End of year meetings

The County Council resumed a continued meeting on Wednesday evening. It rather quickly approved the 2019 pay for the Sheriff by amending the salary ordinance. There is another step that I did not catch that will have to be done in February. It was determined that the 60% pay rate is based only on what the State pays the prosecuting attorney. The amount budgeted for 2019 is about $2000 less than the new salary. The contract otherwise was identical to the contract that Sheriff Risner has presented for the past eight years and it, too, was approved.
The Council then spent twenty or thirty minutes discussing a variety of issues. They wondered how to structure tax abatement for the proposed solar park. Normally they tie the abatement to jobs created but this project will not create jobs. Its major benefit to the County will be tax revenue, and a tax abatement reduces that. They noted that Jasper County has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state. There was some discussion of the renovation of the former PNC building. There are two companies considering proposals. Andrew Andree noted that it would be a great winter job since it is all inside. He also suggested that the County needed a Building and Grounds committee with authority to spend small sums to get things done quickly. There was a brief mention of the addiction treatment house west of town that opened this year. It has sent about 15 people on to the Elkhart facility.

On Friday the Rensselaer City Council met for its final 2018 meeting. It was short and not very interesting. The Council passed an ordinance that increases the pay firemen receive for going on a run. It also passed a series of ordinances that take off the books meter deposits of people who no longer have an account but did not claim their deposits. The total for the four utilities of gas, electric, water, and sewer was about $21,000. If anyone who is owned a deposit asks for it, he will get it, but the action suggests that the City does not think most of that money will ever be claimed.

Next there was a motion to carry over purchase orders made in 2018 to 2019, paying them from the 2018 appropriations. There were eight companies mentioned that will be receiving payment in this way. The Council approved one transfer of funds and a small decrease in the electric tracker that will save about 34¢ for the typical utility bill.

The School Resource officer and the Mayor requested that the Council approve a joint project with the Rensselaer Schools to buy a book for all fifth graders that stresses character--honesty, fidelity, etc. This is part of a program that replaces the DARE program. It will have two year trial period. The Council approved spending $585 each year for the program.

There was only one announcement, and that was that the Fire Department's aerial truck  did not pass its pump test. If the water tanks have to be drained to prevent them from freezing, the pumps will not work when they are refilled because the pump priming mechanism has failed. A repairman will look at the problem next week and early estimates are that the cost of repair may be between $1200 and $5000. With that the meeting adjourned.

I have been very impressed with how quickly the walls have been going up at the Autumn Trace site. The picture below was taken Wednesday and shows the view looking to the west from Cooperative School Services.

Have a Merry Christmas.

PS: Friday is the solstice. Days now start getting longer, though it is hard to notice for several weeks.