Early September meetings

The commissioners met for their September meeting on Monday Tuesday morning, both via the Zoom platform and in person at the former Youth Center on Sparling Avenue. I attended in person but one of the Commissioners and several others attended via Zoom. They approved six sets of minutes: a joint session with the Council, their regular August meeting, the continued meeting on August 17, and three sets of minutes for executive sessions that were held with different providers.  They then approved a request from NIPSCO for use of County right-of-way for a natural gas line to 12 homes in Walker Township.

They rearranged their agenda to begin with the COVID-19 update. There were 23 new positive tests last week but no new deaths. The County has been granted access to funds that will, with the proper paperwork, reimburse expenditures that are Covid-related and the Commissioners were given a long list of proposed purchases that might be eligible, including laptop computers, pick-up trucks, a cooler/freezer for vaccines, a box truck, and hazard pay. There will be meetings with various County officials to narrow the list and see what can be justified. There is a lot of money available but a limited amount of time to spend it. No action was taken by the Commissioners.

A representative from the company providing County employees with health insurance gave the Commissioners three amendments to the health plan and the Commissioners approved them. A request for a speed limit sign on CR 1000N was added to the agenda for the October meeting, when it will be given a public hearing. A rezone request recommended by the Plan Commission was approved.

Judge Bailey, who was attending via Zoom, wants to expand the office of his Court reporters by knocking down the wall of an adjoining small storage room. The Commissioners approved the request, noting it might qualify as a COVID expense because the two people in the office cannot now socially distance. The
Sheriff came with several items to discuss. He was given permission to fill a vacancy of a corrections officer. He recommended ending the contract with Havel for servicing equipment and replacing them with Trane. Trane has replaced most of the Havel equipment with Trane equipment and the County has not been happy with the service it has received from Havel. The Commissioners agreed. A storm in August did about $6000 in damage to the jail but insurance should cover the cost. He had received a grant for about $5000 that will aid in funding the Spillman software and the Commissions approved accepting the grant. The Sheriff announced that the DeMotte Police Department will be coming on board with the Spillman software. They were a holdout but DeMotte may be able to fund the switch with COVID funding. Finally, he was given permission to seek funding to offset the cost of buying hybrid squad cars. Lake County has found that they cut fuel costs. He reported that panels were being installed in the solar array next to the jail.

The County Highway Department is preparing an ADA compliance statement and it was bumped to the next meeting. The Department also asked to replace an employee who retired last week. The Commissioners decided to wait until next month to decide.

Little Cousin Jasper received permission to use the Courthouse wall along the Washington Street sidewalk for a pumpkin carving contest for Halloween. There was a discussion with Stephen Eastridge about a bond counsel to aid redevelopment and economic expansion. DeMotte is considering expanding its water and sewer lines and would need to finance that. Mr Eastridge said that Smith Transport should be able to use the facility that they are constructing east of Remington by year end and that the Indiana Face Masks company may provide more jobs than initially forecast. The Tourism Commission met last week and approved a study on sports tourism and the possibility of a sports/recreation complex.

The Commissioners signed some agreements, approved some vacation plans, decided not to participate in something called the payroll deferral program, approved use of the Court House lawn for a RAMA prayer vigil on Oct. 17, and expanded the closure of the Court House to the public for another month. The polling places for the November election will be the same as they were for the primary election. Early voting will begin on October 6th, at the DeMotte Town Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at the south end of the former prosecutor's office in Rensselaer Mondays through Fridays. October 5 is the deadline for registration and making changes. Absentee ballots will begin to be sent on September 14 and there are almost 1000 requests for absentee voting. The meeting was continued until September 22 at 8:30 if needed.

I did not Zoom for the drainage board meeting because I had another commitment, but there were three items on the agenda that looked interesting: drainage plans for Terborg Distributing addition, Solae LLC (Dupont) Office project, and Wonderland Tire addition.

In the evening the Rensselaer Park Board met. The main item of interest was that one of two groups that schedules tournaments had requested 11 weekends with two more possible for softball and baseball tournaments. The earliest would be in early April and the latest would be near the end of October. The tournaments would run from Friday through Sunday. The Board approved giving them the dates. Concessions will be done locally and provide a fund-raising opportunity for local groups.

There are still a few items that have to be finished at the fields, but they have been seeded so soon they should have grass.