Home Care In West Terre Haute, IN

WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Local officials are working to address the brush fires that are popping up in West Terre Haute.

The most recent happened Monday night, and it was still smoldering Wednesday. The same thing happened in the same area last year.

The fire chief claims there's a reason it's happened again -- and he wants to put an end to it.

Chief Darrick Scott says the property in question isn't zoned commercial use, but the property is owner is burning brush from his business on the lot, and he feels this leading to problems.

"I think the system is broken and it needs to be fixed. Not next week, not next month, now," said Scott.

Sugar Creek Fire Chief Darrick Scott says Monday's brush fire could have been avoided. Scott says the property owner has a tree service company and might be violating a zoning rule.

"Bringing by-products from a commercial, from your own commercial business, that's a problem. Why isn't this property zoned commercially? He has a multitude of trucks and equipment, and all of that is zoned agricultural," said Scott.

News 10 reached out to the property owner. The property owner said he was trying to stack brush for a habitat for wildlife in the area.

No matter the reason, the fire chief doesn't want to keep spending resources on this situation.

"The last fuel bill was in the thousands of dollars. That takes away from taxpayers, that takes away from my troops who don't deserve this, and we need help," said Scott.

Scott felt county and state leaders didn't hear his concerns last year. But now, commissioner Chris Switzer says he's asking the Area Plan Commission to get involved. He wants the commission to look into ordinances and laws to hold the property owner accountable.

Switzer wrote in a statement, "This will take an amendment to current zoning regulations, and the commissioners are happy to draft the amendment and advocate for the change on behalf of the community."

Switzer and Scott both told me they are acting in the community's best interests.

"I as Sugar Creek fire chief am going to continue to fight this battle and make sure this is stopped," said Scott.

Switzer also intends to ask the Board of Zoning Appeals for recommendations to prevent this issue in the future.

WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Progress is underway on the Clear Creek Welcome Center in West Terre Haute on I-70 Eastbound at the 2-mile marker.

In May, state and local leaders broke ground on the for a total reconstruction project. It’s part of INDOT’s 10-year plan to improve interstate rest stops and welcome centers. It’s an investment of over 600 million dollars in improvements to 21 rest areas by the end of 2030.

Seth Porter, Vice President of Hannig Construction said new plans will relocate the Welcome Center building to the front of the property. “As you see behind us, I-70 is much clearer. You’ll be able to see the project much clearer from the road.”

The property is already more visible from the interstate as trees are cleared. The foundation just started on the new Welcome Center.

Meg Steward, Marketing and Business Development Director for Hannig Construction said they are about a quarter of the way done with the project.

The center will be roughly 15,000 square feet.

“It’s a cutting-edge building,” Porter said. “The building has Dacron glass which is a very neat prismatic glass. All types of Indy 500 memorabilia in the building. A very unique shape to the building as well, looks kind of slanted, like as you’re going past a flag.”

WTWO’s Jen Thompson was impressed with all that the rest stop is going to offer, “Most of the time when we think of rest stops, we think of people traveling through. And this is the first place when you get into Indiana from Illinois. But what will this mean to local people, because this sounds like a park?” Thompson asked.

“It does. It sounds very much like a park. It’s great,” Porter replied. “I believe it will bring in a lot of the locals to the area. It’s going to be a very large ‘park’ if you will.”

Outside the park, or rest stop, will feature benches and covered seating for visitors to take a break and will also include a walking path made of crushed granite for people to stretch their legs.

And as a highlight for families, Porter said, “There is a playground. Even including a zip line.”

In addition, the property will address safety along I-70 with more truck parking available. There will be a specific area centered toward truck drivers and will include auxiliary restrooms, separate from the welcome center.

As for the welcome center, Steward said, “A few fun features that the Clear Creek Welcome Center will have is a replica of the Borg-Warner Indy 500 trophy. There will also be a replica of the scoring pylon from the Indy 500.”

Hannig Construction is the general contractor on the project and Steward said 60% of the work will be completed by local Wabash Valley contractors including Dennison Trucking, Milestone, B&S Plumbing Heating & Cooling, and Crown Electric. Hannig will also self-perform concrete work and a large portion of other requirements.

“We’re very excited to keep dollars locally, you know, just economic development for our community,” Steward said. “Every time there is a project of this caliber, getting to do it in our backyard is best.”

Hannig Construction expects the entire project to be completed by the end of May 2025.

Darrick Scott will be the next chief of the Terre Haute Fire Department effective Jan. 1, Terre Haute Mayor-elect Brandon Sakbun announced Monday.

Scott is currently chief of the Sugar Creek Fire Department in West Terre Haute, where he started working at in 1988. He also joined Terre Haute’s fire department in 1991. Scott said he plans to continue to work at his neighborhood Sugar Creek department in addition to leading THFD.

“At this time, I’m going to stick with it,” he said. “I have a great management team over there. I feel confident that I can do both jobs. Most firefighters have a part-time job, and [Sugar Creek’s] been my base since 1988. … I hope to be able to serve both communities.”

Earlier this year, Scott received the John Osterloo Award from the Breakfast Optimist Club as its 2023 Firefighter of the Year.

“We’re a team sport here — I didn’t get it myself,” he said. “I’m honored, but I have a whole team behind me.”

As part of the Terre Haute application process, everyone seeking a department head’s position in the Sakbun administration was required to write about their vision of the job and the future.

“My essay said, of course, I need to look at the budget and do an absolute fact-based budget analysis, so I can say this is a budget-based program,” Scott said. “I want to grow our department. I want to make sure we’re diverse, that we’re top-notch in our training and that we provide the best services to the people of Terre Haute.”

He added, “The solid foundation is the men and women of this department, and I guarantee you there will be very little change in the services they provide now, maybe a little better.”

Scott, currently a captain with the Terre Haute department, was informed of his coming promotion at 10:30 Monday, and hadn’t even contacted everyone in his family with the news before it had already proliferated on social media.

He said he was overwhelmed by the number and tenor of congratulatory calls from his colleagues and mentors.

“I don’t want to get emotional, but it’s been very humbling to hear the men and women from the department say ‘Congratulations,’ he said. “All the mentors in my life, I’ve heard from great mentors that called me and congratulated me.”

Scott, 55, called his new position “the final chapter of a good book. It’s my final chapter as far as opening a page and looking at this as being the last chapter of my career. … I spoke at the last recruits’ class, and I told them that I’m absolutely jealous of them because their career is at the dawn, and my career is at the sunset.”

Scott credited his joining in the U.S. Navy as a teenager for providing a “stern foundation” for his career and his time as a Vigo County Councilman from 2002-2010 for making him well-rounded, particularly in terms of looking at a budget.

Sakbun said his team reviewed five applications and conducted more than 10 hours of interviews in seeking the new fire department chief.

“Chief Scott will be value added on day one,” Sakbun said. “He has the experience and passion to lead the men and women on the Terre Haute Fire Department. … Chief Scott and I share a vision of recruiting and retaining the best firefighters, modernizing the department, and providing key services to the residents of Terre Haute.”

Scott graduated from West Vigo High School and Indiana State University. As a member of the THFD, he has served as an arson dog handler, deputy chief and training chief.

Scott and his wife Cami Millie Scott have two daughters, Jordynn and Jaylynn.

Scott replaces Bill Berry, who declined to reapply for the position after Sakbun requested all current department heads do so. Berry said he plans to return to a captain’s post within the THFD.

“Bill did a fantastic job,” Scott said.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at [email protected].

Terre Haute Commissioners dispatched with the business on their agenda fairly quickly on Tuesday morning, giving the bulk of the meeting over to public comments about a controversial upcoming project involving two deep underground injection wells for carbon dioxide in West Terre Haute and Vermillion County.

Wabash Valley Resources LLC, the parent company of Wabash Carbon Services LLC, is seeking permits to operate two deep underground injection wells for carbon dioxide produced at facilities in West Terre Haute and Vermillion County.

That project was the topic of animated discussion during a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency meeting last week, as well as a meeting at Universal Town Hall on Monday.

Some residents say the wells present the potential for groundwater contamination, pipeline rupture and leaks, habitat disruption and even possible seismic activity.

Among the issues discussed Tuesday morning was Indiana Senate Bill 451, which approved a carbon sequestration pilot project, that “will maintain operations only in Vigo and Vermillion counties.”

Residents and commissioners were unhappy that the state wrested control from the local community to allow a project that critics say could create a number of potential environmental hazards.

After the meeting, Commissioner Mark Clinkenbeard said, “Obviously, I’m for local government being involved. It sounds like we are not involved with this, so we have a lot of work to do — a lot of investigating and we’ll get with our state legislators and see what we can do to address the situation.”

In June, Keyrock Energy withdrew a request for rezoning land in West Terre Haute for two methane drilling wells, which would have invited similar environmental concerns.

Susan Strole-Kos, a New Goshen resident whose family has owned a small farm there for nearly 200 years, led those raising their voices Tuesday in concern over the project and urging residents and commissioners alike to fight and convince legislators to vote to rescind the bill.

“If this leaks, it could ruin our water systems [throughout] Terre Haute and [parts of] Illinois,” she said, citing research that suggested the effects of a project of this size could extend over hundreds of miles.

Wabash Carbon Services has promised that the injection wells would be responsible for creating about 200 new jobs. Strole-Kos said she was in favor of generating new employment opportunities, but asked, “When does risk outweigh benefit?”

After the meeting, Strole-Kos said as soon as she heard about the EPA meeting a few weeks ago, she began looking into the perils of underground injection wells for carbon dioxide.

“I researched for hours and hours and hours — literally sometimes 12 hours a day,” she said, adding that she’s pored over the state and federal government’s energy pages, as well as scientific studies from the U.S. and Norway, which has studied the issue for longer than the U.S.

She added that the EPA admitted to working only from data provided by Wabash Valley Resources. If the plan proceeds as planned, the injection wells are projected to be up and running by 2026.

Senate Bill 451 states that if the operator of the carbon sequestration pilot project is not issued a Class VI permit by the EPA, it will expire on July 1, 2028.

The next meeting on the subject is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Fayette Elementary School at 9400 N. Beech Place, West Terre Haute.

Other county business

In other business, commissioners voted on a resolution accepting state public health funding.

Vigo County Health Department Administrator Joni Wise told the commissioners that the state had doubled Vigo County’s previous funding amount to about $2 million.

Commissioners also voted to accept the workman’s compensation insurance contract, which rose $96,000 over 2022, as well as the liability insurance contract, which rose by a more modest 10%.

Also Tuesday, commissioners appointed George Heubel to a four-year term on the Vigo County Public Library board.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at [email protected].

In May of last year, Katie Hartman and Nick Rubinacci ventured into the world of hobby farming. The young couple purchased a property in West Terre Haute that is now known by many as Old 40 Farm. Today, Katie and Nick care for more than 60 animals, including goats, chicken, ducks and more.

Visitors can get up close and personal with the animals by participating in their many fun event opportunities like goat yoga, field trips, “Cuddles and Canvas,” “Goatflix” and more.

Katie participated in 4-H as a child for nine years. “I had horses and actually only had one goat who we did not show,” she said. “My eldest daughter first experienced goat yoga with her aunt, my sister, in Florida. When we took a trip in March 2021 we participated in goat yoga and it was shortly after that I created a goal to bring goat yoga to our area. We bought the property and quickly worked the steps of our goal to reach the point we are at.”

The idea of Cuddles & Canvas (painting with the goats) came along by combining two things she loves: goats and art. “I read somewhere that you should take things you enjoy and put them together in order to create a job that you will love,” Katie said.

This Earth Day, my family and I had an opportunity to experience goat yoga for the very first time while visiting their location.

The morning yoga session was conducted in an intimate barn for children ages 4-12. Running from commitment to commitment as most young families do, my husband and I chuckled as we watched our 4-year-old son, Levi, sporting his t-ball uniform while doing his sun salutations. Completely unaware of why he was standing on a yoga mat on a floor of sawdust, Levi waited below as nearly one dozen goats began hobbling down from the staircase above. Our son smiled in awe as bleating goats of all sizes and colors hopped in his lap for welcoming cuddles.

Though a spectator, his 2-year-old brother, Beau, joined in on the fun, with baby goats as young as 5 days old admiring his similar small stature. Owner Katie was close by, sure to get some memorable photos for us throughout the experience and show each child how to properly hold a goat. For those goats with horns, participants need not worry, as each horn was dressed in a bright yellow tennis ball to prevent any unwanted pokes.

After our yoga session, each visitor followed Katie and her team through a tour of the farm, seeing the animal enclosures and garden, which were both well-hydrated by the collected rainwater from their rain barrels. After the tour, children and their families completed a worksheet quizzing each of them on what they had learned from visiting the farm.

It was a perfect way to celebrate Earth Day, teaching children the sustainable measures Katie and Nick had thoughtfully designed to care for their garden and many farm animals. As a perfect end to the event, each child scavenged through a sensory bin to find a toy farm animal to take home, as well as cartoon goat stickers.

Our boys look back fondly on their memory of Old 40 Farm each time they see their goat stickers on their car seats and rubber toy goats in their cup holders as we drive to our next family commitment.

You and your loved ones should also enjoy their many other family-friendly events happening throughout the year at 4901 W. Old U.S. 40 in West Terre Haute.