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From the January 26, 2000 issue
of the Brown County Democrat newspaper.
Headline News Stories
Back to the Front Page      Browse the archive of Back Issues

Although it got it’s first reading last Thursday night, the town’s proposed outdoor lighting ordinance is probably headed for a major rewrite.

But in the meantime, the town council may adopt it as a stop-gap to prevent new lighting problems cropping up while they debate the issue.

Kevin Fleming, an outdoor lighting expert with the Indiana Astronomical Society, attended the meeting and immediately pointed out some problems with the ordinance.

For example, it talks about regulating "reflected light" but all light, he said, is essentially reflected; we see objects because light is reflected off of them.

Town attorney Ben Hoff, who drafted the ordinances said that since he wrote the proposed lighting ordinance he had received a copy of a framework for outdoor lighting ordinances nationwide and found it, well, illuminating.

"There are a lot of good things in here and we would not be adverse to adding some of those things in there," Mr. Hoff said. "It won’t hurt our feelings."

Mr. Fleming said alot of lighting is "just a poor product."

"Light pollution is just light that is misdirected and of excessive brightness," he said. "I want to offer to assist in any way I can to contribute to good outdoor lighting in Nashville."

Mr. Fleming was involved in discussions last year of a brightly lit Amoco station on State Road 37 near Mooresville which threatened the usability of Indiana University's Goethe Link Observatory, also used by amateur astronomers for the last 10 years.

It was the lighting of the new Amoco service station in Nashville which got the town council to thinking about the subject of outdoor lighting in the town.

Owner Steve Payne said at the time the station opened the design called for even more lights, but he voluntarily reduced the number of bulbs by about half to try and strike a compromise between fitting in and providing proper illumination.

Mr. Fleming said the lighting at the station "grossly exceeds the illumination standards of engineering studies," which he said establish that lighting should not exceed by 10 times the lighting of nearby properties.

"It exceeds those standards by hundreds of percent," he said.

Mr. Fleming had three initial suggestions for a lighting ordinance:

Council President Jo Quigley said the body will hold a special meeting Thursday, February 3, on the lighting issue, where Mr. Fleming will give a presentation outlining the problem and solutions that have been arranged on other places.

Town manager Roger Kelso said that while the ordinance may change, it's clear there is a consensus that there is a problem. He said the council could adopt this ordinance for now and "pass something more comprehensive later on."

"I think waiting for a board to be formed and a new ordinance to be drafted is waiting too long," he said.

"I think we can address some of these problems now. Every month we wait, there's the possibility of a new situation. How many hits do you want to take (before you get an ordinance into effect)?

Mr. Kelso said he hadn't really considered whether the town's own street lights will comply with tough new standards.

"Most of the lighting we have in town would have to be changed," he said. "Most security lights on private property would not meet the cut-off requirement. We need to weigh out the investment people have previously made against the needs of the town."

"You can have low-level lighting that accomplishes its purpose," he said. "Just because you regulate something doesn't mean you don't like it, but you do need to get control of it."

One possible solution is an "amortization clause" which would allow established lights for so many years after the ordinance is enacted. The council took a similar tack when dealing with neon lights in town.

On the other side of the coin, Councilman Leo Dreske said town residents often request more, not less, public lighting in Nashville.

"There has been a long-standing complaint from the business community that we don't have enough lights in the downtown business area," he said.

Councilman Charles "Slim" Smith said the council is "moving too fast" on this lighting issue.

"We got all riled up because a few people called in," he said. "I think there could be a very simple solution. I think we should have Roger go down and talk to the people at the Amoco station.

"I don't like bright lights myself, but I respoect the man's right to do what he wants with his property," Mr. Smith said. "That's always been the dark end of town."

But the council seemed concerned about escalation of lighitng brought about by businesses competing for attention.

"I think what we're concerned about is down the road," Coucilman Gerald Alexander said. "We're going to have to do a variety of things on this council this year that may not be that popular. But if you look ahead 20 years, people may say "Why didn't they do that?"

Two new faces will help decide zoning issues

It will be a different Brown County Board of Zoning Appeals that meets tonight, Wednesday, January 26.

The make-up of the five-member board changed last week as the Nashville Town Council appointed Charles "Buzz" King to fill the seat of Rex Watters, who resigned, and Brown County commissioners replaced long-time member Hank Swain with Lois Woods.

Commissioners said they were responding to complaints from the public that Mr. Swain was voting his own convictions rather than sticking to the letter of the zoning law, but Mr. Swain said the code allows him the discretion to vote his conscience.

Mr. Swain has been a steadfast opponent of the burgeoning tourist home industry over the past year, consistently voting against the enterprises, which he has said "takes the neighbors out of the neighborhood."

Commission Chairman Jim Gredy said at last week’s commission meeting he had received many complaints about Mr. Swain’s actions on the board, to which Mr. Swain replied "I’m not surprised."

"The main complaint I have heard would be that you have followed your own set of guidelines more than the zoning rules in regard to tourist homes," Mr. Gredy said.

"I think some people have misinterpreted what I feel is principle for stubbornness," Mr. Swain said.

Smart investment decisions have netted the county a steady increase in income earned from interest on deposits over the last four years, according to county treasurer Stephanie Crabtree.

In a county board of finance meeting held within last week’s county commission meeting, Ms. Crabtree, as president of that board, told commissioners, who make up the rest of the board, that investing of county monies in a state investment pool for public agencies has been the biggest boon to county interest income.

From 1996 through 1999, the county’s interest income has more than doubled from $157,243 in 1996 to $353,559 last year.

The county earned $278,976 in interest in 1997 and jumped to $332,506 in 1998, the first year funds were placed with a private company called Invest Indiana.

The company allows public entities to pool their funds to get higher earnings, the biggest factor in the county’s investment growth, Ms. Crabtree said.

Joseph L. Snyder, 19, State Road 46 West was charged with residential entry, a class D felony.

The charges stem from an allegation that Mr. Snyder broke into his ex-girlfriend’s bedroom earlier this month.

According to the court paperwork, Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Max Socks investigated a break-in at the home of Ray and Victoria Johnson of Nineveh.

Mr. Johnson told the officer that Mr. Snyder broke into his step-daughter’s room through a closed door that opens to the outside.

The young woman told the officer that she woke up at 12:45 a.m. to find that Mr. Snyder had opened the door to the outside and was closing the door behind him.

One of the duties of Brown County Community Corrections Officer Bill Southerland is to visit people who have been placed by the court on probation.

What happened on a recent visit by Mr. Southerland to the home of Angela Faith Stuart, 34, on Peoga Road has landed her in more trouble.

Ms. Stuart was charged with maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony along with a misdemeanor charge of possession of paraphernalia last week. Felonies are a more serious category of crime.

Earlier this month, Mr. Southerland said he smelled a strong odor of marijuana in the bedroom of Ms. Stuart’s home, according to the court paperwork.

The Brown County Commis-sioners voted last week to reappoint Mark Wayt to the Hamblen Township District Fire Board — even though he doesn’t live in Hamblen Township.

And even though Mr. Wayt, a paramedic and volunteer firefighter, is well-known and respected within the local emergency services community, that move did not sit well with other applicants who do live within the recently-formed district.

Late last year, commissioners appointed Mr. Wayt to fill out the term of a member who had earlier resigned in order to break a deadlock on the three-member district board over awarding the township’s fire protection contract.

The appointment, which effectively lasted for only one meeting, allowed Mr. Wayt to vote in favor of awarding the contract to the Hamblen Township Volunteer Fire Department.

At last week’s commission meeting, Steve Graham told commissioners that although he is fairly new to the county, he has had 23 years experience as a firefighter and lives in Hamblen Township.

Youngsters attending Sprunica and Helmsburg elementary schools may be a little more comfortable next year — at least temperature wise.

The school board gave preliminary approval to Veazey, Parrott and Shoulders architects and engineers for air conditioning to be added to the facilities.

Tom Durkin presented the board with three potential options at its meeting Thursday, January 20.

The three choices included:

• Replace current oil furnaces with a combination of oil furnaces and heat pumps. Mr. Durkin estimated the cost of this option at $875,000.

• Install air-source heat pumps in both schools. He estimated the cost at $950,000.

• Convert from the current oil furnaces to propane with an estimated cost of $1,150,000.

What’s bothering the children of Brown County? It depends on the child’s age.

At least that’s what counselors for the school corporation see.

Counselors gave their annual update to the school board at its meeting Thursday evening, January 20.

Ted Sharp and Mandy Zellmer, who spend time in the elementary schools, said the children they talk with typically are dealing with issues in one of three broad categories. Those are:

• Issues of loss. Mr. Sharp said the loss can be the result of a death, divorce or separation of a child’s parents or even limited contact with parents.

• Emotional coping — anger management, relationships with peers and social squabbles.

• Production problems, or, Mr. Sharp said, lack of production problems.

But, both Mr. Sharp and Ms. Zellmer said they are encouraged that youngsters are now taking the initiative to stop one of the counselors in the hall if the child is having trouble.

Her background is in special education, she’s the current assistant superintendent of Martinsville schools, she’ s no stranger to Brown County schools and she will begin her duties as top dog for the Brown County School Corporation July 1, 2000.

Who is she? She’s Dr. D. Lynn Reed.

The school board introduced Dr. Reed to the public Thursday evening, January 20, after what board president Bill Austin called an exhaustive search.

I see this as a "great opportunity for improvement for the whole corporation," Mr. Austin said.

Last week Mr. Austin said that Dr. Reed was "selected because she represents the greatest change in the direction in which the board wants to move in the future."

But the board hasn’t been specific about the direction it wants to move in the future.

"The board wants to put new emphasis on curriculum and teamwork," Mr. Austin said.

"And Dr. Reed will set an example in the use of new technology," he continued.

Students need to learn and become comfortable with computers, email and the Internet, Mr. Austin said, but some administrators and teachers are wary of the electronic wave of the future.

"The world depends on ever-improving technology," he said. "But right now we have teachers and administrators who are uncomfortable with computers."

Even though Dr. Reed and the school board are all excited about the prospects for the future, one thing is certain — Dr. Reed will be here for the next three years.

Since consolidation in 1949, there have been nine school superintendents, including outgoing school boss I.E. Lewis.

Here’s a look at what happened to the eight other superintendents who, over the years, have transformed the local school system into what we know today.

4 Grover G. Brown was a Brown County native who guided the county’s educational system for more than 30 years was considered the "dean of Brown County educators."

During his two separate terms of office, 1917-29 and 1933-53, Mr. Brown is credited with consolidating the small rural one-room schoolhouses and three separate high schools he oversaw into the Brown County School Corporation that exists today.

Mr. Brown ended his half-century in the classroom as principal of the newly constructed Sprunica Elementary School in the late 1950s. He died in 1967.

4 Ira L. Huntington spearheaded an ambitious building program that saw three outlying elementary school buildings constructed — Helmsburg, Nashville and Van Buren. After serving as superintendent for two years, he left in 1959 to head Wabash County schools.

4 Warren Ogle was the last Brown County superintendent who didn’t hold a doctorate in education. Mr. Ogle had his teacher’s training in the county’s one-room school system when he began teaching in the early 1920s. In 1959, Mr. Ogle was named school leader. During his tenure, a new high school was built and dedicated in 1962. After retiring in 1970, Mr. Ogle and his wife remained in their native Brown County. Mr. Ogle died in 1998 at the age of 90.

For more details, see the January 26, 2000
Issue of the Brown County Democrat.
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