The clocktower at the Pulaski County Courthouse

June 2006

Pulaski County Time

By Karen Clem Fritz

Central Time or Eastern Time? We’re no longer confident of the answer.

Anticipation over a final ruling on Pulaski County’s time zone placement suddenly hangs heavily again, causing considerable angst among schools, businesses and residents.

The initial optimism, buoyed by the assurances of local elected leaders that the county’s petition for Eastern Time would be approved, has sunk somewhat in recent days following a request from federal officials for more detailed information on the county’s commerce statistics.

UPDATE - June 27 Amended time petition sent to Washington, D.C.

Pulaski County officials sent an amended petition June 27 to the U.S. Department of Transportation requesting the county be placed in the Eastern Time Zone. The fully-documented 26-page petition is also accompanied by an extensive collection of support information. The documentation in the petition responds to a series of questions the D.O.T. submitted to county officials in late May. Arrangements were made for the petition to be delivered to the D.O.T. by U.S. Rep. Chris Chicola whose district includes Pulaski County. Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce president Renee Burton and Community Development Commission director Dan Dolezal oversaw the preparation of the petition. The county commissioners and county council members signed the petition Tuesday morning at a joint meeting called for the purpose. The local officials also gave “special thanks” to Burton and Dolezal, and all those who assisted them with the petition process. Although the petition requested the D.O.T. give prompt attention to the matter and make a final rule on the time issue by Aug. 1, it is not known when the county might expect a ruling on its time zone request.

This month, the Pulaski County Commissioners, along with the Chamber of Commerce, Community Development Commission and Cooperative Extension, are compiling data requested late last month by the U.S. Department of Transportation to take into consideration as it reviews Pulaski County’s Feb. 7 petition to be changed to the Eastern Time Zone.

The deadline to provide the requested data is June 30.

“The (D.O.T.) remains open to considering a change in the time zone for Pulaski County from Central to Eastern if it would be for the convenience of commerce,” wrote Judith Kaleta, senior counsel for dispute resolution for the D.O.T., in the letter to county officials requesting the detailed commerce data.

After reviewing the information provided by the county, Kaleta and her staff will determine whether the data is sufficient for the D.O.T. to propose changing the county from Central to Eastern Time.

If they determine the information does not justify proposing the change, the county’s petition will be denied, and Central Time will be fixed.

What does the D.O.T. want to know?

The D.O.T. has asked Pulaski County to provide detailed information and its documented sources on eight primary questions. They are: 1. From where do businesses in the community get their supplies, and to where do they ship their goods or products? 2. From where does the community receive television and radio broadcasts? 3. Where are the newspapers published that serve the community? 4. From where does the community get its bus and passenger rail services; if there is no scheduled bus or passenger rail service in the community, to where must residents go to obtain these services? 5. Where is the nearest airport; if it is a local service airport, to what major airport does it carry passengers? 6. What percentage of residents of the community work outside the community; where do these residents work? 7. What are the major elements of the community’s economy; is the community’s economy improving or declining; what federal, state or local plans, if any, are there for economic development in the community? 8. If residents leave the community for schooling, recreation, health care or religious worship, what standard of time is observed in the places where they go for these purposes? The D.O.T. will also consider any other information the county or local officials believe to be relevant to the proceeding.

If the data is sufficient, the D.O.T. will issue a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” and provide a 30-60 day comment period, after which further analysis and a ruling will follow.

“The D.O.T.’s final rules concerning time zone boundaries are usually effective on the changeover date between daylight saving time and standard time,” Kaleta said.

That date is Sunday, Oct. 29.

The time odyssey in review

The time saga began a year ago when Gov. Mitch Daniels lobbied extensively for the legislation that created Daylight-saving Time for all of Indiana, saying it would eliminate confusion and boost commerce. It gained final legislative passage by a single vote in the House. But the governor left the decisions on time zone placement to individual counties and the D.O.T.

In September, Pulaski County petitioned for Central Time, after learning all surrounding counties were doing the same, including Benton, White, Carroll, Cass, St. Joseph, Starke, Marshall and Fulton counties. The petition, prepared by the auditor’s office and signed by the commissioners, included brief arguments in favor of Central Time.

In January, the D.O.T. issued a ruling placing only Starke and Pulaski counties on Central Time (and several other counties in southwest Indiana). An immediate protest arose from Pulaski County residents, businesses and schools, resulting in petitions demanding Eastern Time and a public hearing before the county commissioners and council.

As a result, local officials voted to re-petition the D.O.T. requesting Eastern Time. Again, the new petition was prepared in the county auditor’s office and signed by commissioners’ president Mike Tiede and council president Sam Frain. The new petition contained more extensive arguments in favor of Eastern Time.

The second petition also noted that the September request for Central Time was “made with an understanding that our neighboring counties were favoring” Central Time. In addition, it observed that preliminary feedback from the D.O.T. indicated Pulaski County would be denied Central Time because it had not made “strong enough case” for the request in its first petition.

The second petition goes on to report that when the D.O.T. made its January announcement placing Pulaski County in the Central Time Zone, the “commissioners, county council and citizens were surprised, then upset.”

The DOT is also baffled

Officials in Washington were also apparently surprised to receive Pulaski County’s second petition so soon after its January ruling.

“The new petition follows the Department’s final rule by only a few weeks, and before the county had any experience with the new time zone changes that it solicited,” Kaleta noted.

Top five counties sending workers into Pulaski County 333 from Central Time Zone 476 from Eastern Time Zone	Top five counties receiving workers from Pulaski County 659 to Central Time Zone 444 to Eastern Time Zone
Of all workers commuting into Pulaski County, a total of 377 come from the Central Time Zone, while 552 workers come from the Eastern Time Zone	Of all workers commuting from Pulaski County, a total of 899 travel to the Central Time Zone, while 1,016 workers travel to the Eastern Time Zone

“Furthermore, the new petition conflicts with the county’s original petition and other information submitted to the docket in a rulemaking proceeding on time zone boundary changes in Indiana,” she added.

Kaleta’s letter only added to the uneasiness and uncertainty that have been growing since the D.O.T. pressured Pulaski County officials in late March to back down from their Feb. 6 home rule declaration to follow Eastern Time if the second petition had not been approved by the spring change to Daylight Time.

But many observe that it’s hardly surprising a border county in a time zone border state can make good arguments to be placed in either time zone.

For instance, after receiving an update on the time issue at their monthly meeting earlier this week, members of the Pulaski County CDC acknowledged the prospect that the data supporting Central Time may turn out to be nearly equal to the arguments for Eastern Time.

In any case, the commissioners and those assisting them in providing the data requested by the D.O.T. are now making an honest effort to provide complete and accurate information to assist federal officials in making their ruling.

What are local leaders saying?

Since the switch to Daylight Time in April, most of Pulaski County has been operating on Eastern Time, an independent move made under the assumption that Eastern would soon be the county’s official time.

Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce President Rene Burton reports that the majority of Chamber members continue to support Eastern Time. “Pulaski County still wants to be aligned with the state capital, as well as Logansport, Rochester, Monticello and South Bend,”she adds.

Some of this reasoning apparently stems from the fact that, unlike with Rensselaer, Knox and towns to the northwest, Pulaski County has no experience in being an hour behind Indianapolis, South Bend, Logansport and Lafayette.

Chamber President Rene Burton

Burton, who is assisting the commissioners in compiling data for the D.O.T. response, also makes the important point that most continuing education opportunities for adult residents are offered in the Eastern Time Zone, including IUK, Ancilla, Ivy Tech in Logansport and IUSB.

“We are always encouraging people to better themselves, Burton observes. “That will be more difficult if Pulaski County is put in the Central Time Zone.”

The county’s hospital and two school systems were instrumental in leading most residents and businesses to follow Eastern Time this summer. All three still prefer to remain on Eastern Time and are providing statistics and documentation for the response being prepared to send to the D.O.T.

But if the final ruling places Pulaski County in the Central Time Zone, PMH administrator Rick Mynark reports the hospital will comply. “We need uniformity throughout the county,” he explains. “We’ll have to adjust, even though the majority of our contracted physician specialists and technicians come from the Eastern Time Zone.”

Mynark says the hospital will not set its hours to “reflect” Eastern Time. “There’s no sense pretending we’re on another time zone,” he explains.

If Pulaski County is placed on Central Time, the two school systems are considering a plan that will create some interesting debates around the family dinner table.

Schools Consider "Split" Time If on Central Time, both Eastern Pulaski and West Central plan to “split” the time zone difference, starting school at 7:30 a.m. and dismissing at 2:30 p.m. (West Central) and 2:50 p.m. (Eastern Pulaski). These times are a half-hour earlier than the traditional school day hours they have been observing.

If on Central Time, both Eastern Pulaski and West Central plan to “split” the time zone difference, starting school at 7:30 a.m. and dismissing at 2:30 p.m. (West Central) and 2:50 p.m. (Eastern Pulaski). These times are a half-hour earlier than the traditional school day hours they have been observing.

The “split time” will make it possible for both schools to schedule students for the vocational programs they participate in, located in the astern time zone (Logansport for Eastern Pulaski, and Monticello for West Central). Split time will also facilitate scheduling of extra curricular activities.

Charles Mellon, superintendent at West Central, says the school staff was polled on the split time proposal before the school year ended last month.

“Almost 100 percent of the teachers at the middle and high schools were in favor of the plan,” Mellon says, “but the elementary staff was divided on the proposal.”

Mellon adds that it’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to work out a plan that suits everyone. “It’s not going to be the same as it was when we lived in a perfect world - before we had to change clocks,” he notes.

Both superintendents are anxious that a ruling is made before school begins in August.

“If they don’t make a ruling until fall, when we’ve already begun ...” Mellon trails off, not wanting to imagine the confusion.

There are several county businesses and many residents who favor Central Time. Still others are content to observe Central Time if that is the D.O.T.’s ruling.

Kyle Kruzick of All Seasons Home Center in Winamac reports that much of their business comes from Starke County in the Central Time Zone. Fred Zahrt of Tippecanoe Beverages in Winamac, and Tim Troxel of Adapta Soft in Francesville have supported Central Time from the beginning to facilitate their business operations.

Commissioner Tiede reports that recent meetings of the commissioners with those working to collect data for the D.O.T. response have been running smoothly.

“Everyone is cooperating,” he reports, and added that State Sen. Tom Weatherwax has been “very helpful.”
Tiede says Weatherwax has put the county in touch with Brian Bergsam of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce for his advice on the county’s response.

However, there have been some recriminations and blaming, especially since the second local public hearing with the commissioners and council in late March when county officials retreated from their earlier “home rule” declaration.

There have been criticisms and charges of “inaccurate information” provided in the county’s first petition, submitted by the commissioners.

In a business trip to Washington, D.C. earlier this spring, Councilman Frain visited with D.O.T. officials working on Pulaski County’s petition. He reported back to the commissioners and urged them to follow a D.O.T. recommendation to hire a “third party consultant” to oversee the county’s petition request.

The commissioners rejected Frain’s suggestion, however, and Frain says he has since “withdrawn from the issue” and is “not personally involved.”

A D.O.T. spokesman in Washington told ExPRESS that it is “not requiring Pulaski County to hire an outside consultant,” but the department is seeking a detailed and accurate response to its questions.

Frain also asserts that representatives from Gov. Daniel’s and Congressman Chris Chocola’s offices “are in contact with the D.O.T.” on Pulaski County’s behalf.

Dan Dolezal, executive director of the Pulaski County CDC, is among those assisting the commissioners with data gathering. He says conversations those working on the project have had with the D.O.T.’s Kaleta leave the impression that the “D.O.T. wants to give us a legitimate opportunity to make a case” for Eastern Time.

In the meantime, Pulaski County residents continue to wait and wonder - and speculate on a variety of mind-numbing contingency plans.

Most of county appears determined to observe Eastern Time (April 2006) - Click here.
Pulaski County declares home rule (February 2006) - Click here.
Pulaski County placed in Central Time Zone (January 2006) - Click here.