Long meetings

June is already here and with it a new round of monthly meetings. The Commissioners met Monday with another Zoom meeting that lasted much longer than its short agenda promised. There were two buried cable requests, the first for fiber that would serve the Bailey's Corner area. It looked like a fairly big project and would likely be followed by extensions from the roughly six miles of cable proposed in this application. The sticking point came with the request to knife or plow some of the route. Knifing or plowing is the cheapest way to lay cable but if the plow hits another cable or a drainage tile, there is no evidence of that until problems appear later. This is what happened when a fiber optic cable was installed along SR-114 east of town a few years ago and the company that installed the cable was reluctant to fix the problems it caused. Since then the Commissioners have wanted all fiber to be trenched or bored.The person presenting the case said that in the future they may want to connect a few houses that require a mile of cable and the only way that will be economical is if the cable is plowed. The Commissioners delayed acting on the request until they can inspect the route so it will be back on the agenda for the July 6 meeting.

The second request was from the City of Rensselaer and was for a high-pressure six-inch gas main that will tap into the trunkline east of Rensselaer. It was approved with the condition that the line be six feet away from the end of any culvert. The Commissioners also waived the fee.

The Commissioners approved two rezoning requests that had been recommended by the Plan Commission.  Next they decided to keep County offices closed to the public through their July 6 meeting. There had been a meeting of County officials and EMS providers in late May to discuss how to move forward with EMS services. State law says that provision of EMS services is a County responsibility. In Jasper there are four different providers, three operated by townships and one private company, and all are subsidized. The Commissioners decided that they needed more information and that a round of bids might provide that information. They will seek bids for EMS services for the entire County that will be opened at the August meeting.

The Little Cousin Jasper committee requested use of the Court House gazebo for a yard sale on July 18 to raise funds. The Commissioners gave them permission to use the County parking lot.

The Recorder is losing both employees who work with microfilm and the Commissioners approved replacing one of them. RENARTWLK asked for permission to put a mural on the annex building that has mostly been vacated by moves to the former PNC Bank building. The Commissioners granted them permission to do the side facing the alley.

Community Crossing road grants will continue but with reduced funding. The next round will have $80 million rather than the previous $120 million. The loss of revenue from the gas tax will be less than originally feared.

The Commissioners approved the replacement of two dispatchers at the Sheriff's Department. The meeting was continued to June 15 if necessary.

The Drainage Board met immediately after the Commissioners' meeting on the same Zoom feed. The I-65 Chrome Shop in Remington wants to build a 60' by 40' addition and wanted to know what they had to do to get Drainage Board approval. They were told to hire a surveyor or engineer to examine their current drainage and see if it needed to be changed. Compass Travel Center had a drainage plan approved in 2016 for the SR-10 interchange but has not done any building. They were back with a slightly revised plan. They have purchased land to the south (giving them a total of 63 acres) have moved the proposed pond to that land. They expect to get started moving dirt fairly soon.

There was then a long discussion of whether a drainage tile for the new industrial park east of Remington should be a private or public drain. The meeting adjourned at about 11:30.

On Monday evening the Rensselaer Park Board met for another marathon meeting. There are seven teams signed up for adult softball so that season will go and there are about 160 kids signed up for baseball. Shelter rentals are down this year so revenue from them, usually about $3000, will be lower. Most of the meeting, however, was a long discussion of whether or not to open the pool.

Eventually the Board voted 6-1 to open the pool for the summer. The target starting date is June 19. Capacity will be limited to 100 (which it rarely reaches during a normal year), and there will be no seasonal passes. Instead everyone will pay a daily fee, which in the past was $4.00 but this summer will be $3.00 for kids under 14 and $5.00 for everyone else. Parents will not be allowed to just dump their kids but will have to bring them to the gate, where names and phone numbers will be collected.

The soccer program wanted its fee cut in half because its season was cut in half. The Board reduced the fee from $1500 to $1250.

On the last Friday of May, the Community Roundtable had another meeting and this one had a different focus. The meeting looked back at the lockdown experience and discussed what had been learned from it and how it would affect the future. One person said that communication channels had changed. The experiences people have had with working remotely may change office life and makes living in rural areas more attractive. There was a discussion of how Jasper County can grow. There are a lot of people who like rural living but want urban amenities. Jasper County has some. Among recent ones mentioned were the Remington splash pad, the winery, two coffee shops, a brewery, and wood-fired pizza. But it lacks many others.

There were a number of announcements made by the participants. The Little Coffee Shop on US 231 will be moving into the former Riley Law building this fall. There are now two Edward Jones offices in Rensselaer. The Extension Office has hired a replacement for Alice Smith and the new person will start June 8. The Airport had six applicants for their internship. There will be a ribbon cutting for the new Jasper-Newton Foundation Park on June 10. The Indiana Face Mask company has announced that it will be opening and hiring up to 14 people.

 Finally, a hummingbird got trapped between two panes of glass in my garage. I fished it out and for a while it just sat, so I took a picture. Immediately after, it flew away. I have never been so close to a hummingbird before. They are very small.