More stuff from meetings

Tuesday was a beautiful spring day, warm enough to be comfortable outside without a jacket. I have not seen a crocus yet, but I would not be surprised if there some blooming in Rensselaer.

Monday’s post began a report on this month’s Commissioners’ meeting, which continues here. After discussing and approving some of the changes to the the county UDO, the Commissioners heard a report about tourism. The Tourism Commission will purchase one of the fiberglass bison that United Way is promoting for the bicentennial. They wanted to know where the Commissioners would like to have it placed permanently once it has been painted and decorated. There was no decision made, but it may end up inside the Court House. They also reported that there will be a meeting on March 29 to determine torch bearers. The 39 nominees need to be cut down to 20.

A member of the public gave the Commissioners a court order that said that the rezoning permitting a shooting preserve in Jasper County was incorrectly granted and asked the Commissioners to enforce it.

A representative from Omni Forge in Remington expressed concern about enforcement of the frost law. Their business requires several heavily loaded semis to travel to and from the plant using about three fourths of a mile of county road. In the discussion of the frost law, the Commissioners said that they still had not worked out all the details. They did not want to discourage business but also did not want to have the extreme damage to roads that they have had in the past. They seemed to want businesses that need to use the roads to be willing to repair damage on the roads they use, and if they are willing to do that, they will have no objection to giving them a permit exempting them from the law.

Sections of Interstate 65 will be resurfaced and the county can receive or buy the grindings from the process. There was a brief discussion of what they should do. It was noted that the construction on the intersection north of Remington was for an over pass bridge.

There was a concern about drones flying near the court house. Recently a college student flew a drone around the court house on the weekend to take pictures. Expect an ordinance restricting drones around the court house with a permitting process to allow some drones, such as those that a contractor might use to inspect the roof or other parts of the building.

In the afternoon the Drainage Board met. The item that took the most time was a discussion about moving some NIPSCO poles on the bank of a ditch that will be cleaned. I did not have enough background information to understand what the issues were. A more interesting item was a proposed drainage pond for a truck stop at the I-65/SR 10 intersection west of DeMotte. I think this is planned for the large empty lot on the southwest corner of the intersection. Apparently rumors of the project have been floating for many months and the Drainage Board hearing was the first in a number of regulatory hearings the project will need to undergo. The first phase, the truck stop, may be started this year. There is also a potential second phase planned that could include a motel and three restaurants, one a Dunkin Donuts, another a sit-down restaurant, and I did not catch the third.

As the meeting ended, there was mention of a recent land sale at the I-65/SR 114 intersection and some speculation about what that might portend.

A final meeting of the day was a Rensselaer Park Board meeting in the evening. It was fairly short and mostly inconclusive. The transfer of the Staddon Field land from the School Board to the Jasper Foundation has not yet taken place. Apparently the title work has been finished but there is some uncertainty about the location of the property line between Jordans and Park and the matter is in the hands of lawyers. That fact that the transfer has not been finalized stops motion on other things and results in frustrated Park Board members.

It was mentioned that there is no sewer line that serves Bicentennial Park, which makes the installation of toilets difficult and that in turn limits the usefulness of that park.