Meetings on Monday

I missed the big event of the weekend, the Rock the Arts, because I was out of town. How did it go?

When I left on Friday, I noticed that GRG Auto Repair was having its gas tanks removed. When I came back on Monday, it looked like the work was almost finished.

Last week the Teen Mission was busy around town. Among the things they did were a floor for a greenhouse at CDC Resources, weeding in the community garden, and projects at the Jasper County Youth Center.

The Pulaski County Economic Development  had an interesting article about Gutwein Popcorn. It can be seen here: http://www.pulaskionline.org/images/stories/pdf/pcedd3-2.pdf

On Monday I attended a short (35 minute) city council meeting. An ordinance for an new electric lighting rate that involved LEDs but which I did not understand passed first reading. I think the council has to have a public hearing on it and pass it again before it takes effect.

The council approved gas line extensions along Eger Road (9200 feet), Wood Road (4200 feet) and Amsler Road (2200 feet). 

The mayor recommended a 3% raise for city employees for the upcoming fiscal year and his recommendation passed.

The utility office manager wanted to use an on-line service to check the utility payment records of new customers. If they had not been reliable payers for past utilities, they would be charged a high-risk deposit of $125 rather than the standard deposit of $75. This past year the utility wrote off $13000 of unpaid bills, and this would, in the opinion of the utility manager, reduce that amount in the future. The council approved the request of the utility office manager.

The future of the Hoosier State Amtrak service is in doubt because Indianapolis no longer wants to subsidize the line. It is possible that the Hoosier State will cease on October 1.

The council approved a $500 donation to the Jasper County Community Services as a result of the presentation given the council at its last meeting. The money would come from the $7500 that has been approved for donations.

Councilman Barton wanted the city to sponsor a team at the Jasper County Economic Development Organization's golf outing in August. $280 was approved from the PR fund.

Coffee with a Cop is coming up next week. Citizens are invited to meet with police officers at four restaurants to voice any concerns that they have. This event is a replacement for the National Night Out that has been held for several past years.

Progress is being made in the 69K power switchover, and it may be completed in September. 

The early completion of the council meeting meant there was plenty of time to get to the Jasper County Planning and Development Commission meeting in the Court House. There was only one item on the agenda, a rezoning of a parcel of land along US 231 north of SR 14 from A1 to A4. The request was for the Davis Veterinary Clinic, which has outgrown their present quarters about a mile to the east. Mr Davis remarked that he was getting to meet a whole lot of people that he did not know existed in the process of getting approval to build.