A short but interesting Council meeting

 On Saturday I was surprised to find a lawn full of crocuses. On Sunday I saw turkey vultures for the first time this year.

The geese that hang out around Donaldsons seem to be pairing up and there are a lot of them. Next Sunday we begin daylight savings time. Winter is ending and spring is beginning.

The Rensselaer City Council had a special meeting on February 26 to approve tax abatements for Genova. It approved a resolution establishing the area as an economic revitalization area, needed to pass the abatements. One was for five years covering the production equipment, which will be an investment of about $1.2 million and the second was for eight years covering the 22,000-square-foot facility which will be an investment of $1.1 million. You can read the minutes of the meeting here. (I did not attend the meeting.)

The Jasper County Tourism Commission's meeting on Friday was very short because key people could not attend. There were no funding requests or other voting items. The tentative date for the bike ride is August 7. The design for a DeMotte sculpture has been set and work is scheduled to begin on June 7.

On Monday evening the Rensselaer Board of Public Works met before the City Council meeting. Both meetings were in-person and there was no Zoom option. The Board approved paying two invoices, one from Commonwealth Engineering and the other from Eenshuistra Appraisals. Both were for work on the project to replace the lift station and extend sewers. Before the project can be bid, easements must be obtained for the route of the sewer line and a small quarter-acre lot on Wood Road must be purchased. The City must get two appraisals of the lot and only one has been completed.

The City Council approved a gas-tracker increase of 12¢ per hundred cubic feet. The Gas Department superintendent said that the City was lucky that the increase was not greater. At the last meeting the City opened bids for street maintenance and at this meeting it accepted the low bid from Walsh and Kelly. The City will pay $203,881.44 for the work, which is 25% of the total cost and the State through a Community Crossing grant will pay the rest.

The Council approved a public relations request of $1200 from the Fire Department for their 125-year-anniversary open house. This matches the $1200 that is being contributed by Marion Township. The open house is on May 8. On May 11, 1896 the town of Rensselaer became the City of Rensselaer and the fire department name was changed to the Rensselaer Volunteer Fire Department. As early as the 1860s Rensselaer had a fire company or hook and ladder brigade. One of the things that will be featured at the open house will be the history of the Department. 

The Council approved an annual report that must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development, from which Rensselaer has received grant monies. The Council also approved a list of 35 trees in City right-of-ways that are ailing or dead and need to be removed. The City will seek bids for their removal. 

The Mayor announced that Kevin Cochran will be the new Building Commissioner starting March 15, replacing Kenny Haun who is becoming the full-time Fire Chief. The City is accepting applications to fill Mr. Cochran's current position, Weston Cemetery Superintendent. 

Mr Haun announced that Indiana Face Masks will be expanding its operations, building a new building and hiring about 30 more employees. Also, Dr. Mallory is building a new vet clinic east of the Fountain Stone Theater. 

The Council approved the hiring of up to four part-time summer employees. There will be an electronics-recycling morning on April 17. The City is planning to have a clean-up week this year on May 3 to 7. Work is underway on the high-pressure gas main that will give the City a second tap into the gas trunk line. Work began this week along CR 725 S. Some of the line is being trenched and some of it is being bored. If work goes well, the entire pipe will be in the ground by the end of the month. A small station still needs to be built.

Below is a picture of the construction of the pipeline. You can see some of the pipe that has been trenched. The long pipe on the ground will be installed by boring. The hole is bored and then this pipe is pulled through the hole. The City is doing most of this work and has four people welding the sections of pipe together. During construction the sections of the pipe are pressurized to check for leaks.

At the next meeting bids will be opened for a 80' by 96' pole barn building for the electric department.

The Prairie Arts Council has placed a video the the recently concluded Regional High School Art show on Youtube. It is about an hour long and you can watch it here.