By Carol Anders Staff Writer
PLYMOUTH — During a meeting held on Tuesday night, the Union-North School board officially appointed former Plymouth High School coach Jack Edison as a “volunteer boys varsity basketball coach.” Edison retiredin 2007 as head basketball coach for Plymouth after 34 years of coaching and his second state championship.
His son, Michael, was named his successor. However, Michael Edison later resigned and was subsequently hired as the head coach at LaVille Jr.-Sr. High School.

Jack Edison then threw his name into the running when John Scott, who had taken over the Plymouth interim coaching position after Michael Edison’s resignation, announced that he did not want to continue as the head coach. But, Edison’s return to Plymouth from retirement was not to be.
Jack Edison continues to teach at PHS.
Questions concerning the teaching position at LaVille that Michael Edison holds were also a topic of discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting.
Edison was hired to teach in a credit recovery program that was just instituted this school year at LaVille. A patron at the board meeting questioned how Edison could oversee the credit recovery program and still be the head basketball coach. He said, “The person we put in this job is the basketball coach. I thought this was going to be after school?”
He added, “We’re paying someone a salary to do this job. It’s double dipping.”
“I think the whole thing was to get a basketball coach.”
Assistant Principal Chuck Philips said, “I run it in the mornings and afternoons until 4:15 or so.” After the meeting, Phillips told a reporter Edison covers the program from the first period to the sixth period, with the seventh period being Edison’s planning period.
Board President Larry Ort said, “We have been planning on this (credit recovery) for two years, long before Edison.”
There are 54 students in the program from the LaVille School and seven from John Glenn High School at this time, according to Phillips.
Ort said, “The John Glenn kids are paying their own way to come over here for credit recovery.”
Construction update
Despite the fact that Union-North patron George Moffett has filed a petition for judicial review of a final determination of the Indiana Board of Tax Review concerning the proposed $19.6 million building project for the corporation, the board voted unanimously to approve the following resolution: “To authorize the Skillman Corporation to proceed  the construction phase as described in the AIA contract; and specifically withhold authorization to the Skillman Corporation to complete any work beyond the construction phase.”
They also voted unanimously to approve a similar resolution for Hebard & Hebard Architects.
Both companies continue to work on the project.
The board heard presentations from both Brad Skillman and Richard Hebard prior to the votes of authorization to proceed.
Skillman said there is a meeting scheduled for next week concerning procuring access onto U.S. 31 from the proposed building site for a new intermediate school. Hebard said, “Right now we just have a placeholder in the budget.”
Moffett filed his petition for review Oct. 7. He said, “I hope to halt or at least slow down the project.”
Moffett is contesting the decision of DLGF (Depart-ment Local Government Financing) commissioner Cheryl Musgrave that was made on or about September 20. Moffett believes that the decision of the commissioner was in error and will result in negative financial hardships to the citizens of the townships.
In the petition document, Moffett said, “As a taxpayer, I cannot afford a lawyer and being disabled and on limited income, this is my last opportunity to be heard and seek the relief I pray for in this petition.”
Union-North School Corp-oration Attorney, Kenneth Lukenbill, advised the board of the petition prior to the vote to proceed.
Authorization was also unanimously approved for the issuance of a bond anticipation notes. Jeff Gifford, representing Umbaugh & Associates, explained that the bonds would be sold on Friday. The authorization is for costs already incurred and those that will be incurred through the end of the year on the project. The amount is not-to-exceed $1,285,000.

Board member Rob Swathwood reviewed the bills that have been paid or are about to be paid in regard to the building project. Swathwood said that $29,911.64 was paid to Ice Miller, for expenses in regard to the lawsuit filed on the building project. An additional $5,678 was paid to Lukenbill for his assistance to Ice Miller on the matter.
$157,150.51 has been expended to Hebard & Hebard Architects for the first phase of the project (schematic design phase).
Other expenses of $37,233.38 have been paid as well. According to Swathwood, the figure includes additional expense for the attorney in the remonstrance and other fees for the project.
$9,800 of that total will be used to pay for fire doors that have to be replaced at the high school due to a recent fire marshal inspection.

Board member Dave Albert also asked that the board clarify the cost of the building project at the end of a twenty-year period would total. Albert said there were rumors that the total could reach $40 million. Albert said, “The annual payment of $1,478 million over twenty years only comes to $29,560 million.”

In other matters, the board approved an Athletic Trainer Agreement between the Memorial Hospital of South Bend and Union-North School Corporation, from August 1, 2008 through July 30, 2009. In past years, the fees have been paid for by a private benefactor. The annual fee of $12,000 will come from the General Fund.