Early May meetings

 Construction of the vet clinic east of Fountain Stone Theaters is off to a fast start. Last week concrete trucks were delivering cement for the foundations.

Below is the site at the beginning of this week.

The Rensselaer Farmers Market had its first day on Saturday. There were quite a few venders but it is still too early for garden crops. (Although rhubarb and asparagus may be ready to harvest in local gardens.)

The Park Board had an interesting meeting on Monday evening. The Fendig Theater, which should be announcing summer plans this week, asked if it could use the parks for summer performances and their request was approved. Last year the lockdown prevented their usual summer performance and this year fears of Covid will still result in a change from the full-scale musical production. Last year they went to on-line programming and served children in 35 counties, seven states, and two foreign countries. The Theater hopes to continue online of programming throughout the year.

This coming weekend the Blacker Fields are scheduled to host the largest tournament of the summer, with 32 teams playing games Friday through Sunday. This will be the only three-day tournament at the fields. This past weekend there was another girls softball tournament, this one with 11 teams. The previous weekend the tournament was very small, with only four teams playing only one day. Parking remains the big concern. Will there be enough parking if there are weekends with big tournaments and multiple rentals of shelters?

The Board reviewed finances for the Recreational Development Corporation, which is a non-profit part of the parks that controls money raised by park events. Revenues for 2020 were down from pool fees and shelter rental. It will be interesting to see how the tournaments change the numbers for this year.

The Board approved an lengthy list of summer programs proposed by Heather Hall. There will be some program for almost every day in June, most for kids but some also for adults. Also, there are plans to add a small building next to the existing building east of the soccer field in Brookside Park. It will have about 600 square feet of space to use as a class room/craft room and for any activities that are better done inside than outside. Funding for it comes from a local group that has not yet made an announcement on the matter, so I will not step on their announcement.

The Commissioners met on Monday morning in another hybrid meeting, partly in-person and partly via Zoom. There was a public hearing for the designation of an infrastructure development area. The purpose of this is to encourage installation of broadband Internet connections throughout the County. The Commissioners approved a motion that stated that finding shows that the County needs faster Internet speeds. Final wording on an ordinance is being worked on and will be presented at the June meeting. Once enacted, developers will be able to apply for an exception with the assessor, which is like an abatement but with a different office overseeing it.

Next the Commissioners heard a request to use a County parcel located along Wood Road and adjacent to the Airport runway for a 4H shooting range. It would be used during the County Fair for shooting related activities. The Commissioners did not take action, but wanted to see what the Airport Authority Board thought of it. (Their next meeting is May 13 at 6:00.) Any plan would need Purdue approval and it might also need Rensselaer approval because the land is within the City's buffer zone.

The City of Rensselaer plans to extend a sewer line along SR 114 and would like an easement for crossing the property of the County Highway Department. The matter had been discussed at a previous meeting and some questions raised. The questions having been answered satisfactorily, the Commissioners approved the easement.

Steven Eastridge gave an update on what progress had been made on the recommendations of the NIPSCO task force. It was noted that we are only two years away from the May 2023 planned shutdown of the Schahfer plant.

The Commissioners approved two rezones that were recommended by the Plan Commission. The County Prosecutor requested that his investigator position be made a full-time position. The Commissioners were sympathetic but wondered if it would set in motion a host of other requests to change part-time positions to full-time. The request will be back on the agenda in June.

The Health Department proposed some loosening of Covid restrictions. If all workers in a Court House office are vaccinated, they no longer need to wear a mask if no outsiders are present. The Court House will no longer scan for temperatures when people enter. County Highway workers can be considered in quarantine if they are alone in their trucks. The judges will decide what is appropriate for their courtrooms. The Commissioners approved the recommendations.  

The Keener Township Trustee has been trying to combine the various parcels of the Keener Township Cemetery and discovered one parcel is owned by the County. He requested that it be given to the Township. The County Attorney will draw up the needed paperwork.

There was a presentation from a consulting firm that specializes in child-support reimbursements. The auditor uses a competing company but may switch when at the end of the year. 

The Sheriff suggested the County needs an ordinance to deal with impoundment of large animals (horses). The boarding fee for horses impounded because they are not being properly cared for is $15 a day and they may be boarded for months. He also had a couple of requests to replace officers, one a part-time Court House security officer and another correctional officer. Tri-County Schools is establishing its own police force so it can hire a security officer and would like to purchase one of the older cars of the Sheriff's Department. They agreed to $12,000, but then the Department discovered that they had misstated the mileage by 30,000 miles. The Commissioners agreed that $10,000 was a fair price for the 2015 vehicle. 

There was a brief discussion of bridges. The County ranks in the top ten of counties in the State for the good condition of bridges. Six bridges merited mention. One in Remington is being redone with a Federal Grant. A second near the NIPSCO plant can wait until the work on the solar farm is finished. One is recommended for replacement, and three others need some less drastic work. The Commissioners wanted more information. The County was awarded $818,252.25 in the latest round of Community Crossings grants. The total length of roads in the project is about 7.5 miles. The advertisement for bids will go out as soon as possible. 

The Commissioners approved quotes for three lighting improvements, one at the former 5/3 building and two at the Sparling annex.

The County Court was built 125 years ago and there may be some ceremony to mark the occasion.

There are storage containers in the Walmart parking lot and it appears there will be more coming. Anyone know why?