The New-Harmony Gazette Publisher Ask For Public Records
May 11, 2017
Carl Schmitz, Commissioner, Posey County, Indiana 132 East 2nd Street
Mt. Vernon, Indiana 47620
Dear Commissioner Schmitz:
Pursuant to the Access to Public Records Act ( Ind. Code 5-14-3) I would like to obtain a copy of the following Public Records:
In a cell phone text dated March 24, 2017, you stated to me that you had an engineer’s report stored in your barn that would confirm the remarks that you made to citizens of Posey County, Indiana at a public meeting on March 11th, concerning the status of the Harmony Way Bridge. You indicated, after I requested the report for the New Harmony Gazette, that it would take a couple of weeks for you to get it.
More than two weeks have come and gone and I have not received the report nor any word from you regarding this matter. I also requested the report from you via a text message to your cell phone at 812-483-1629, on April 12, 2017. Again, no response! I believe the statements that you made were false and I am now taking steps to formally request the engineer’s report, that you say you have, through Indiana’s Public Access Act.
Also on March 24, 2017 you indicated, via text, to me that the reason you voted “NO†twice in 2014 for Posey County to “Not†take title to the Harmony Way Bridge, was because of this unsubstantiated information which you indicate shows that it would cost $41 to $50 million to reopen the bridge. This decision had a potential negative effect on the economy of both The Town of New Harmony and Posey County. It has been calculated that the Harmony Way Bridge can attract gross receipts of nearly $600,000 per year and possibly as much as $500,000 in transient income per annum. It’s important for the voters and citizens to know that what you said that you depended upon to make your decision was based on factual data, such as a valid engineer’s report.
On March 11, 2017 at a Public Meeting in Poseyville Indiana, entitled, Farm Bureau/Cracker Barrel Legislative Forum, you made the following statements pertaining to any assistance by the Posey County Government, whom you represent, participating in the reopening of the Harmony Way Bridge. The bridge is located on the Wabash River between New Harmony, Indiana and Crossville, Illinois:
1)â€I wouldn’t drive over it on a four wheeler.â€
2)“No one owns it.â€
3)The cost to update the bridge is $41 to $50 million dollars.
Regarding the first comment, it must be pointed out that in July 2016, six citizens of Indiana and Illinois, myself included, walked across the entire Harmony Way Bridge together from Indiana to Illinois and back without any bridge structure reverberations. Everything went just fine.
New Harmony Indiana, Road Maintenance Supervisor Bobby Grider has been observed by me
and by several other residents of New Harmony over the past two years crossing the Harmony Way Bridge by bicycle from Illinois, where he lives, to New Harmony, Indiana, where he works. Grider comes over on the bridge in the morning, and back to Illinois in the afternoon. The bridge has not shown any negative effects from Mr. Grider’s many crossings back and forth on his bicycle. Please furnish the New Harmony Gazette, to my attention, the proof that you say you have in the form of an engineer’s report that validates your statement, “I wouldn’t drive over it on a four wheeler,†pertaining to the Harmony Way Bridge.
In your second statement, “No one owns it,†I merely ask that you answer the following questions, in writing. Have you ever heard of the White County Bridge Commission? Are you familiar with the names David Rice and Michael Spud Egbert in that regard? Are you familiar with an Act of Congress dated April 12, 1941 under 55 Stat. 140, which created the White County Bridge Commission and authorized the Commission, the current owners, to purchase the Harmony Way Bridge? Please be so kind as to answer these questions in writing so that the New Harmony Gazette can convey your answers to the People of New Harmony and Posey County, Indiana.
Your last statement was about the cost to update and reopen the Harmony Way Bridge at a cost of $41 to $50 million dollars. You confirm in a text message to me dated March 24, 2017, that this cost was your primary reason for voting “no†on the option of Posey County taking title to the Harmony Way Bridge on two separate occasions in 2014. You say it was from data on the engineer’s report which you have in your barn. According to all of the engineers reports, that I personally have in my possession currently, your comment has no basis in fact. This is the third time that I have requested the engineer’s report that you say you have, that proves your assertion regarding these inflated cost figures and was reported by you to the public on March 11, 2017. Please forward that engineer’s report to my attention at The New Harmony Gazette.
I understand that if I seek a copy of these records, there may be a copying fee. Could you please inform me of that cost prior to making the copy. I can be reached at 347-757-8142 and email at draybarton@gmail.com.
According to the statute you have 7 calendar days to respond to this request.
If you choose to deny the request, then you are required to respond in writing and state the statutory exception authorizing the withholding of all or part of the public record and the name and title or position of the person responsible for the denial.
Please comply and release these reports to the New Harmony Gazette, to my attention at:
The New-Harmony Gazette. Dan Barton, Publisher
P.O. Box 551
New Harmony, Indiana 47631
Thank you for your assistance in this matter,
Respectfully,
Dan Barton, Publisher
FOOTNOTE: The City County Observer posted this article without opinion, bias or editing.
1) seems to be a personal opinion and the bridge is legally closed to vehicular traffic, so what’s your point, Dan?
2) the bridge is not owned by a legal entity in Indiana, is it, Dan? It is owned by a federally created commission, isn’t it, Dan? As a Indiana legal entity, the Posey County Commission(ers) have no legal authority over the bridge, do they, Dan?
3) what’s the difference between 50 million dollars and 15 million dollars if you have neither amount, Dan, nor can acquire it?
I applaud the Commission for not wanting to saddle the taxpayers of the county with an albatross that will divert much needed funds to use for replacing old bridges the county already owns. Would that the Evansville city council had the same outlook on spending.
When one looks at a map of the area, it is apparent that there is excellent north and south access from New Harmony. It is just a short trip north to catch I-64 where one can travel west into Illinois or east across Indiana.
If one were searching for funds for the bridge in New Harmony, it ought to be for the funds to dismantle it. It is no longer needed.
Not true. That bridge is key to the farming community, many of whom used it in the past for their equipment since they farm both sides of the Wabash. While a car or truck can move easily to the I-64 method, that is not true for farmers.
It is also vital for those workers who live just across the Wabash in Illinois since the cost of traveling across I-64 can be cost-prohibitive for people of a lower pay scale to drive up to I-64
You’re not talking about the plight of small farmers here. Many move their equipment much farther than the I64/SR 69 route every spring and fall. And the question is “Do all the taxpayers of Posey county subsidize the travel expense of the staff of New Harmony businesses and the travel expense of a couple of farmers?” Tax many to benefit a few, and most not Indiana residents?
Commissioners, just say no.
The Harmony Way Bridge has never been condemned or closed by either the State of Indiana or Illinois. It was closed by the White County Bridge Commission and barricades were put up on the Indiana State Police to block access in accord with the White County Bridge Commission desire. For $30,000 dollars, according to a bridge study, done by Bridge engineer James Barker in 2012, the bridge could have been opened within one month of it’s closing and earning as much as $600,000 per year in tolls and additional $500,000 per year for New Harmony and Posey County in transient income. That’s my point, disaffected. If Posey County politicians had the guts they would have taken title to the bridge for $1 dollar in 2014 and the bridge would be paying for itself and helping the people of White County Illinois and North Posey County. The White County Bridge. Commission is a legal entity and it was created by Congress but it can only be sold to another government entity such as the State of Illinois, Indiana or White or Posey County. For $1 the Posey County Commission can have full legal authority over the Harmony Way Bridge just as they do the Memorial Bridge in Mt. Vernon. As a matter of fact there has never been any bridge engineers study that came any where close to the $15 million dollars you quote for rehabilitating the Harmony Way Bridge. Learn the facts before you spout off. You apparently don’t live in New Harmony, Indiana or White County, Illinois. I have over 2500 petition signature from both, demanding that the bridge be opened. Your the odd man out “disaffected.”
According to the Evansville C&P, on April 29, 2012, a team of 9 engineers inspected the bridge and Commission member Jim Clark stated, “the cost to make repairs was more than we could imagine”. Upon receiving the full report from the engineers, the Commission closed the bridge immediately based on the info contained in the review. A $1 dollar purchase price to acquire something that will cost millions to repair is stupid. As I said, and you agreed with, it’s owned by a federal entity, and that entity is seen as a losing proposition by the federal government and two state governments. And an overwhelming majority of Posey county taxpayers, of which I am one, who pays property taxes on multiple properties. The $15 million number was merely a number of reference. I could have used the $6 million number engineers used in 2010, but the point would have remained the same: Posey county taxpayers can’t afford it, nor do they want to own it. I deal in facts, not straw dogs and misdirection. I don’t advocate burdening the many for the good of a privileged few.
True “disaffected” you could use any number, but then you’d be a Posey County Commissioner! But you did use just any number, non of which have any basis in fact, just like Carl Schmitz has done. Are you a relative? Use your name and give your claims some credibility. The bridge is a money maker and a gift from the White County Bridge Commission for the taking. Back several years ago the County Commission transferred millions of dollars to the Wabash Memorial Bridge in Mt. Vernon. Both the Harmony Way and the Memorial Bridge were to be rehabilitated, but instead the Harmony Way, New Harmony and the communities were abandoned for some unknown reason. If your in the know as you seem to claim then grab a copy of Bridge Engineer Jim Barker’s report from 2012 and you see that to get the bridge running again in 2012 and to do work incrementally after an an initial investment of just a few thousand would have only cost a few thousand. I predict that the White County Bridge Commission will be the winners in this contest of wills, since they are poised to once again take up the responsibility of running the bridge once all the legal kinks are ironed. The big loser will be Posey County if that happens as the newly adjusted net bridge tolls will go with the Bridge Commission. Now to my knowledge there never was a $15 million bridge repair estimate by any engineering company. If you have one send it to me at the New Harmony Gazette and I will publish it. But use your real name and don’t hide behind some phony, rediculous title like “disaffected.”
“rediculus”? You seem to be lacking rudimentary spelling skills along with reading skills, so I will explain again and try to read slower. $15 million is a random number, but $6 million is not, as that is the number put forth by engineers to fix it correctly in 2010, 7 years ago. Your $30,000 number was for a temporary Band-Aid fix. You can fixate on a number, but the fact doesn’t change that the overwhelming majority of us Posey county taxpayers do not support the Commissioners taking over the bridge. If New Harmony businesses and residents want the bridge to reopen, they should financially support it. I’m finding this tedious, so, I’m done.
Sorry for your tedium but $30 thousand sounded pretty good. They should have taken it and used the tolls to move forward as Jim Barker instructed, then big land owners like you wouldn’t have to worry about paying any taxes to support projects in North Posey County. No money for sewers or bridges north of Mt. Vernon, right? You mean you have no basis for making the $15 million dollar claim? That’s a surprise! Send me what you’ve got. And put you’re real name. Disaffected is synonymous with traitor, you know! You’re doing pretty good, you’ve gone from $50 million to $6 million in a day. How’s my spelling?
Change the name from Harmony Way Bridge to Mar-a-Lago Causeway and the money will flow in.
Even some of tight arse disaffecteds’.
Believe me….
Thanks for the support Regulator. I really don’t want to upset any of the big landowners here in Posey County but Mr. disaffected seems to forget about all of the public tax money that’s being dumped into Mt. Vernon and Southern Posey County. Mt. Vernon’s River Front Park, their $7 million dollar bicycle path, the $16 million dollar County Jail renovation, which every soul in Posey County will be paying a perpetual tax for, the rehabilitation of the Memorial Bridge between Posey County and Illinois, the four and a half mile Western Bypass costing taxpayers $27 million and on and on and on. It’s time to share the pie Mr. disaffected. Let’s all get behind opening the Harmony Way Bridge so that people and money will flow into New Harmony, Wadesville, Blairsville and Parker Settlement instead of bypassing us in favor of rts. 62 or 64. They need to get their kicks on rt. 66. Open our bridge County Commissioners! Or lets split this County north and south! How’s that for “rebellion” Mr. d!
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