Postponed meetings

On Wednesday US 231 from the Iroquois River to McKinley was being milled and paved.

The paving operation had a huge machine between the trucks bringing the asphalt and the paver. I was told that it helps in keeping the road level. It is very heavy and it revealed a soft spot at the Van Rensselaer corner. On Thursday a City crew had dug out the spot, refilled it, and topped it with a concrete slab.

The milling exposed an older Washington Street, one that was paved with bricks. The bricks are still there, but under a few inches of asphalt.

While I was admiring the bricks, the staff of the Jasper County Economic Development Organization came by and invited me to see their new offices, which they are now using. They are in the second floor of what used to be the Roth Building, built in 1909. In the front is a room that will be used as a conference room. It has an advertising sign on a wall. The wall was the outside wall of the adjacent building which was built in about 1895. I suspect that this was once the store of Jay Williams. More on him here and here.

Behind the conference room is a large, open work space that is not completely finished. The black box is the restroom. There will be a small kitchenette next to it. The office still does not have its furniture and is using folding tables to hold computers.

Most of the light is comes from two skylights. There were skylights in the building originally, but they had been covered. The remodel restored them. During the day no electrical lights are needed.

At the back end of the building is the small office for the head of JCEDO. The building can be entered from a hallway that is actually in the Horton Building and runs from the front to the back. There are two ways to reach the hallway, from a front door and up steps, or up steps in the back of the building.

On Wednesday and Thursday truckloads of stone were being spread on the north parking lot at the high school.

Below is the quickly changing solar farm east of the jail. I do not know if I can get to a spot where I can get a better picture.

The car wash behind McDonalds is closed for renovation.

On Thursday afternoon two City meetings that had been postponed because of Monday's power outages convened. The Board of Public Works had a very short meeting that approved an invoice from Commonwealth Engineering for work on the sewer project. The planning is 60% completed and the project may be ready to start early next year.

At the City Council meeting Alice Smith announced that the Safe Halloween event has been canceled for 2020. It was to be held at the Fairgrounds. She expects the event to be back next year.

The gas tracker for August is a ten cent decrease per hundred cubic feet. The Council passed a resolution that Council meetings would start at 6:00 in the evening. The resolution puts the City in compliance with State law. Three transfers of funds, ranging from $50 to $15,000 were approved. An employee in the Clerks office received recognition and a clock for 20 years of service. The photo in the paper should be amusing as the presenter and presentee were both masked.

The IMPA contract extension that had been mentioned at a previous meeting was back on the agenda. It would extend the agreement to purchase power from IMPA for eight more years, from 2042 to 2050. No one had a problem with that, but they did question the clause in the contract of a 30-year notice to terminate. This seems to mean that if the City would do no more extensions, they would not be able to terminate in 2050 but would have to wait until 2080. The Mayor explained that IMPA wants these long contracts because it locks in customers and gives it lower bond rates. The State regulators are pushing renewables and do not even like gas generation. The Council told Mr Ahler to see if he can negotiate a shorter notice of termination.

The request to close a street for OktoberFest was tabled because there no one from MainStreet attended the meeting. OktoberFest is scheduled for September 26.

The Governors order to stop utility disconnects expires on the 14th and the City will begin to start shutting off people who do not pay on Monday. The Utility Office Manager asked the Council if she should start applying penalties for late payment. The Council had waived penalties when the lockdown started. Mr Cover moved and the Council passed a resolution to keep penalties waived until October 1.

The Fire Chief announced that the aerial truck is again having problems and it should not be used except in emergencies. The model is no longer manufactured and parts are difficult to find. The City is considering the purchase of a new truck that will cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million.

Earlier this year the Council approved the removal of only one half of the trees on the tree-removal list. As a final bit of business, the Council approved removing the remaining 38 trees on the list for $29,350.

Another meeting that was postponed on Monday was the Jasper County Library Board meeting. I rarely go to this meeting because it meets at the same time the City Council meets, but on Thursday the Council met earlier.

The Library is working on a redesign of its webpage. The biggest change will be that it will prioritize the design for mobile devices. The Board voted to advertise its 2021 budget, which will go on the State Gateway site. There will be a hearing on the budget at the September meeting and it will be adopted at the October meeting.

The Board approved a document called "Declaration of Fiscal Body" that State law now requires. The document names the Jasper County Council as the body that will have to take action if some kinds of fiscal events happen. There was an update on the DeMotte parking lot project. At a future meeting the Board will decide whether to go ahead on the project or not. The Director reported ways in which the Library is trying to work with school now that large groups of students cannot come to the Library. She announced that the Library had received a grant for just under $1000 to purchase material dealing with racial and equality topics.

On Friday morning JCEDO's Community Roundtable Zoomed to a small audience. JCEDO and the Jasper-Newton Foundation will be starting a podcast exploring interesting aspects of the County. The first one will drop on September 1 and will highlight arts and the Rensselaer Art Walk.

There were three groups presenting at the roundtable. Phil's Friends distributes care packages and mails cards to cancer patients. The spokeswoman emphasized that this was a cause that provided volunteer opportunities. Next the Northwest Indiana Meals on Wheels explained what it is doing. In Jasper County it currently serves Rensselaer and hopes to expand to DeMotte and Remington. COVID precautions have taken away some of the face-to-face interactions that are important. Finally Crossroads Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) gave an update. They serve Jasper, Newton, and Benton Counties. They are not a non-profit but operate as a government entity. However, they use volunteers to advocate for children who are classified as abused or neglected. They serve 142 kids and have the need for more volunteers.

Curtis Craig, RCSC superintendent, reported that the first day of school went well. Only two children in the Primary School came to school without a mask. About 200 students or about 12% of the student body have chosen the on-line option for education. State Senator Charbonneau was in the meeting and said that he finds these meetings very useful. The next roundtable will be on September 11.