“I feel I can work with and relate to people,” he said. “I can talk to anybody. I would like to ensure that our town remains as a safe and healthy environment to be a resident of.”

Morris is married to Plainville native Raya (Hinkle) and has two young sons. He coaches baseball and soccer and attends Cornettsville United Methodist Church.

His opponent, Kevin Shake, said he is running for the office because he thinks he “could do a pretty decent job.”

Shake attended North Daviess High School and has worked in construction and building supplies since he was a teenager. He also managed the lumberyard at Rogers Group in Bloomfield for several years, where he gained experience in accounts payable and budgeting.

Shake thinks the current town council has worked well to keep expenses and sewer rates low, and he hopes they get the grant.

“(They) really worked hard trying to get the grant for the sewer system,” he said. “They’ve kept within the budget and worked well to keep sewer rates down.”

Shake said he wants to see the town use I-69 and a new Duke Energy plant that might be built in Edwardsport as springboards to bring new businesses in the area. He also wants the town to buy some better snow removal equipment and do some upkeep at the park, if the council can find the funds.

He has a daughter who’s a junior at the University of Evansville and a son who’s a sophomore at North Daviess High School. He has been married to Angie (Heshelman) for 26 years.

Plainville Ward 2

Incumbent Richard “Dick” Heshelman has served on the town board since the first of this year, when he filled in for a former town board member who resigned. He was graduated from Odon High School and retired from Hoover after 34 years. He moved to Plainville in 1960 after marrying his wife, Sandra (Eskew), a Washington native.

Heshelman said he took the position because someone was needed, and he had the time to put in for the town. Since then, he has enjoyed the experience working on the sewer upgrades to meet new state regulations.

He said the town will know by the first part of November if it will get the $500,000 grant for sewer system upgrades, and the town will only have to pay a small amount in matching funds. He also pointed to the need for economic revitalization in the town.

“We’ve been losing a little ground, and I want to see it at least level off and start the other way,” he said.

Heshelman’s opponent, Todd Knepp, decided to run for office out of “a combination of frustration and a combination of the opportunities I see we have and are not taking advantage of,” Knepp said.

Knepp was born and reared in Epsom, attended Plainville schools and graduated from North Daviess. He lived out of town for six years but has returned with experience, having served on a condominium board in another state, and with a vested interest in the well-being of his hometown.