Etna Green Hears About Triton Projects, Moves On Parking Restriction
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Jordan Fouts-
ETNA GREEN – Triton Schools Superintendent Donna Burroughs told Etna Green Town Council about two school corporation projects and how the town can help. Triton plans to introduce Science, Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum through the Indianapolis-based organization Project Lead the Way. She said the classes, which would be introduced over three years, would focus more on hands-on learning than rote memorization. Teacher training and materials would cost about $12,000 per class, she said. A matching grant for Kosciusko and surrounding counties will help boost the commitment of money Triton has already received, including $30,000 from the Marshall County Economic Development Corp. and $25,000 from St. Joseph Hospital, she told council. Triton is also trying to preserve the old school gym in Bourbon, an 85-year-old building that she said still sees daily use by sports teams. The corporation has little money to devote to restoring and repairing it, so they are trying to have it designated a historical landmark to qualify for grand funding. A “friends of the old gym” not-for-profit group would oversee the building, allowing it to be rented out for birthdays and other events. Burroughs said they would like representatives from each community Triton serves to join the group. Also during the meeting, council directed town attorney Jay Rigdon to draft an ordinance prohibiting overnight parking on Walnut Street downtown during the winter months. The restriction would ease snow plowing, members said, which has been especially difficult on that road this year. “It’s been a nightmare trying to plow,” council President Andy Cook remarked. “I save Walnut for last and hope people have moved their cars by then.” The restriction would apply overnight, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., between Nov. 1 and March 31. It would extend from the railroad crossing south to High Street. Council initially thought to tie the parking restriction to a snow emergency declaration, but Rigdon observed that they might have difficulty announcing the emergency to all residents as well as enforcing it. He said he will send a draft of the ordinance to council members for review before the March meeting.
