Mostly meetings

 We have another windy day, but at least it is sunny and warmer.

There is demolition being done inside the old carriage house behind Fenwick Farms. I hope this is preliminary to a reconstruction.

The foundations for new basketball hoops in Brookside Park are in place.

On Tuesday evening the County Commissioners and County Council had a joint meeting. I decided to attend via Zoom. When the County meeting first started meeting in person, the Zoom link was awful. Things have greatly improved. There is one source of sound and there were two sources of video on Tuesday. It would be nice if a few of the Council members attending in person also had video to give a better sense of what is happening. Below is what the room looked like for Zoomers.

Kendell Culp started the meeting by reporting on a number of developments. He mentioned that the planned solar farm in Kankakee Township will have two phases and be an investment of about one billion dollars. Phase One should be operational in 2022 and Phase Two in 2023. Some of Phase Two will spill over into Starke County. The output of both phases together will be 700 megawatts, with 75 megawatts of battery storage. It will be the largest solar farm east of the Mississippi River when completed.

The solar farm at the jail is still not connected to the grid. 

A lot of work was done on County roads this year. Much of the $3.9 million that the County spent went to Walsh and Kelly, which did roads in subdivisions. There were 32 miles of new asphalt. 2021 will see less road work because funding from the State will be less. 

The Health Department plans to move the the former Youth Center on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Christmas. The renovations cost about $150,000 and should be covered by the CARES Act. Work will begin the week after Thanksgiving to add audio-visual technology to the meeting room at the Youth Center.  Also, work has begun at the Court House to expand the space for the clerks of Judge Bailey by combining the existing room with a small storage room.

The County is eligible for $1,080,000 in CARES Act funding and has submitted invoices for that amount. However, payment from the State has been very slow, with a mere $25,000 coming back so far.  Among the items purchased are laptops so County employees can work from home. They will replace their desktops, though they will keep the monitors and keyboards. The Health Department has purchased a pickup truck that the Highway Department will also be able to use to plow snow. Money from the 911 account that was used by the Sheriff's Department to purchase Spillman software will be reimbursed. Also, the County has purchased four ultraviolet disinfecting machines, two for the Sheriff's Department, one for the Court House, and one other.

There was a brief discussion of the inter-local agreement that will result in DeMotte extending sewer and water to the Interstate. The negotiations were long but the parties persisted because they recognized that developing the areas around the Interstate interchanges is important. DeMotte and NORWEJ are incurring a lot of financial risk. Loves Travel Center wants to build a septic field and received Drainage Board approval (because the line will cross a County drain) even though they will connect to the new sewer. The two rest areas will be served by the new water and sewer. However, the new Compass Travel Center on the west side of the interchange will not be using the new water and sewer lines. They will be served by a different utility. Their property will be included in the TIF district, so the taxes they pay will help finance the bonds needed for the project. 

The Sheriff answered questions. He was asked about providing security for meetings in the former Youth Center and said he would provide them as needed. The jail has seen a reduction in utility bills as a result of the work Trane did and the building is more comfortable. He said he was happy with the service Trane has been providing.

There were questions about another solar farm possibility, perhaps in the Neiman area, but there has been no permitting so the future of that project is unclear. There was also concern about the traffic at the SR 10/I-65 interchange. 

The joint meeting ended a bit before 7:00 and after a few minutes the County Council meeting began. The agenda was short, but the meeting lasted almost an hour.

The County Clerk had requests for two additional appropriations, one of which she said it turned out she did not need. She said there were a record number of voters in the 2020 election. The auditor also had requests for additional appropriations that are needed to move money around for items funded by CARES Act funding. Extension asked for a transfer of funds. It also noted that the Health and Human Services position has finally been filled. Finally, the Council approved a transfer of funds for the Prosecutor's office.

The Council President read a letter from Wreaths Across America. Locally the group will be placing wreaths on the graves of the 40 veterans buried in Smith Cemetery on December 19. 

The Sheriff wants the Council to think about using the School Resource Officers to patrol an hour before and after the start of school to reduce speeding. The proposal would increase overtime pay. Twenty eight employees of the Department have had to quarantine, though not all tested positive. Some were in contact with family members who did test positive. He noted that this has created staffing problems. The Department received a grant from the Energy Department that will help buy some hybrid vehicles. They should cost less to operate because they get better gas mileage. He noted that a deputy and a citizen rescued a man in the Bailey's Corner area from a burning trailer. The jail inspection report was positive and he was happy with the result.

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

The Jasper County Economic Development Organization and the Jasper-Newton Foundation have been doing podcasts. You can find links to them here: https://rootsandgraffiti.buzzsprout.com/