Revisiting SJC

Signs of spring keep appearing. Turkey vultures are back. The thermometer hit 60 degrees on Thursday. Sap is rising in the maple trees. A few days ago multiple flocks of sandhill cranes flew high overhead. Some heavy rains passed through the area on Thursday and we had high winds.

And today we had snow falling.

On Thursday evening JCEDO sponsored a workshop called "Supporting Small Businesses in Rensselaer." From the title I was not sure if my attendance would be appropriate (I do have some small businesses, but they are hobby-businesses, not real businesses; this blog is an example), but when I mentioned my concern to JCEDO Director Stephen Eastridge, he said that I should attend.

The meeting was in Room 108 of the Core Building, which was a computer lab when I taught at SJC but was remodeled either shortly before I retired or shortly after.

The workshop was not a how-to-do discussion but rather focused on the overall environment for business in Rensselaer. The discussion facilitator did, however, have one tip for business owners. She noted that in preparing to come to Rensselaer, she pulled up Google Maps to look for a coffee shop. She found the Little Coffee Shop on 231 and noted that the owners had claimed the profile and filled it out. She said that was something every business owner should do. It is free and it is often the introduction people have to a business.

The people attending were then divided into two groups and asked to list strengths and weakness that Rensselaer had for small business or businesses in general. Among the strengths that people mentioned were location near I-65 and transportation links, being the county seat, the hospital, media (local radio and newspaper), nearness to Fair Oaks Farms, reasonable cost of living, utility infrastructure, Internet access (though lacking in some rural areas), and the library. Among the weaknesses listed were limited shopping, limited early child care, sketchy public transportation, the current state of Saint Joseph's College, and poor aesthetics downtown.

The discussion then turned to actions that could be taken to improve things. Suggestions were listed and then people were allowed to vote on those they thought were best, with each person getting three votes. The results are shown below.

The event was interesting but it remains to be seen if anything will come of it.

I did pick up some good news and bad news that residents of Rensselaer should find interesting. First the good news. For much of April, May, and June the daily parade of garbage trucks going through Rensselaer will cease.

Now for the bad news. The reason that the garbage trucks will not be coming through Rensselaer is that INDOT will be replacing the bridge or culvert over the Yeoman ditch that is just to the east of Kentucky Fried Chicken (or to the West of Dairy Queen). That means that to get the interstate from Rensselaer you will go on 114 to CR 850 W (next to Memory Gardens), go south a mile, then west on CR 600 S to CR 1000 W, then north to SR 114, and then east back to the Interstate. That will inconvenience a lot of people.

Trying to check this out, I found a map of the upcoming road projects for INDOT. You can see the dot on the map for this bridge project, but it is not in the right place. Searching for the project number leads to the identification of the bridge as "Bridge over Sayler Ditch, 0.41 mi. E of I-65" and a bit further search leads to this report on the bridge.