ETNA GREEN - Hoping to eliminate long-distance calling to Warsaw and Bourbon, a committee of residents is circulating a petition in Etna Green.

Gerald and Maxine Kuhn addressed the Etna Green Town Council Tuesday regarding the matter. Mr. Kuhn explained that the committee has been in touch with both GTE and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in an attempt to improve service to customers in the 858 exchange.

Kuhn said that the lines haven't been improved since 1914 and "we think a lot of things have happened since then."

The petition is the first step in a six-step process which will take at least nine months to complete. A minimum of 127 signatures is needed on the petition for the group to proceed to step two; 250 signatures have been collected and the petitions will be out until Thursday at various locations.

The biggest argument for the extended area service is the fact that children in the 858 exchange attend school in either the Triton or Warsaw school systems - both long-distance calls for parents and school officials relating messages either way.

Also, the leaps and bounds in the computer world will be limited for those living in the 858 exchange area because the nearest server, according to Kuhn, is in Warsaw. That means that logging on to the Internet would require a long-distance call.

"The computer is not a very effective tool if, in order to log on, you must go through a long-distance server," Kuhn said. "It is the future."

Although an attempt to achieve extended area service was defeated in 1989, Kuhn said he feels as if the evolution and applications of the computer have prompted a renewed interest.

"We believe the change would be for the benefit of the majority of those this would affect," Kuhn said. "We're just trying to help with what we think is a needed community service."

Kuhn said that while this is viewed as a positive change, there is a negative side: The monthly basic telephone service would be increased. However, that cost could be as little as the cost of three long-distance calls, or about $5 per telephone bill.

The push for free calls to Bourbon and Warsaw was not prompted by the town council, and the Kuhns were there to inform council members of their intentions. They will keep the council apprised of their progress.

The next step is to forward the petitions to the IURC, which will order a community interest study to determine the calling patterns between the exchanges. The telephone company then has 120 days to complete the study.

In other business, the council opted to petition to annex the property on which Schult Homes is expanding its facility. The town is only seeking to annex the Schult property, on the east side of town, and no residential land.

A public meeting to review the petition is set for 6 p.m. May 27 in the fire station. Also at the special meeting, Vince Sommers of Commonwealth will present the completed study of the town's wastewater treatment plant.

Also, the town will look into rectifying a flooding problem which occurs when the water tower occasionally overflows.

Devon Sponseller said this is the fourth time his field has been flooded and he would like to see the town direct any overflow into a storm drain or catch basin to prevent future problems.

The most recent overflow occurred because a spider built its web inside the switch and wouldn't allow it to trip.

The next regular meeting is at 6 p.m. June 10 in the fire station. [[In-content Ad]]