Taste is returning

Monday's City Council meeting had a large crowd. Included were Boy Scouts from Brook. I am not sure why they attended.

There were several Citizen's Comments before the Council got to its main agenda. Barb Lucas representing the Prairie Arts Council requested and received permission to use Potawotamie Park for the Sixth Annual Rock the Arts Festival. It will be earlier this year, on June 22. Brienne Hooker of the Jasper-Newton Foundation highlighted some of the projects that the Foundation has supported. Team Mission Jasper County helps a lot of people during a week in the summer and the Foundation has given them money for construction materials. Community Services has joined with Phil's Friends to make blankets for local cancer patients. An elementary school PE teacher has designed a Run for Fun program that has raised about $5000 for the local food pantry. The Lilly Foundation is matching gifts to the Foundation's Community Funds on a 2 for 1 basis during this and next year.

The Safe Kids Halloween program that sponsors the Trunk or Treat Program is joining with Fenwick Brewery to revive the Taste of Rensselaer event. The parties involved requested use of the City parking lot south of Fenwick's and also part of Front Street for the event and it was approved. Taste of Rensselaer will happen on June 8.

The first item on the main agenda was the gas tracker. It will be a five cent decrease per hundred cubic feet for the March billings. The Council retroactively approved a USDA budget submission that has to be done every year. (I did not understand what this one was about.) Action on a City Hall recording system was tabled to the next meeting. The Gas Department submitted two quotes for a new welding truck and one, from Gutwein Motors, was approved. About 80 trees, mostly ash trees, need to be removed from City right-of-ways and approval was granted for getting quotes for removing them. A request for money from the public relations account to be used to help fund the purchase of flags that will displayed along US231 from the Bowling Alley to Vine Street was approved. The flags will be displayed on Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veteran's Day, and Memorial Day.

The mayor reported that he has had calls about utilities using the City's right-of-way. He and Mr Miller explained that Federal and State agencies want to encourage broadband in rural communities and the State has decided a way to do that is to limit what local governments can do on the matter. A committee reported that moving the Clerk-Treasurer's office to the old police station could be done for about $8000. The Council approved their proceeding to obtain  quotes for the work needed (painting and removing a non-load-bearing wall).

Support for the dispatch software that the Police Department uses will be discontinued in a year or two and the Police Department will find out how the County plans to adjust. The Department has completed interviews for a dispatcher to fill a vacancy and will make an offer this week. It is in the process of filling an opening for a patrolman and there is the possibility that another patrolman will leave. If he does, they may fill both positions from the one pool.

The Council approved buying new shades to replace those in the utility office. Some of the blinds are broken and cannot be repaired. Kenny Haun reported that the Fire Department had received its new command truck and it is in operation. In his role as building commissioner he said that there were a couple of neglected or unsafe structures that he is working on getting torn down. The process to do so it long and involved. There is an unsafe building committee that has not met for some time and it is unclear if the people on it still want to serve.

Well #8 has reached substantial completion (which means that it is in operation). There is still some grass to be planted and final completion is scheduled for March 17. With no further business or announcements, the meeting adjourned.

Beavers have been active downstream from Weston Cemetery. Below are a couple of pictures showing what they have been up to.

The weather has turned from bitterly cold to seasonal. The Great Lakes reached their maximum ice coverage on March 9 when they were 80.9% covered. Lakes Michigan and Ontario never had much ice but Superior and Huron were largely iced over. Now that the temperatures are a bit higher, the ice is rapidly receding because much of it was quite thin. It was a cold winter.

The Community Garden had its organizational meeting on Monday night. If you would like a plot, contact the Extension Office on North McKinley.

Correction: The event is Taste of Jasper County, not Taste of Rensselaer.