Two meetings

The County Commissioners met for their final meeting of 2013 on Monday morning (December 23). Most of the agenda was for routine items: approving the payment of bills, signing documents, and authorizing hiring to fill vacant positions. The Commissioners have the authority to appoint people to a long list of boards and commissions, and part of the meeting was devoted to mostly continuing on people already on those boards, things like Alcohol Beverage Commission, Animal Control Board, Airport Authority, Zoning Appeals Board, Community Corrections Advisory Board, Fair Board, Health Board, Hospital Board, Hospital Association Building Authority, Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission, Development Committee, Redevelopment Committee, Tourism Commission, Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District, Plan Commission, Kankakee River Basin Commission, Rensselaer Community Disability Commission, Review Board for Common Nuisance, Workforce Development Board, DeMotte Planning Commission, and several more that I did not catch. (Some of the above titles may not be correct.)

Opening of bids was scheduled for 10:00, and the meeting was paused for about half an hour to allow that schedule to be met. I wandered around and took a picture of the open staircase, which is a striking feature of the court house.

When the meeting resumed, bids for five categories were opened: tires and tire repair; stone; sand and other fill materials; hauling; and equipment rental. There were two or three bids to provide some of the items. All bids were approved, which I think means is that the county will be able to purchase from any of the vendors who submitted bids.

The public was represented by a reporter from the paper, one concerned citizen from the DeMotte area who attends a lot of these meetings, and me.

In the afternoon the Rensselaer City Council held its last meeting of the year. It was short (about 20 minutes), with a number of housekeeping items that had to be dealt with. I thought there were three interesting things in the meeting. First, there was an update on the problems with the firehouse, which has a void under much of its floor. The problem exists because the building was built over rubble and the rubble has settled over the years and continues to settle. The problem with the floor is not a new one; twice since the building was built it has had concrete pumped in to fill voids. The remedy of pumping again will likely cost $15,000 to $20,000. At present the heavy firetrucks cannot be left in the firehouse--they are parked in the gas department building. The proposal to pump again subject to money being available passed unanimously. The long range solution is to build a new firehouse but that will probably take four or five years.

Second was a motion to establish an economic revitalization area for the Indiana Municipal Power Association, which wants to build a solar panel power facility at the east end of Maple Street. (Preliminary construction has already begun, apparently because some funding depended on it starting in 2013.) The purpose of this motion is to set the stage for tax abatement. IMPA owns an eleven acre parcel, of which eight acres are usable. (The parcel has a ditch on two sides.)

Finally, there was a bit of discussion of potholes. I noticed them on US 231 in the south part of town, but apparently the weather has been conducive to their formation.