City council meeting 12/8/2014

The City Council meeting on Monday evening was unusually short, lasting only twenty minutes. Only three of the five council members were present. Attendance of the public was also unusually light.

The gas tracker ordinance will raise gas prices two cents per hundred cubic feet, reversing the two cent decrease in November. The council passed a Federal Medical Leave request that was not explained to those of us not in the loop. The most significant bit of business was a request coming from many, but not all, of the city employees to switch the city holiday on December 24 to December 26, giving city workers a four day weekend. The manager of the utility office objected, saying that some of her people had already made plans based on the existing calendar, but the council passed the change on a 3-0 vote.

One of the council members wondered if anything was being done to add mention of the 2014 2A football championship to the welcoming signs at the four main roads into Rensselaer. He was told that the city is working on that. The representative for the police department said that the department had taken delivery of a new vehicle and had traded in the old one, The city project coordinator reported that bids for the extension of the Drexel Park road will be opened on January 12 and that he will be discussing with INDOT plans for the Washington Street Bridge.