Jay to ask for Eastern (9/13/05)

Based on input they’ve received thus far, it’s a decision that isn’t likely to generate much protest.

Jay County Commissioners, who have said all along they support remaining in the Eastern time zone, voted Monday to make that stance official.

Less than a handful of people expressed their preference during a three-hour public hearing Monday, but Commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Faron Parr and Gary Theurer said that “99 percent” of those submitting written or oral opinions over the past three weeks have favored Eastern time.

The commissioners will send a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation expressing their preference.

Indiana will begin observing Daylight Saving Time in March. If, as expected, Jay and most other Indiana counties remain on Eastern time, those counties would be on the same time as Ohio year-round.

Clocks will be moved forward one hour in the early spring, and back one hour in the fall.

Currently, 82 of Indiana’s 92 counties are in the Eastern time zone. A total of 12 counties — all in the western one-third of Indiana — have voted to request a switch to Central time from Eastern. The department of transportation will make its decisions based largely on economic factors and commuting patterns.

The Indiana General Assembly narrowly approved a bill this year mandating observance of Daylight Saving Time. It was left up to individual counties, just as the practice has been since the current time zones were established in the 1960s, to request a change in time zones.

Counties such as Jay, which did not wish to switch zones, were not required to hold hearings or to express a preference.

Brian Bergsma, director of small business and economic development for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, told the commissioners Monday that “our basic position is to keep the time zone lines right where they are.”

Bergsma said that statistics show that the majority of Indiana’s economic ties are in the Eastern time zone. He also said that issues of traffic safety, lower crime rates and energy savings give the Eastern zone an advantage — especially for counties in eastern Indiana.

“Eastern Daylight Saving Time maximizes the advantage of daylight,” said Bergsma.

Also appearing in support of remaining on Eastern time during Monday afternoon’s hearing was Randy Ballinger, representing the Eastern Region Tourism/Marketing Cooperative and the Indiana Golf Course Owners Association.

Ballinger said both groups strongly support remaining in the Eastern zone.

Under Eastern DST in mid-June, the sun would not set in Jay County until approximately 9:12 p.m., and the sky would not be completely dark until nearly 10 p.m.

In other business Monday, the commissioners heard Jay County Engineer Dan Watson say that he and highway superintendent Ken Wellman are considering switching to a soydiesel to fuel the county’s highway department trucks.

Watson said a representative from a soydiesel supplier is visiting the highway department this week. The price for the soydiesel, normally a few cents more expensive per gallon, is currently the same as regular diesel fuel.

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