Wintery weather

 January began with freezing rain that coated branches with a layer of ice. The ice was pretty if one did not have to drive or walk to some destination.

Then on Sunday we woke up to a couple inches of snow. There was no wind when it fell, so the snow coated branches. It was very pretty and not as dangerous as the ice a couple days earlier.

There was enough snow to bring out the snow plows.

The snow should gradually disappear as the forecast has highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s for the next week.

On Monday the Commissioners met for the first meeting of the new year. They began by reorganizing, electing Mr Culp as president and Mr Walstra as VP. They then approved several items: an addendum to a Nexis contract for work with the Auditor (or was it the Assessor?), a quote to repair a damaged garage door at Community Corrections that will be covered by insurance, and masonry work for a new digital sign for the NW Court House corner. They also approved the Awareness and Educational grant for $108K that will fund the sign and many other things. It is part of a larger Covid grant.

The cupola on the Court House gazebo is damaged but there are questions if repairs should include a new metal roof, so the Commissioners did not act. They approved two of the three rezones that were recommended by the Plan Commission. The third has some ownership issues that have not been resolved. A discussion of the Comprehensive Plan was added to the February meeting. The Commissioners hire employees and make appointments to over twenty positions and boards at their January meeting. There were no vacancies so all the current occupants were rehired or reappointed.

The County Highway Department will be comparing its fees to those charged in counties similar to Jasper County and may have some proposed changes for the February meeting. There have been 31 Covid-related deaths in Jasper County, including 10 in nursing homes. Most of the residents of the Rensselaer Care Center have had the virus. The County Health Department will be receiving a shipment of vaccine (the Moderna vaccine that requires less refrigeration) on January 11. Fire and police departments will be the first to get the shots, which are done in two stages 28 days apart. (The hospital and some other medical facilities seem to have gotten their own supplies judging from people who are reporting that they have been vaccinated.) Vaccine for the general public may not be available until April.

The Health Department left behind some furniture in their move to the Sparling annex and the Commissioners invited other County Departments to use it if it fit their needs. What is not claimed will be added to a County auction that may be held in late February or March. The Commissioners approved a motion to list the Court House Annex (the former REMC building) for sale.

There were bid openings for items used by the Highway Department. As it does every year, the Commissioners accepted all bids (which means the Highway Department can pick the one that best serves its needs for whatever project it is working on.)

There were two items on the agenda that were never addressed because the people who were supposed to present them did not show up on Zoom: a Trane update for the jail and a request from Tri-Global Energy.

The meeting was continued until January 19 after the Board of Finance meeting.

At 1:00 the Drainage Board met. The Commissioners were informed that INDOT plans to rebuilt the James Krucek Ditch Bridge. I am not sure exactly where this is but it seems to be on US 231 north of DeMotte. The work will not be started until the Spring of 2024 and will result in a closure of the highway for about four months. The other item on the agenda was a REMC fiber-optic cable that will run along Bunkum Road from 1000W into Newton County. The Board approved the plan to bore the cable under Curtis Creek.

The person presenting the REMC cable request was made a host of the Zoom meeting so he could show a map of what REMC is planning.  Most of their network will run overhead lines. When he was finished presenting, he left the meeting but because he had been made a cohost, when he left, the Zoom meeting shut done. After a few minutes people reconnected and the meeting came to a quick end because there was no more business.

A third meeting on Monday was of the Rensselaer Park Board. It did not get enough members attending to reach a quorum so no votes could be taken. This was the first meeting I had attended since October; I was observing quarantine for the November meeting and the Board does not meet in December, so I was interested in hearing progress reports. The schedule for providing concessions for the new ballfields has been mostly worked out. On Mondays the fields will be used by RBI ball and they will be responsible for their own concessions. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the Park leagues will play and the Lions Club will provide concessions. There are 13 tournaments scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday weekends. The Park will hire a field director for the weekend games and he will be paid based on the number of tournaments. The concessions will be handled by local groups who want to use them as a fund raiser. The organizations providing the volunteer workers will be paid a flat fee of $1000 for the weekend. Two of the 13 weekends have been filled and there are a number of groups interested in signing up for the others.

The next meeting will be held on Feb 1.

The posts for the basketball hoops have been installed at Brookside Park.

The disc golf course has a name.

There will be maps of the course posted on-line and on the board near Bunkum Road, but they are not yet ready. The course is playable but not completely finished.

The last issue of the Rensselaer Republican announced that it was going to a once-a-week print edition, available on Thursdays.