On Saturday, April 22nd, former Superintendent of Public Education Dr. Jennifer McCormick spoke about her exploratory committee for the 2024 governor’s race. She outlined her priorities and the focused primarily on the state of public education in Indiana. Listen here:
Last night's Lanesville Town Council meeting is now live on the site. Topics include a new sewer ordinance, recognition ideas for Lady Eagles state championship, and criminal activity in various properties throughout town:
Tuesday’s meeting of the Corydon Town Council featured updates from town manager Bruce Cunningham and executive director of Main Street Corydon, Janelle Amy.
Listen here:
The Harrison County Parks Board has decided to ask the county for an additional funds for playground improvements. After receiving a one million dollar grant from the Harrison County Community Foundation (HCCF) and $1.5 million from the county, the new playgrounds for Buffalo Trace and Gresham Park are fully funded, but the inclusive playground at Hayswood Park is still in need of $400,000. For more context on this, we recommend reading our report of the Harrison County Council meeting earlier in the week.
Parks superintendent Larry Shickles gave three options to the Parks Board:
“Do you want to continue with the inclusive playground, that’s option A, don’t do it at all. Option B is you go attempt to get the $400,000 from the county commissioners and council, everything stays on track. Or option 3 is, we sit back down with the engineers and we redesign it and see what comes out of this…we have to understand is…we probably lose part of that manufacturing deposit, we’re going to hit price increases.”
Board member Greg Reas asked Shickles if they had received a written commitment from the HCCF for the $1.4 million that was originally asked for. Shickles said no, they received written commitment for one million after their application was reviewed by the HCCF board.
Parks Board vice-president Scott Fluhr then said that
“this is not the first time that the Foundation has took somebody down the aisle up to the altar and then pulled the rug out from under them.”
Parks board presidentTeresa Sutton asked the public for comments and one audience member asked “is it going to cost the county more to not do the project than it would be to ask for the $400,000 and continue on?”
Shickles answered that the Parks Department has “had to pay just under $500,000 on the deposit to start the project…some of that we’ll get back, some of it we won’t.”
Board member Carolyn Lowe made the motion to request the $400,000 from the county, which resulted in a stand-off between Reas and Fluhr to second. Earlier in the week, Fluhr insisted he was not interested in asking the county for the money, but ended up seconding the motion, approving the request to the council.
To better understand this issue, we recommend listening to the meeting, skipping to 12:00 in our recording:
On Monday’s county council meeting, councilmember Brad Wiseman asked Larry Shickles for an update on the upcoming improvements to the county’s playgrounds, especially the all inclusive facility planned for Hayswood Park. Shickles stated that the project is in limbo due to a shortfall of $400,000 after not receiving the full grant amount from the Harrison County Community Foundation (HCCF). HCCF has committed to one million for the project, which must first be used to fund the smaller facilities at Buffalo Trace and Gresham Park, with the remaining amount for Hayswood.
Scott Fluhr, vice-president of the Parks Board, said that he
“would not be comfortable coming to you all for an additional out of riverboat for the rest of this.”
Multiple councilmembers pressed Julie Moorman, executive director at HCCF, as to why the project was not funded at the full amount. Moorman stated that she was not at liberty to disclose details of the decision by the HCCF board. She also reminded the council that the amount the HCCF board agreed to was still one of the largest grant amounts that has been given out in recent history. Multiple council members expressed support for the project.
The Harrison County Parks Board meets tonight at 7:00pm and they will decide whether or not to seek the additional $400,000 from the county. In July of 2022, the council approved roughly $1.5 million for the project, to be taken out of riverboat funds.
graylin porter - reporter
Last night the Harrison County Commissioners reviewed a request for a zoning change for multiple properties in Lanesville. Many Lanesville residents attended this meeting with some sitting on the floor in the conference room and filling the hallway outside.
The majority of the meeting was dedicated to a request for a 50 acre plot at Corydon Ridge Rd, Country Lane, and Crandall Lanesville Rd. The request was to change this plot from AR to R3 with the intention of building an apartment complex with 240 units by Lanesville Property LLC.
The commissioners opened up the meeting to the public to voice their opinion on these changes, limiting residents to three minutes. Before the first citizen spoke, commissioner Jim Heitkemper stated that “it probably will get approved, but if anyone wants to speak on that, they could.” However, after an hour of comments, Jim Heitkemper made a motion to deny the request, leaving it as AR, stating that he values “conserving the historical and cultural design of the natural heritage around Franklin Township and Harrison County…I know what Harrison County should look like and this is what we’re after.”
Nearly every resident that spoke at the podium received an applause from the audience. Lifelong Lanesville resident Devin Lopp’s statement summarized many: “you guys were elected as public servants to serve the citizens of this county, you have a room full of citizens that do not want R3 housing in their district, please listen to that.”
Multiple speakers expressed fear of increased crime and decreased property values if an apartment complex is built in Lanesville. Barry Purcell, resident on Corydon Ridge road, commented that “a nice development? Sure. Put a nice development in there, make it nice. I’d love to have Norton Commons nice here in Lanesville, but I doubt if that’s going to happen, but all those apartments like Kepley Estates in New Salisbury? It’s ridiculous, it’s absolutely ridiculous and we don’t need it in Lanesville…we don’t need it in Harrison County.”
Another major issue for several residents was the overcrowding of Lanesville schools.
All three commissioners voted to deny the request.
Click here and skip to 00:28:23 for more details
graylin porter - reporter
At Wednesday's special Harrison County Parks Board meeting, superintendent Larry Shickles gave an update on the playground improvements for Hayswood, Buffalo Trace, and Gresham Park. Shickles went through the purchase agreement plus other documents for the inclusive facility planned for Hayswood. The total cost for this project is $2,568,165.14.
Shickles noted that the contract states a completion date of July 31, 2023, but they are hoping for June 2023. He also said there would be no parking expansion at Hayswood. When asked by board vice-president Scott Fluhr how this project complied with state bidding requirements, Shickles stated that
"The board appointed a commission to review this...we had nine that responded to the first round...they presented to this board, the board reviewed those, and they narrowed those down to three."
Shickles said the the contract was awarded in a co-op bidding process. He did not state when this process took place or who was on the board that made the final decision to go with Commercial Recreation Group.
Skip to 00:35:15 in our meeting recording to listen to this update:
Graylin Porter - Reporter
click here to read the report
According to a recently released audit report filing from the State Board of Accounts (SBOA), in 2021 Harrison County “did not have a proper system of internal control in place to prevent, or detect and correct, errors during the financial close and reporting process.”
According to the SBOA, Harrison County did not transcribe formal minutes of commissioner or council meetings or maintain sufficient capital asset records, and failed to upload required monthly financial documents on time.
SBOA also details a lack of oversight and document keeping by the Harrison County Parks Department including lack of internal controls for fuel purchases, delinquent reporting of collections, and mismanagement of credit cards. SBOA has requested that Parks superintendent Larry Shickles reimburse the County $9216.73 for unsupported charges, interest, and penalties as of the statement ending date of April 28, 2022.
For more details, we highly recommend reading the reports:
Graylin Porter - reporter
Nathan Broom, member of Indian Creek Trail, Inc., presented at the Harrison County Parks board meeting Wednesday night requesting that the trail in Hayswood Park stay open during daylight hours this Christmas season instead of closing for Merry Country Christmas hayrides. In the past several years, the Parks Department has closed sections of the trail for more than 2 months to accommodate the weekend hayrides, claiming that closures are necessary for safety and to prevent vandalism.
Broom presented a letter from the board of Indian Creek Trail, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to developing and caring for the trail. In it he called attention to a quote from Dr. Samuel P. Hays, who donated the land for Hayswood:
“It is with this focus on walking that I have established the Indian Creek Woods endowment to provide funds for the use of creating and maintaining a system of trails which emphasize the enjoyment and experience of walking.”
Broom went on to state that the organization is fully supportive of the hayrides, but feels strongly that it should be possible to keep the trail open through the week without disrupting the community events.
Broom also stated that his organization has had several meetings with Parks Department staff over the past year to develop a plan to keep the trail open, with scheduled closures for installation of lights and operation of the hayrides, but that this month they were informed that the trail would be closed again for 2022.
Several members of Indian Creek Trail, Inc. and others from the community spoke in support of keeping the trail open. Monica Owsley, a volunteer who maintains the flowers along the trail, spoke about her experience walking the trail to improve her health while recovering from breast cancer, “It got me through the darkest part of that time. I survived, and I attribute that to the trail.”
Teresa Sutton, Parks Board President, stated that the Parks Christmas Committee has not yet met, but that she would share the letter and remarks with them. Other members of the Parks Board seemed to be receptive to the request, however no motion was made and no vote was taken.
alex porter - reporter
In front of an emotional audience of at least 23, including multiple downtown Corydon business and real estate owners, Janelle Amy, Executive Director for the Main Street Corydon organization, presented a formal proposal to the Town of Corydon for annual financial support totaling $75,000 to help Main Street continue to provide events, resources and activities that support downtown Corydon during the Town of Corydon’s Council meeting on Tuesday, Sept 20th.
In years past, the Main Street Corydon organization has received a generous amount of funding from the Town. However, earlier this month, the Town of Corydon stated there is not any funding in the budget to allocate to Main Street.
In previous years, Main Street received considerable support from the town in the form of CEDIT funds allocated for Economic Development organizations and projects. Main Street’s proposal of $75,000 is modest compared to previous years of financial support, representing one third of the organization's overall budget. A modest percentage compared to other Main Street Indiana accredited organizations in the state. Main Street would raise the additional two thirds needed through events and fundraising.
A strong and passionate audience was in attendance supporting Main Street’s proposal.
“Within months of taking over Main Street, Janelle has made Main Street Corydon personal. When she says she is going to do something, she follows through, Kerry Zimmerman, Owner of Zimmerman Art Glass said. “I think this is something we definitely need to get onboard with because Janelle is doing a great job.”
Matt and Philip Pike, from Brandenburg KY, owners of four downtown Corydon buildings which support multiple downtown businesses were next to speak.
“We could have gone and done this in Elizabethtown, Hardinsburg, New Albany or our hometown of Brandenburg. We actually get flack from some people locally. A question I get a lot is why can’t Brandenburg be more like this? Why don’t we have wine walks, sweet stroll, awesome Farmer’s Market, Popcorn and Christmas festivals,” Matt Pike said. “Our answer is always the same to the people at home. Our town invests very little and we don’t have a Main Street program.” Getting a few laughs from the audience, Pike mentioned that Brandedburg actually has a more beautiful downtown than Corydon but they don’t have the money invested in it. “We love being here and we love investing Corydon’s downtown,” Pike said.
Amy also addressed some of the negative issues from Main Street Corydon’s past, which were present when she became Executive Director less than a year ago. A $100,000 debt to Whitestone Development Services (formerly Luckett and Farley Development Services) had been a major concern. Garnering a strong round of applause from the audience, Janele announced that thanks to a more manageable loan from First Harrison Bank, as well as the generosity of an anonymous donor, the debt is now paid, eliminating the cloud of the legal agreement.
Another critique from the past was lack of transparency as many downtown events and happenings would be canceled last minute. In 2022, Main Street worked hard to eliminate this issue, successfully planning and executing multiple events such as Sweet Strolls, Wine Walks, Colors of Corydon Art Festival, Glasstoberfest, Cinema on Chestnut, Light Up Corydon and the popular return of the Popcorn Festival. All of which drove revenue and customer foot traffic for downtown businesses.
Amanda Ramos, Corydon resident, emotionally spoke to the importance of Main Street’s work in fostering a community that her new daughter would love and chose to live in.
“Janelle is the type of person I want leading the way. She is so reliable. She went on TV twice for us! She is the type of person I want leading the way. We should invest in her. She has earned it and we’ve earned it. We deserve it,” Ramos said.
“Does anybody have a kleenex?” Harlan R. Fisher, Town Council for the Fourth Ward said. Brian Bates, owner of Vintage Treasures Antique Mall & Flea Emporium spoke to the importance a strong downtown has regarding legacy. “What we’re seeing right now is a changing of demographics in the downtown over the last five to seven years. Families with two or three kids, riding their bikes and skateboards,” Bates said. “We’re watching these kids out playing in the park. They are making memories about downtown Corydon. The legacy goes beyond making money for a store. We’re trying to make a place for people to go. “There is a whole cast of characters in this town looking for things to do. We’ve seen such a ground swell in 9 months. It’s ridiculous. The park was packed during the movie night.” Bates said. “We can be a community that is vibrant and family friendly, or we can choose not to do be. It’s all about legacy,” he said.
The Town Council did not vote on approving the funding. Only three of the five council members were present.
Treggie M. King, Clerk-Treasure mentioned that the entire council should be present to vote on such an initiative. King also mentioned the council would need to move quickly as some budget reports have already been submitted.
Janelle Amy committed to being on the agenda during the Town Council’s next meeting in October for an update from the council and to answer any questions they might have.
Graylin Porter - Reporter
Parents and students advocated for changes to the dress code at August 11th’s North Harrison School Board meeting. Parent Ashley Black started the discussion, stating that "this dress code needs to be fixed this school year.” Black pointed out the disproportionate number of girls that are routinely dress coded.
Multiple students and parents called attention to a recent practice within the schools regarding the pledge of allegiance. According to the speakers, students are being reprimanded if they do not stand and it is at this time that teachers are encouraged to scan for dress code violations.
Board member Kristina Gunter plans to lead the committee to make changes to the dress code. Gunter shared her own experiences with dress codes as a student and that "there needs to be a policy and a standard but I also think that the dress code needs to be adjusted and that some of the language needs to be changed."
In addition, Gunter stated that she is
"deeply disturbed that the pledge of allegiance is being used to monitor children, our kids, our students, and their dress. As an ex-military individual that hurts me deeply."
Superintendent Nathan Freed concluded the meeting by saying that he does not anticipate any changes to the dress code for the 2022-2023 school year.