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)”I wouldn’t drive over it on a four wheeler.”
2)“No one owns it.”
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.