We have our first snow and now people have to remember how to drive on slippery roads. Local schools are on a two hour delay.
On Sunday at noon I passed through Brookside Park and again counted the disc golf goals that are south of the swimming pool. I counted five. A day or two earlier I had carefully counted the goals north of the pool and there were also five. I was confused about why a nine-hole course would have ten goals. I noticed someone at the far north of the park and thought it might be the person who designed the course and so I went over to ask him about the discrepancy. As I approached, he heaved a disc toward the goal that is near the parking lot and it went in. I was impressed but he was excited. It turned out that it was the first ace he had ever scored and he was happy to have had someone witness it. So congratulations Kenny Mitchell for your first ace in disc golf. May it be the first of many.
The course, as I mentioned, has ten goals. Mr Mitchell said that it might have a few more installed. There is room in the southeast section of the Park. This course could end up having the highest use-to-cost ratio of all the new things being added to the park. Even though the course is not finished—the tees or starting points have not been installed—people have begun playing the course. Disc golf is popular right now and the nearest public courses are in Lafayette to the south and I think Lowell to the north. The course will give people who come to ball tournaments next year something to do while they wait between games.
In Foundation Park new footings have been installed for more exercise equipment, though the one in the circle may be for a sign.
The exercise equipment is scheduled to be installed late this week or early next week.
I have been attending more meetings from the comfort of my home. On Thursday afternoon the Airport Authority Commission met for a routine meeting. There are no vacancies in the hangars and requests for short-term leases have had to be denied. Fuel sales are projected to be about 10% lower than last year, which was an exceptionally good year. The meeting reviewed quotes for removing trees between the property that the Airport recently purchased and the rest of the airport and accepted the low bid of $15,500. When this project is finished, the grass runway will be extended. There is a problem with a drainage tile. Hamstra thinks it fixed the roof leak in the maintenance building. The Airport will likely cancel Career Day in May because of uncertainty about the COVID situation. The Authority will move meeting time from 4:00 to 6:00 on the second Thursday for next year's meetings. There was a short discussion of various things that might be accomplished in 2021. The next meeting will be on December 30 at 4:00 to take care of anything that needs to be done before the end of the year.
The Rensselaer Board of Public Works met Monday afternoon. It approved the promotion of a police officer and the latest invoice from Commonwealth Engineering for design of extension of sewer lines and a new lift station. The design should be finished by the end of January. The Board also approved a change to the contract with Commonwealth. I did not understand exactly why the changes were needed, but they will cost more.
The Zoom session for the BPW did not get closed properly and that caused a delay in the start of the City Council meeting. (Apparently a host can have only one meeting open at a time.) The Mayor went right into the agenda and the Council approve some small transfers of funds. The gas tracker for December will be a 13.5¢ increase per hundred cubic feet. The Council approved a proposal to repave the parking lot at the recycling center. It does not have a good base so it will be a major redo, digging down and putting in a good base layer. The work will be done by Town and County in the Spring but will be paid from this year's budget, so the funds will have to be encumbered.
The Council approved the sale of two dump trucks, a 1992 and a 1996 model, that are no longer being used. The buyer is St. Joe. The Council ratified a telephone poll that gave the Gas Department permission to apply for a lease for a truck that had come in. (I did not understand exactly what this entailed.) The Council also approved the preparation of a budget report that is needed to submit a grant to Rural Development. The report is done every year, but this year will be done earlier than usual.
As the meeting ended, Mr Watson asked about what could be done with unused garbage stickers. He said someone with 40 stickers approached him with the question. The decision seems to be that they can be redeemed not for cash but for a reduction on upcoming utility bills. So do not throw them away in January.
The Council approved the minutes of the last meeting before it adjourned. The next meeting is December 28.
The Jasper County Council met Tuesday evening. The agenda said that it would have an in-person session at the Sparling Annex, but in-person part got canceled and it was Zoom only. One member of the Council was not informed of the change and showed up for the in-person session. He was able to join the Zoom session a few minutes before adjournment.
The Council passed a salary ordinance that reflects the values approved at budget time. There is a change in position in Soil & Water and that will require an amendment and an additional appropriation in January. There were several small transfers approved. A meeting schedule was approved, with the meetings scheduled for the third Tuesday of the month, except for July, which will be the second Tuesday (if I heard it right). July and November will have joint Commissioners/Council meetings before the regular Council meetings. There are a number of positions on various boards that the Council appoints and the Council made those appointments. Almost all continued the current occupant. With the scheduled agenda out of the way, various people thanked Council members Gerrit DeVries, Andrew Andree, and Auditor Kim Grow for their service. They will not be attending meetings next year.
On Monday at 2:00 there will be a meeting of the Jasper County Redevelopment Commission to approve a TIF zone west of DeMotte. This document has a map of the proposed district.
The Coroner mentioned that the office has had a record number of cases this year, 80. The last item before adjournment was a brief discussion of a proposal by the Sheriff to have the School Resource Officer for Kankakee patrol nearby roads before and after school to curb speeding. The proposal would require overtime pay, which is why it comes to the Council. The Council decided they needed time to consider the idea and postponed a decision to January.
Here are a few more pictures of trees on the Christmas Tree walk. The first is from Franciscan Health.
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