Start of March meetings 2020

There were several items related to electrical power generation on the agendas of the Commissioners and the Drainage Board meetings on Monday. The rezone from A1 to I2 recommended by the Plan Commission for a proposed electrical plant generating with natural gas was approved. A representative for the plant said that they might find out this week if they have been selected by NIPSCO as a supplier.

Later in the meeting the Commissioners voted to oppose an amendment offered in the State Legislature that would cap property values of solar farms at three times the value of the land when used for agriculture. Senator Buchanan offered the amendment when one of the Counties he represents complained that a potential solar project had pulled out because they feared the property taxes would be too high. However, Jasper County has already given a tax abatement for a potential solar farm that only makes sense in the absence of this amendment.

The Drainage Board meeting had a request to vacate a regulated drain from a representative of a company called Solar Pack. The drain in question is a tile that was installed in 1917 and no one is sure if it still works. It goes through property that Solar Pack would like to use for solar panels and it would affect placement because the tile would have a 75 foot easement. This project is the potential solar farm in the Kniman area. The concern of the Board was that there might be private drains that connect to this regulated drain. There will be a public hearing on the matter at the June 1 meeting.

There were many other items discussed at Monday's meetings. The Commissioners accepted the negative recommendation for the rezone from A1 to A4 for an event venue in Wheatfield Township. There was a comment that the person who requested the rezone may be looking for a different location. A request from Community Corrections to change vendors for electronic monitoring was accepted. There are three vacancies on the Corrections Board and none were filled. Community Corrections needs to update its fire alarms because they are obsolete and the Commissioners delayed action until they can determine if it would be best if all County properties use  the same vendor.

Little Cousin Jasper was given permission to use the Court House lawn for its festival on September 11-12-13. A featured attraction this year will be a tight-rope walker. The Commissioners also approved use of the lawn for the Colts event on June 3 if the planners decide that the lawn is the best place for it. The event will take place in the evening and might bring in between 1000 and 3000 people. The Rensselaer Farmers Market was granted approval from May 2 to October 30.

The Planning Department wants to update the County UDO that is 11 years old. It requested and was granted $10,000 to contract with Purdue University to get started by gathering data needed for the update.

The Sheriff has two merit deputies who have left or will leave for more lucrative jobs and was given permission to replace them with people working in the jail. Then the Commissioners approved hiring two new jail officers. A long discussion followed about software. The Sheriff had issued a request for proposals and had received two responses, one from Spillman and the other from Central Square. Spillman has high initial costs but low annual costs and Central Square has low initial costs but high annual costs, so they are not easily compared. The Sheriff would have liked permission to proceed with Spillman but the Commissioners were not ready to approve that. Instead they told him to take the matter to the County Council meeting and explain to them exactly how it will be financed.

The bike route discussed at last month's meeting was approved; it is part of a longer bike route though Indiana and other states. The last item of note that was discussed was golf cart usage in subdivisions. After some back and forth with members of the audience, it was decided that Commissioner's attorney will revise the draft ordinance to include an annual sticker with a fee that will be granted when an owner certifies that his or her golf cart is street legal (headlight, brake lights, and turn signals).

The Drainage Board meeting had a sizable crowd who were mostly there for a public hearing on increasing the maintenance fund for the King Lawler Wuerthner drainage. This is a small watershed just west of Rensselaer. One person who spoke complained that FEMA had put his house into the flood plain. He was told that FEMA has done that to quite a few County residents and the proper response is to hire a surveyor to show that the residence has enough elevation to not need flood insurance. After several other comments, some of which said that work needed to be done because water was no longer draining well, the Board approved a fee of $10 per acre and $25 per lot.

Next was a bid opening for contracted spray maintenance. There were two bids, with the low bid about 60% of the high bid. The low bid was accepted.

KV Schools plans to build a Halftime Building that will house lockers and some offices. It will add a trivial amount of runoff to that created by the existing impervious surfaces and the drainage plan was approved. KV may build an activities center in the future.

Finally, Remington is extending a water main to the White County line and will cross a County drain. It will be drilled five feet below the bottom of that drain, which received Drainage Board approval.

In the evening the Rensselaer Park Board met, but this post is long enough so that and other items will be the subject to another post.