Odds and ends from the middle of June

We have been dry lately. The heavy rains in mid May flooded the field east of Weston Cemetery. Earlier this week that lake dried up. I expected to see lots of dead tadpoles but instead there were thousands of tiny fish. Maybe the tadpoles were able to develop and leave.

The Weston Cemetery walk, Memories Alive at Weston Cemetery, will have a new format this year. There will be two performances. The first in the morning will be in the park shelter and involve no walking. Anyone who cannot or does not want to walk the roughly half mile course should attend this performance. There will be no golf carts this year. They were by far the largest expense for the event, eating up most of the ticket revenue. The afternoon performance will have the same format as in previous years. This year the graves visited will be in the section west of the creek and the route will be as long as if you walk the loop in that section.

Of course, if you are a real fan, you could buy tickets to both performances.

Highway 114 is open again but paving work is not finished. Last week the crew was digging up some sections of the old roadbed and putting down new paving.

The picture below shows work by the Fairgrounds.

The picture below shows work at the intersection of Cullen and Grace. The workers were cutting out sections of the pavement.

The work with sidewalks seems to be finished.

On Monday evening the Jasper County BZA met with two items on the agenda. One was a repeat from 2016, a special exception and variance for a travel center on the west side of the SR 10/I-65 intersection. These had been granted in 2016, but nothing was done by the developer. Now the developer wants to build it but needs to have the permissions renewed. Near the end of the meeting, it was decided that the variances, which were for the height of the sign and the number of signs on buildings, did not need to be renewed because the 2016 decision still stood, but the special exception did need to be renewed. Rather strangely, a travel center is not a permitted use for the land zoned commercial next to an interchange along the Interstate, something that a review of the ordinance might want to address. Anyway, the special exception was granted.

The plans are basically the same as those proposed in 2016. It will be a 20,000 square foot building with multiple businesses, including a small truck showroom and three restaurants. Dunkin Donuts is the likely occupant of one, another will be a fast-food chain, and the third will be some kind of sit-down restaurant.

The drainage plan for this project was approved at the June Drainage Board meeting.

The other item was for a variance from the lot-width requirement for putting a house on land zoned A1. The requirement is 400 feet. The applicant has a 10-acre lot that is long and thin with a 330 foot frontage. The variance was approved.

On Tuesday evening the Jasper County Council met with a very short agenda, a transfer of funds for the highway department. They spent the bulk of the meeting talking about what issues they should discuss at the July joint Council/Commissioners meeting. That meeting may be held at the Fairgrounds because there may not be enough room for spacing in the usual meeting room, the Commissioners Room on the second floor of the Court House. One item that almost certainly will be discussed is how to provide and fund emergency medical services to the County.

The Sheriff mentioned that the jail population remains in the 40s and that his budget was hit with $4000 of expenses for the recent demonstration/protest at the Court House.

We are only a few days away from the solstice and then days begin to get shorter.