Some forgettable meetings

The weather has been unseasonably cold and I have not wanted to work outside, so I have gone to some meetings that I might otherwise ignore.

Last week I attended the Jasper Newton Joint Drainage Board meeting. The only topic on the agenda was the clearing of the ditch in the northwest corner of the county that drains DeMotte but empties into the Kankakee River in Newton County. NIPSCO has utility poles on the bank of the ditch that have to be removed to clean the ditch, but the power line serves a pump that a farmer has, and NIPSCO is obliged to serve him. They have proposed boring the line underground on the banks of the ditch, and that was approved by the Board. Complicating the planning was a property owner who did not want equipment to be on his bank of the ditch and the DNR, which has wetland restrictions that must be followed.

On Monday I caught most of the Animal Control Board meeting. The meeting did not have a quorum so no business could be done and the agenda was tabled until the next meeting. On the agenda were an aggressive dog adoption policy, owner surrender policy, bylaws, and a vacancy on the board. The director gave his report (17 cats and 17 dogs came in, most went out to adoption or rescue, 3 animals were euthanized because they were sick). The next meeting is May 9. The meetings are less interesting now that the extreme hostility has faded away. There are still members of the public who attend, which is a bit unusual for public meetings. (I was the only outsider at the other three meeting mentioned here.)

The Alcoholic Beverage Review Board had a very short meeting on Tuesday morning. It had only two members present, but that is enough for a quorum. They approved a license for a new bar/tavern that will be opening in the DeMotte area. (Their approval is sent to the state for final approval, so the license will not be issued for about a month.) The meeting took about five minutes.

Speaking of bars, a few days ago I was trying to find something in an old issue of the newspaper and stumbled on this on the first page of either the March 10 or March 17, 1900 Jasper County Democrat:

A final meeting was the Jasper County Commission of Public Records. I see from what I wrote about last year's meeting is that I forgot the important lesson from that meeting.

As I have ventured out of town, I noticed that frost law signs are up. If you are unaware of how they are enforced, they might be confusing.

Tomorrow night the Republican Party is having a "Meet the Candidates" event. Primary elections are coming up in a few weeks and there should be a lot of interest in the top of the ticket in both parties. At the county level there are only three contested races, all on the Republican side.

TREASURER Donya G Jordan, Tammy McEwan

COUNCILMEMBERS, AT-LARGE - VOTE FOR 3
*Andrew Andy Andree,  *Gerrit H DeVries, *John T Price, Brett Risner

REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION DELEGATES, DISTRICT 1-VOTE FOR 3
Gerrit H DeVries, Richard O “Rick” Kallenbach, Paul C Norwine, John T Price

The asterisks indicate incumbents. The complete list of candidates can be found at
http://www.jaspercountyin.gov/egov/documents/1457714349_32355.pdf

Some people have voted already--early voting can be done on the second floor of the Court House.