The Airport Authority Board held its monthly meeting on Thursday afternoon. They had advertised for a new engineering consultant and at the meeting approved the selection of Woolpert. Their former engineering consultant will continue to work with the Airport on unfinished projects, but new things, like new airport layout plans, will be handled by Woolpert. A representative of one of the companies not selected was at the meeting and stayed for the whole thing.
The FAA approved $30,000 in COVID grants. Fuel sales for June were at a monthly record, but the expectation is that fuel sales for July and August will be depressed because apparently the annual Oshkosh air show is off this year. One of the biplane operators that sold rides last year is planning to be at the airport in late July and/or early August. The next meeting date is August 13.
On Friday morning there was another Zoom session of the Roundtable run by the Jasper County Economic Development Organization. The presentation was about early childhood (birth through about five) education and care. The closing of the Youth Center on Sparling left many parents searching for alternatives. Although there are both in-home and pre-schools, there is a need for licensed, center-based options.
Remington got such a program started with its Growing Patch, started in 2018. It started with 6 children and in a year grew to 48. The Board decided that it needed more expertise in operating the program, so arranged with Right Steps of Lafayette for management. There are issues in getting funding and meeting requirements that they are better able to handle than the local board. Goodland in Newton County will soon open a learning center, also run by Right Steps and should open with a waiting list.
In Rensselaer there are plans to follow the examples of Remington and Goodland. A non-profit organization, Appleseed Childhood Education, has been formed and is working with Right Steps. Several people mentioned that provision of this service was an issue of economic development. It is one of the things that can affect location decisions of families. If you want to know more, contact appleseed.child.ed at gmail.com.
The meeting then allowed the people who were on Zoom to report what they or their organizations were doing. Extension is looking to fill their HHS position. The person they had selected told them on the day she was supposed to start that she had taken a different job. There was a task force working with people from Purdue on a revision to the County's comprehensive development plan, which is used by the Advisory Plan Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Jasper County Historical Society will have an exhibit this fall about authors, past and present, from Jasper County. They have identified 70. The County Commissioners will be using an advisory firm from Indianapolis to help the County collect what can be collected from State and Federal reimbursements for COVID expenditures. WorkOne plans to fully open its offices on August 3. Advance Auto in Remington has 53 positions open and will work with WorkOne on a job fair. Indiana Facemasks may be hiring more workers than it initially planned because of high demand. The Genova plant has new ownership and plans to grow its employment to the level, about 50, that it had before the shut down. The Community Roundtables may become a monthly event. The next one is planned for August 14.
There has been more concrete poured at the Blacker fields and the parking lot now has crushed stone and is ready for the car show on Saturday.
By far the most unusual vehicle I saw was this one, a wooden, handmade car. I asked what class it fit in and learned that it was Class N, Special Interest. I neglected to ask if it allowed to be driven on roads.
Inside the doors of the pool at Brookside Park is a new plaque.
MainStreet Rensselaer released a video showing what the plans to redevelop Rensselaer. See it here.
Rensselaer Downtown Final Video from Kimley-Horn on Vimeo.
Here is another video, just released by YNG, showing their new upside-down 3-D printer.
Is the economy going that well for members of Mainstreet Rensselaer? Several people I know are still unemployed due to the virus. Things are not looking better with the spike in numbers across the state and we want to spend a lot of money(that many feel should be saved for an emergency) for a big water fountain and pole barn structure. How out of touch or selfish! I'm not sure which, but either is a bad look. I'm starting to think that we have some well off people in our city who simply look out for themselves like that silly airport.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought where that proposed fountain and pole barn is located is owned by the County? Since it might benefit farmers you know who will vote for it at the commissioner and council level. How sad