Close Window

Tuesday, August 02, 2005 Time zone input sought at hearings By Paul Minnis TheRepublic.com Public hearings to help local officials gauge which time zone Bartholomew County residents prefer will be conducted soon in Columbus. County Commissioners said in their regular meeting Monday they would present possible hearing dates at their meeting next week. Commission President Carl Lienhoop said the first hearing likely would be in two or three weeks, depending on officials’ schedules. Indiana legislators in May approved statewide recognition of daylight-saving time, which means clocks must move ahead an hour in April and back an hour in October. But the question of whether to go with the Eastern or Central time zone is being left at least partly to individual counties. State Senate President Pro Tem Bob Garton, R-Columbus, said Bartholomew County’s default time zone is Eastern time, because that is its current designation. If residents would rather be in the Central zone, the county government must petition the U.S. Department of Transportation for the change. “I just don’t know the process for county petitions,” Garton said. “It’s a very confusing issue.” County Commissioners did not intend to address the time zone issue at Monday’s meeting. However, Columbus resident Bill Starr asked them to hold the hearings to get a sense of public sentiment. He asked the commissioners to support a change to Central time. Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said he prefers the Central time zone, because it would mean an earlier sunrise and an earlier sunset. Commissioner Paul Franke said Eastern time is better. As a bus driver for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., he thinks students behave better when they come to school in the dark. “I really think it shouldn’t have been tampered with in the first place,” he said. Lienhoop did not share an opinion but expressed frustration with the state for spending so much time on an issue that still is unsettled. He said the Legislature decision in May should have been specific enough that it settled the whole issue.

Close Window