) to help with some of the costs, but despite three years of planning and research no request has yet been submitted to HCCF.
It is unclear that HCCF, acting in their required timelines, will be able to participate in funding given the emergency timeline believed necessary by the Sheriff. At a price tag of $2,216,053.95, they hope to have the new radio system fully deployed in about six months.
On Wednesday, November 3rd, the Harrison County Health Board met and discussed multiple agenda items including pediatric COVID vaccinations, annual reports, and emergency procedures.
Superintendent Mark Eastridge provided the board with some COVID-19 updates and the board heard multiple concerns from the public at last night’s South Harrison School Board meeting.
Multiple individuals expressed concern for the lack of funding and upgrades for athletic facilities at SHCSC, particularly the locker rooms.
Last night the Harrison County Parks Board discussed moving the start of their Merry Country Christmas hayrides from the Wright Center to Bicentennial Park in downtown Corydon.
Listen here for details on the new walking bridge to Indiana Creek Trail via Chestnut Street, work at Morvin’s Landing, pickleball courts, and the upcoming Christmas events:
Last the Harrison County council voted on an additional request of $7500 out of riverboat funds from the Harrison County Parks Department. Councilman Kyle Nix made the motion to deny the funds out of riverboat and to approve it out of Harrison County Parks & Rec general fund. Ross Schulz seconded and it was approved by six councilmembers, one being absent.
This request of $7500 is half of the $15,000 needed to start an annual Christmas market in downtown Corydon. Last week the Town of Corydon approved the $7500 for this project.
Listen to hear to October 13th’s meeting of the Harrison County Sheriff's Merit Board meeting:
The Harrison County Parks Department has asked the county council for $7500 out of riverboat funds to pay for a potential Christmas market in downtown Corydon.
The proposed plan for the market is to be open three weekends, starting the Friday after Thanksgiving with up to 20 vendors. Parks superintendent Larry Shickles explained that
The Parks plans to request an additional $7500 from the Town of Corydon to fund the project.
Last night the Harrison County Parks Board heard plans for a German Christmas market from superintendent Larry Shickles. This event requires an initial investment of $15,000 split between the Parks Department and the Corydon Town Council. Goal for this year is 20 vendors with ultimate goal of 30 vendors.
Harrison Township is under agreement with the state board of accounts to spend $800,000 of their cash reserves. The township should only keep two years of its annual budget in reserve, but Harrison currently has more than four years worth.
The advisory board has held two meetings recently that discuss this surplus and how it can be spent.
If you live in Harrison Township, we highly recommend listening to our audio recordings of these meetings:
Last night the county council approved an additional request of $328,207 to cover a shortfall within the Harrison County Hospital’s EMS department.
Several other additional requests were approved in this meeting. The council also heard requests from the Harrison County Highway Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
The Corydon Town Council held a meeting Friday, September 10th. Amongst other things, the council discussed a new possible location for the proposed skatepark in downtown Corydon:
The North Harrison Community School Board met with three different meetings on the agenda for September 9, 2021. The 2022 budget hearing meeting began at 7:05pm with all school board members present.
Dr. Lance Richards presented how and why the administration calculates the proposed budgets in each of the tax levy funds. The budget will be made public via Gateway, which is an Indiana portal for government units. This can be found https://budgetnotices.in.gov/Unit_View.aspx?unit_id=929.
Once the presentation concluded, the board president ended the budget hearing and called to order the regular meeting of the board (minute 22:20), which included the adoption of the agenda, approvals for the August 2021 meeting minutes, claims, payrolls and the bank reconciliation. There were no school presentations this month, and there was one staff member who stood up to speak during the participation portion. Their comments related to teacher compensation, and they were asked to speak during the third and final meeting of the evening, which was the public hearing regarding collective bargaining.
The public hearing regarding collective bargaining was called to order and Dr. Richards went over the timeline of the bargaining regarding teacher compensation. Kelly Book, a science teacher at North Harrison High School, shared frustrations about the pay scale levels.
A handful of parents spoke up against and in support of South Harrison’s recent mask mandate at tonight’s school board meeting.
Tamzen Edwards, a parent representing the South Harrison chapter of Our Kids, Our Choice” stated that she “"cannot continue to allow my children's liberties to be trampled upon."
After hearing from several impassioned individuals, the board insisted they will not vote to ovverule superintendent Mark Eastridge’s guidance and that the mask mandate still stands. Board member Diana Sailor addressed the speakers, stating:
Before the Labor Day weekend, both South Harrison and North Harrison schools released updated covid guidance for Fall 2021.
Lanesville Community Schools last updated their covid guidance on July 29th, 2021 and that document can be found here.
Masks
● Masks are required to be worn by all students and staff in the buildings and on school buses. ○ This includes after care programs within our buildings.
○ Masks must cover both the nose and mouth.
● Mask-free time will be provided when students are safely 6 feet apart.
Track and Isolate Positive Cases:
● Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must stay home for 10 days following the onset of symptoms or a positive test result and must be 24 hours fever free without fever reducing medications and symptoms improved before returning from isolation.
Close Contacts and Quarantine Info:
● If masked, no quarantines for asymptomatic with self-monitoring.
○ Parents need to monitor students for symptoms and not send a symptomatic child to school. ○ We ask all staff to monitor students in the classroom as well.
● Students who do not follow the mask requirement or are repeatedly asked to put their mask back on, will be subject to being quarantined.
● Anywhere where a student can’t be masked, (lunch room, band, choir unless masked) close contacts would still result in quarantines.
● Vaccinated and asymptomatic students do not need to quarantine but must monitor for symptoms. ● When students and staff are masked, they will only be identified as a close contact if the individual is within 3 feet of a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more within a 24-hour period. Close contacts will be notified regardless of quarantine status.
● If not masked, the 6 ft quarantine rule applies.
Temporary Virtual Instruction for Students During Quarantine
Students who are quarantined due to COVID-19 will continue to receive instruction.
● K-6 students will receive daily math and ELA instruction through Google Meet.
● 7-12 students will log into Google Meet for each class period.
● Temporary Virtual Instruction is only available for students who are quarantined.
● Temporary Virtual Instruction will begin 24 hours after the quarantine begins.
Symptomatic Students or Staff
● May return with an alternate diagnosis from a medical professional, or
● May return with a negative test result (Rapid or PCR), or
● Quarantine for 10 days (see instructions for temporary virtual instruction).
○ AND must be symptom free (sudden onset of a cough, sudden shortness of breath, sudden onset of loss of taste and smell (not lingering)).
● Students who call in with COVID symptoms will be marked temporary virtual.
Cleaning
● Schools will continue with cleaning, sanitizing, and hygiene protocols.
Assigned Seating and Cohorting
● Students will have assigned seating in the classrooms and cafeteria.
Additional Considerations
● The superintendent of each district has the authority to adjust all guidelines in consultation with the Harrison County Health Department or the Indiana Department of Health.
● Currently, the best way to ensure a normal school environment for our students is for every eligible person to be vaccinated. A high vaccination rate offers the best protection against variants and the best opportunity for ending this pandemic.
Parents, Guardians, Students, and Staff:
Just a few quick notes to share with you as we head into the long weekend.
We have added a new link under the quick links on our home page for those who may be interested in subbing in any capacity. Just click on the "I Want to Sub" link, and you will find all of the information on how to serve as a substitute in our classrooms and cafeterias, as well as how to get your bus license.
We are going to make some changes to our dashboard next week to provide more information to everyone. We will be including quarantine information so that everyone can see the numbers impacted. It is very important to note that this will be all students out on quarantine due to contact tracing. This will not just be school related quarantines. This will include those that had family and other community based exposures. There are times when the outside contact tracing has impacted our overall quarantine numbers dramatically. If you have been following our dashboard you will see the numbers regarding our active Covid cases. The numbers for the high school have improved significantly. Once the individual can return to school we remove them from the count. We make every effort to update that information daily to reflect those that are returning and any new cases that have been reported to us.
We have shared in our updates that our main goal has been to return to full in-person instruction. We want to keep our schools open and our students in the classroom with their teachers. The message we have received is that our school community wants this as well. If you have positive cases in your family please reach out to our school nurses for guidance. If your kids are sick they have to stay home. We see cases that have involved sick kids coming to school that have led to others having to quarantine. These kind of exposures can reverse our progress in an instant.
We continue to strongly recommend masks for everyone in accordance with IDOH guidelines. If your child continues to consistently wear a mask at school, then it is unlikely that they will be contact traced. The governor also has issued additional guidance that removes the three foot rule if the students are masked. This will help keep more kids in school. In those instances, we will contact you if there is a potential exposure and work with you to monitor the situation. We will do our very best to manage the distancing and exposure minutes that the IDOH guidance outlines to accommodate everyone. Please note that our data continues to indicate that few if any of our mask wearers have come up positive.
We know that this has not been perfect. We appreciate your continued patience and understanding. Any future changes will be determined by the data that we see in our buildings. This is our new normal for the time being.
As a reminder, federal regulations for public transportation require face coverings on school buses for all students and staff. This federal mandate has been extended until January of 2022. This does greatly diminish the contact tracing on buses.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lance Richards
Superintendent — North Harrison Community Schools
