Changing businesses and three meetings

Another new business has opened in Rensselaer, Rule Auto Care. It is located in what was previously Charlie Robert's Auto Sales. I really like their logo.

They have a nice reception area/waiting room and the service desk is behind a garage door that was an exterior door when the Robert's family owned the building.

There will be a grand opening or ribbon cutting in the future. The Rules wanted to have a quiet opening but so far have been very busy. 

The front part of the building that was the old show room is available for rent as is space in the two-story building behind the new garage. The large warehouse building on Weston Street was sold at the beginning of the month. Rule Auto Care is open Monday through Friday from 8 to 5.

Below is a picture of the start of construction for an expansion to Pipestone Veterinary Services on the corner of US 231 and Wood Road.

Alliance Bank has completely remodeled their lobby. The teller area has been rotated 90 degrees.

Walmart continues their remodeling. The main restrooms are under construction so there are temporary restrooms on the north side of the building.

The river has risen but as I write this it is still a few inches below flood stage. Pehaps more rain in the next few days will push it over flood stage (12 feet). The daily flow is much less than what it was in June of 2015 when we had a major flood, with the river getting to a bit over 16 feet.

There were three meetings on Monday evening, the Rensselaer City Council met at 6:00 and the Jasper County BZA met at 7:00, followed by the meeting of the Jasper County Plan Commission. The City Council meeting had a light agenda with no big items.

The Council was asked their opinion of a plan by Ayda's to redo their sidewalks so that they could be used for outdoor seating. Ayda's had originally wanted to have some tree islands in the sidewalk but trees in the downtown sidewalks have not worked out well so they were considering planter boxes instead. The Council said they liked the concept and wanted Ayda's to continue working with City officials. The sidewalk along Van Rensselaer has been torn up and Ayda's intends to replace the sidewalk along Harrison as well.

Turning to the agenda, the Council approved putting insurance proceeds from a damaged police car back in the Police Department's budge. (The car hit a deer.)  It approved transfers of funds for two departments and also approved the purchase of .23 acres at Wood and Mattheson for a lift station for the upcoming sewer project. The Project Manager was given permission to get quotes for a replacement of a 2012 backhoe that is heavily used but keeps having problems.

The City wants to update its comprehensive plan that was last updated in 2007. It will need grant money to do this and the first step is an income survey. The Council approved $1500 for the survey. The Council approved Juneteenth as a holiday for 2021 but will also need to amend the salary ordinance before City employees will have the day off.

In comments from the City superintendents, the Police Chief noted that his department was at full strength after the latest hire had completed work at the police academy. The City Attorney suggested that the City needs some kind of loitering ordinance because there are  problems from people hanging out in the City parking lot across the River from Potawatomi Park. Weather permitting, paving of McKinley Street will begin Wednesday. The high-rate treatment plant has been working since Friday. The rain gauge at the sewage plant recorded 4.5 inches of rain since Friday. The City has accumulated enough surplus stuff that it will begin planning for an auction. The City has applied for something called a Swift grant. The matching requirements are unclear and the City will use its financial consultant Baker-Tilley to deal with the red tape involved.

The Jasper County BZA met at 7:00 at the Sparling Annex with a Zoom option. Once again there were audio problems for those on Zoom. The BZA had two items on the agenda. It approved a setback variance for a pole structure that will be 17 feet from the back property line. The second item approved was a frontage variance. In this case the petitioner wants to combine ten undeveloped lots and an undeveloped road in the Georgetown subdivision into two big lots. If the road is vacated so it deadends at the property line, the frontage for one lot is less than the Code requires. The variance was approved. At the end of the Plan Commission meeting that followed, the Plan Commission also approved the proposal to combine the ten lots and the undeveloped road into two new lots.

The Plan Commission had several requests for rezoning. The one that was most interesting and took the longest was a proposal that had been discussed several months ago, a plan to build cabins for short-term rentals on a 60+ acre site with a small lake. This proposal had been floated at the April meeting and no action was taken. At this meeting the request was to rezone part of the parcel from A1 to A2 so that three buildable lots could be created. The plan is to sell these lots for residences. The developers wanted the rest of the roughly 60 acres to be rezoned PR, Parks and Recreation. There is nothing in the planning code that fits a proposal for short-term cabin rentals, but the PR zoning seemed closest. Because vacation rentals is not one of the three uses specified for the PR zoning, the BZA would need to grant a special exception before any construction occurred.

After discussion, with members of the public voicing both concerns and support, the Commission recommended approving the rezoning requests. The matter now passes to the Commissioners, who have final say. However, this approval is only the first of several that must be obtained. 

The rest of the requests were more routine. Perkins Good Earth Farms requested a rezone from A2 to A4 for two acres. A4 is ag business and the farm is now selling produce from their barn. It was approved and will go to the Commissioners. A request to split a lot into two lots to create a two-lot subdivision was approved. A request to rezone a 6.5 acre lot from A1 to R (residental) and then split it into three lots to from a subdivision was approved. The land is surrounded by current subdivisions. The next meetings will be July 19 if there are items on the agenda.

A quiet week

 Erica's Boutique opened this week and had a ribbon cutting on Friday

The shop sells women's clothing and accessories. The Rensselaer Republican's story on the store is here.

The weather forecast says we will be having several days of rain and the total amount may be six or seven inches. Despite rain on Thursday, the LaRue Pool opened for the season. Its opening had been delayed first with a broken valve and then with leakage from expansion joints. The pool is over seventy years old and some of the plumbing that makes it work may be that old. Perhaps it is time to spend some money to update what needs to be updated. Although the Parks for People campaign has topped off, there are people who would donate if the donation were specifically for the pool. Also, Rensselaer will be getting over $6 million from the latest stimulus bill. Perhaps some of it could be used for infrastructure like the pool.

There was one brave swimmer on Friday a bit after noon.

The flag mural on the Campbell Printing building is finished.

The Tuesday night Cylinders and Snacks event is drawing respectable crowds.

However, I am not sure about the sorts of people it is bringing to Rensselaer.

The sidewalks along the section of McKinley Avenue that is being reconstructed were finished early this week.

More stone was being added to the street later in the week.

Pipestone Veterinary Services has begun adding an addition to the west end of their building. Alliance Bank has a new lobby.

The disc golf course at Brookside Park has a new sign.

I am not sure how long the new sign for the Health Department has been in front of the Sparling Annex.

Walmart has a new sign with a bigger logo and smaller letters.

The summer solstice was the past Monday. Now days are getting shorter. Summer flowers are blooming, such as milkweed.

Corn and soybeans are still fairly small, but wheat is ready to harvest.

The strawberry season is mostly over but blueberries are ripening.

Biplane rides will return to the Jasper County Airport on July 29-31. Cost is $80 for adults and $60 for children.

I have mentioned in past posts that the United Way of White County was administering a grant to aid not-for-profit organizations affected by Covid. At their June meeting the review committee awarded that last of the funds that were available for Pulaski and Jasper Counties. I had been worried that there might be money left on the table.

Council meetings

Apparently repairs to the LaRue Pool did not go as planned because the pool is currently empty.

 Even though the softball tournament this past weekend had about 30 teams, only the three new fields were used. There were a lot of spectators.

The Rensselaer Board of Public Works met Monday evening and approved paying five sets of invoices related to the Main Lift Station & Unsewered Areas Project. The strangest was a $10 fee for an easement to provide a service line to the Jasper County Garage. It has a duration of 40 years and after 40 years the easement reverts back to Jasper County. The reason for the payment is some government regulation that seems to come from the Federal grant that will help fund the project. The only other payment that the Board approved was an invoice for a study of back-up generators and a possible water tower near I-65. It accepted a new Standard Operating Procedure for dash cameras for the Police Department. The revised SOP is prompted by the huge changes in technology since the previous SOP adopted in 1993.

The Rensselaer Council meeting followed. It affirmed that the Prairie Arts Council can have the Art-in-the-Alley festival in July. Next up was a group of residents who live on Mt Calvary Road east of US 231 who were interested in getting City water. They currently use well water and some of them have very bad water. The City had obtained an engineering estimate of the cost of running a 12-inch main from US 231 to about a mile east. The construction cost would be about $636,000 but the non-construction costs (engineering, permitting, financing) would increase the total cost to a bit over $900,000. That cost would have to be borne by the residents of the area who got water. There was a mention of the possibility of annexation but apparently that would be opposed by some of the people along the road. The City offered to meet with the residents to explore options.

At its previous meeting the Council considered three ordinances that redistributed money that the City receives from two tower leases, one from Sprint that leases an antenna on the Rachel Street Water Tower and the other from Verizon that has its own tower next to the Drexel Water Tower. Two were passed and one was tabled to be rewritten. At this meeting one of the passed ordinances was revised and the tabled ordinance was passed in a re-written form. The money from the leases goes to the Sidewalk Maintenance Fund and the Future Development Fund.

The Council approved that June gas tracker of ½¢ decrease per hundred cubic feet and a gas tracker for the third quarter of a 51¢ decrease per thousand KWHs. The Council approved a supplemental agreement with First Engineering Group for additional work it has done on the CCMG grant. Last year the Council approved fireworks at the end of the County Fair but there were no fireworks because there was no fair. This year it again approved fireworks at the end of the fair and hopefully the fair will have a spectacular ending. Also fair related, the Council approved parking a City garbage truck at the Fairground for the Fair to collect garbage. The Little Cousin Jasper Committee wants to close US 231 for part of the Festival and has to get that from the State. The Council said it had no objections. 

Yard-waste collection has been slowed by a resignation of one employee and sickness of a second. The Gas Department has taken delivery of its new truck. The supplies that it uses are increasing in price and some are in short supply and not immediately available.

The Rensselaer City Council meets on the second Monday of the month and the Jasper County Council meets on the third Tuesday. This month those two days were in the same week. The County Council meeting had a short agenda but that did not result in a short meeting. First up was a couple of small additional appropriations for the Sheriff's Department. They were approved, but the Sheriff had other concerns for the Council. He strongly believes that the addiction recovery program at the jail is valuable for getting some of the prisoners on the right path and reducing recidivism. The program has been partially funded by a grant but may in the future not have that funding and he was encouraging the Council not to let the program lapse. For some reason the funding of the program is in the Commissioners' budget, not the Sheriff's budget and someone suggested that this could be an issue to discuss at July's joint Commissioner/Council meeting.

The State has eliminated firearm application fees beginning in July and these fees provided revenue to the Sheriff's Department. The State will for next year provide some funds to offset the loss but the Sheriff worries that in the future that funding will disappear.

The Sheriff's biggest concern, however, is the turnover in staff. He is currently down four deputies and the latest hire will be at the police academy for the rest of the year. He probably will be able to fill two of the positions from jail staff. There are several other deputies who may be leaving. They are leaving for new jobs that pay more and have more stable hours. The loss of deputies increases overtime and he said that he may be back in a future meeting for additional appropriations for the overtime fund. He suggested that the Council add a part-time fund so his department can hire some local law-enforcement officers part-time. (Many police officers work a second job.) He was asked if higher wages would help keep officers and he said that it would. He was asked about the jail population and said it was 55. 

The second item on the agenda was a proposal to establish a second line of credit for the Surveyor's office for work on the Kankakee River project. This project has FEMA funding that pays for 75% of the costs, but that funding comes as a reimbursement, which means the County has to do the work and pay the bills, and then submit the bill to FEMA to get the Federal dollars. FEMA is also holding back some of the reimbursement until the entire project is finished. The County needs to borrow the money initially to do the work and has done that in the past with a line of credit from First Merchants Bank. This second line of credit, which the Council approved, was with DeMotte State Bank.

In August the Council will begin approving the County budget for 2022. The process will begin at the regular meeting on August 17. There will be an all-day meeting on August 18 and on August 25 the Council will meet for cuts. 

The Auditor, Donya Jordan, reported that the County had received half of its allotment under that American Rescue plan, or $3,259,512.50. There was a discussion of various sources of tax revenues that I did not understand. The County has a fund with about $8 million in it and may not be able to spend from it.

There was a Rensselaer School Board meeting on Tuesday that may have been interesting. I have not seen any reports from it. Update: A letter posted on Facebook says that the Board made masks optional as of July 1, though they are still required on busses because of a federal requirement. Vaccination is encouraged but not required.

Miscellany June 12, 2021

 Eden Valley Farms, located just south of West Central High School, had an open house on Saturday. It was well attended, with tour groups of about 15 people starting every ten minutes or so. People on the tour had to wear hair nets and glasses and were not allowed to take pictures. At the end of the tour we were allowed to take a basil plant, so a picture of my basil plant is the only picture from the tour that I have to share. (There are pictures on the farm's website.)

The facility is divided into two parts. In one part herbs are grown in pots or trays and are watered in two different ways. This part grows organic produce. In the other part lettuce and maybe a some other things are grown without soil, hydroponically. This part was only being about 1/3 used. The facility employs 18 people full-time and another 7 or 8 part-time. Some of the output is sold locally under the Eden Valley Farms name, but most is sold under two other names, Farmers & Co and Edible Farms. The last is a Meijer label and Eden Valley is not the sole provider.

Murals are in the news. Cameron Moberg is finishing a large mural in DeMotte. A small mural was recently painted on the side of Main Street Bakery in Medaryville. Downtown Rensselaer also is getting a small mural, a flag on the Campbell Printing building.

The artist for this one is Rein Bontrager, who did the mural in Iroquois Park and who will soon be doing a large one in Kentland.  (My prediction from last year seems to be coming true.) The Kentland mural will focus on Newton County history. My guess is it will have people like George Ade, Sam Rice, and perhaps Jenny Conrad. Certainly it will have pictures of wildlife because Beaver Lake and the area around the Kankakee River were famous for wildlife. It will be interesting to see what he includes.

The curbs are in on South McKinley.

The Rensselaer Pet Care Clinic under construction east of Fountain Stone has been roofed and wrapped.

Walmart seems to be doing something with its sign over the entrance.

LaRue Pool did not open on Saturday but at least it had water. Filling started Thursday.

The Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce had a lunch in Brookside Park this past week and got to tour the new press box building. Below is the view of from the press box of the middle field.

The first item discussed at the Airport Authority Board meeting Thursday evening was the proposal for a 4-H shooting range northwest of the airport. This proposal had been brought before the Commissioners earlier in the week and also at their May meeting and Commissioners had wanted to know what the Airport Authority thought of it before they acted. The 4-H shooting sports are archery, air rifle, 22-caliber rifle, pistol, and shotgun for clay pigeons. The Airport manager pointed out that the area of the proposed range was under the flight path of some of the smaller planes taking off from the airport and said that the location posed safety issues. Further, the part of the year when the range would be most used, in July, coincided with the time when the airport had the most traffic. The Jasper County Sheriff said that though the people proposing the range had offered his department use of the range, the range would not be suitable for his department because the firearms that his people use are far more high-powered than those that the 4-H youth would use. The Board expressed support for the idea of a 4-H shooting range but voted to recommend to the Commissioners that it not be sited near the airport.

During the discussion it was mentioned that there was once a skeet-shooting range on the south end of the Fairgrounds. Prior to about ten years ago, the local 4-H had had shooting events for fair week. Those making the proposal said that there were other options for a site, and that the one near the airport was advanced because it was the closest to the Fairgrounds.

Next the Board turned to insurance. Some current insurance policies expire at the end of the month and the Board heard quotes for renewal. There were some tense moments and exchanges during the discussion, something I have rarely seen in meetings I attend. In the end, the Board voted 2-1-1 to renew the policies recommended by the existing insurance agent. (The Board should have five members but there is currently a vacancy.)

The State is ending the emergency meeting procedures that were instituted as a result of the COVID lockdown. The Board voted on an electronic attendance policy that would require that if any member is attending virtually, all votes must be by roll call.

The Airport received a $30,000 grant that will allow it to purchase three flight simulators to aid both existing pilots and those in pilot training. Although the Airport had the money in its account, it needed the Board to approve an additional appropriation before it spent the money.

The Airport is currently installing a back-up generator. It is mostly complete but it needs some gas pipes, which are currently in short supply. On Sunday the Airport will be offering free flights to 65 high-school aged students. Six or seven airplanes from around the state will be here to provide them. There will be an aviation summer camp this summer and 28 students are signed up. Indian Trails Career Cooperative will fund a half hour of flight training for each of the participants. The summer intern has been working at the airport for more than a week. She is a student at Kankakee Valley High School and would like to become an airline pilot.

The July meeting will have the 2022 budget on its agenda.

More June meetings

 Some idiot kids roamed the City the other night with a can of spray paint. Among  the things they defaced was the mural on the side of Janet's Kitchen.

Fortunately, that mural is protected by an anti-graffiti coat so the unwanted additions were easily removed. You can see the removal in this short video. The police have found the perpetrators but have not released their names because they are juveniles.

Last week's Rensselaer Republican had the names and pictures of graduating seniors. This year Kankakee Valley, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, and South Newton were also included. I did a quick count and came up with 86 graduates for RCHS, 205 for KVHS, 82 for NNHS, 54 for SNHS, and 28 for DCHS. That shows where the population is concentrated for the two counties. Also, it was not that long ago when the graduating RCHS classes were well over 100. Americans are not having as many kids as they used to have.

Work continues on McKinley Street.

Further north on McKinley the old Nowels House is being remodeled and will become a short-term rental called McKinley Manor. There are two existing rentals of this sort, both along West Clark Street.

The exterior of the future veterinarian clinic is rapidly being finished. The picture below is from the weekend.

Have you noticed the tulips in bloom? I had not until I saw a low-hanging branch of Indiana's State Tree.

The previous post summarized Monday's Commissioners meeting. In the afternoon the Commissioners met via Zoom for the Drainage Board meeting, and because there had been no June meeting, they had a lengthy agenda. First on the agenda were two bid openings. There were two bids for Kankakee River maintenance, one for $687,779.09 and the second for $246,098.25. (The numbers are not typos.) The Board accepted the lower bid contingent on attorney review. There were no bids for the Parr Lateral Tile Construction. This was the second time the project had no bids. The Board voted to have the Surveyor find someone to get the work done.

The City of Rensselaer hit a lateral tile when it installed the new gas pipeline and the damage to the tile was not discovered until water remained in a field after a heavy rain. The City will make temporary repairs and do a permanent fix in the fall after crops are out of the field. The permanent fix will place the pipeline five feet below the tile and I have no idea how that can be done. The City of Rensselaer will soon be running a sewer line west along SR 114. It sought and received permission to cross a drainage easement.

Pipestone Veterinary Services just north of Rensselaer is planning an addition to its building. It will have minimal effect on runoff and was approved.

Von Excavating in Wheatfield Township wants to dig a pond for recreational use. It needed Drainage Board approval to get a permit from Planning and Development. There was a lengthy discussion of water issues east of the US 24/I 65 interchange. A tile under the Interstate is plugged and a ditch needs to be cleaned. The proposed solar park in Wheatfield Township will be installing cables under drains and tiles so future Drainage Board meetings can expect to be busy reviewing their plans. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, July 6 if needed.

On Monday evening the Rensselaer Park Board met for a meeting that rambled. This coming weekend the Blacker Fields will host the largest softball tournament on the schedule. There have been many reports that the people coming to the tournaments are spending money in Rensselaer. There have been some unanticipated problems but they will be corrected for next year. There was a long discussion about scheduling the fields for local use.

Main Street Rensselaer is planning to install a walkway from Potawatomi Park to the shelter and restrooms in Iroquois Park. They will also install some concrete corn-hole goals and chess tables. The basketball court in Brookside needs another layer of asphalt before it can open. There is no water in the pool because a drain value broke during efforts to get the pool ready and it needs to be replaced. The next Park Board meeting will be on Tuesday, July 6.

On Tuesday evening the Rensselaer BZA met. On the way to the meeting, I passed by the Cylinders and Snacks event. It had at least 15 cars, so it seems to be taking off.

There were two main items on the agenda of the BZA. The first, a variance to allow a second residence to built on a lot, was withdrawn. The second was a setback variance to allow an expansion of the College Avenue McDonalds. The plan is to add ten feet to the south and square off the east side. The required setback from the property line is 20 feet and this addition will be only about 15 feet from the property line. There were several neighbors in attendance and their major concern is with a gap in the fence along the north side of the shopping mall. McDonalds has a fence along its property line, but there is an access road between McDonalds and the Lube Express and the end of that road is not fenced. People cut through the gap, and in doing so they cut through people's yards. The variance was approved. The estimated cost of the renovation is $800,000 to $1,000,000.

The meeting was not over. There was a discussion of what is happening at SJC. According to a member of the Board, some organization or business has made an offer to SJC to purchase part of the campus, that part that has athletic facilities. According to this person, the organization has not been able to get an answer from whoever is making decisions for the College. I do not know if those in charge of the College realize that there is developing ill-will toward the College. The College's apparent goal of bringing back a degree-granting college is seen as wildly unrealistic and there is concern that the slow deterioration of the physical plant will result in an expensive eyesore. People would like to see something using the facility, something that will contribute to the well-being of the City.

The intermittent rain on Monday came with some impressive cloud displays.

A long meeting

 Last week a memorial sculpture at the Fairgrounds was dedicated. An Eagle Scout planned and raised funds for this monument that honors five branches of military service and also the police, firemen, and EMS responders.

The Fairgrounds has a new digital sign at its entrance.

There is also a new memorial bench in the Historical Society area.

The Commissioners met Monday for their June meeting. They had a buried cable request that is part of the REMC project of providing broadband internet throughout the County but did not act on it because they wanted more information. The meeting was very long, over three hours, and before they recessed, the additional information was provided. The request was for several bores that total 3850 feet and it was approved.

The Commissioners approved a suggestion from the Health Department that the County follow CDC guidelines regarding COVID. Those guidelines say that those who have been vaccinated do not need to wear masks. Upon passage, almost everyone in the room removed their masks. The Commissioners also eliminated compensation for County employees who must quarantine. 

There were two public hearings on the agenda for vacating alleys in Kniman. The Commissioners expected these items would not take much time, but they were wrong. One hearing was for one alley and was initiated by a landowner who owned two lots that were separated by an alley. His proposal was opposed by a neighbor who worried that the owner would expand his landscaping business to the additional lot which was directly across the street from his house and bedroom. There was a long discussion that I could not follow because I do know know Kniman and eventually the item was tabled. The other public hearing was to vacate the rest of the alleys in Kniman. The discussion revealed that some of the alleys in Kniman were used to access garages. This motion was denied.

Later this year the County will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the building of the Court House. There is a committee investigating what can be done to mark the occasion and one idea is to renovate some of the sidewalks around the Court House. The committee wants whatever it does to fit with Rensselaer's planned Downtown Revitalization plans, so the consultants for that plan gave a presentation what was proposed for County property. The Commissioners approved the committee to continue working with the City and the consultants.

The Commissioners opened bids for work on County roads that will be funded by a Community Crossings grant. There were two bids, one by Town and Country (now part of Reif and Riley) for $904,888.29 and the other from Milestone for $946,684.70. The Commissioners approved the low bid pending receipt of the grant money from INDOT and review by legal counsel. 

Back from the May meeting was a request to use County land adjacent to the airport as a shooting range for 4-H shooting events. Those events include archery, pistol, rifle, shotgun, and muzzle-loader. The Airport manager said that clay pigeon shooting was incompatible with an airport and that he was worried that the noise of shooting would make a bad impression on visitors. The Commissioners decided that they would wait until after the next Airport Authority Board meeting (June 10) to decide.

The trustee for Keener Township had asked the Commissioners at the previous meeting to transfer a plot of land in the DeMotte Cemetery to the Township. The paperwork was approved at this meeting. He then asked the Commissioners if they could tell the Township what the EMS subsidy would be before they prepared their annual budget. The Wheatfield Township trustee requested $115,000 from Covid funding for several items that its EMS service could use. Mentioned in the discussion was that there was an effort underway to establish an EMS service for central Jasper County.

The Health Department has had difficulty in hiring and keeping a food inspector and wants to make the position full-time. They proposed making the position full time and to make the receptionist position part-time when it becomes vacant. The Commissioners approved that proposal subject to Council approval. The County Prosecutor has for several months been requesting that his investigator position be made full time. He has argued that it will be almost impossible to fill it with a qualified person if it remains part-time. There was a discussion of how he could use some money from child-support funding to help pay for the position. His request was approved subject to his working out the mechanics of funding with the auditor. He also requested use of the Court House lawn for an August 6 event that will highlight child support and that request was approved.

The Sheriff outlined new catastrophic insurance coverage needed because the previous supplier of the insurance was no longer offering the coverage. The Commissioners approved the bid and also permission to replace two jail officers and one dispatcher positions. He mentioned that DeMotte is losing an officer and expected that they would fill the position by hiring one of his deputies. (DeMotte pays more.) The Department has a vehicle with 170,000 miles that it no longer needs and is available if another County department can use it. He noted that he gets frequent complaints about speeding on County roads and suggested the Commissioners consider buying some boxes that flash speed to drivers. The Department has one speed trailer but there are multiple places where it can be used.

The Commissioners reviewed estimated costs of replacing or repairing four bridges that are deteriorating and approved work on the two that the consultant considered highest priority. They also approved spending no more than $2 million for paving and chip-and-sealing County roads. After approving mostly routine business, the three-hour long meeting was recessed until June 21 at 8:30 if needed.

A return visit to Fair Oaks Farms

 I had guests over the Memorial Day weekend and we went to Fair Oaks Farms. I think the last time I was there was in 2017 when there was a free-admission day for Jasper and Newton County residents. I was curious to see what had changed.

We started our visit in the Welcome Center where we purchased tickets. The one-day pass cost $20, which I believe is lower than it has been in the past. A season family pass is available for $80, so any family of four or more is better off buying that. The family pass includes some extras, such as admission to the ropes course in the Pork Education Building. 

We caught the first bus to the Pig Adventure. Not much had changed in the pig barns, but if I recall correctly, in the past the visit was less structured. This year we had guides for each of the three barns and they made sure we all got back to the same bus so the entire group would load at the same time.

The Pig Adventure shows visitors a farrowing operation. It produced piglets that are then shipped to other facilities where they are raised to maturity.

The trip to the Dairy Adventure was much different this year because it did not include a stop at the milking carousal. Instead it had a stop that showed robotic milking machines in action.  The carousal had a couple people preping the cows but the robotic milking machines are completely automated.

The cows decide when they want to be milked and the milking machine has video that guides the computer for all the needed steps so no human intervention is needed. I believe that the robotic milking machines are the better technology, producing milk at a lower cost, but the carousal is more memorable and visually interesting.

This year I was very impressed with how many families with children were visiting and how much fun the kids had with the outdoor play equipment. They loved bouncing on the big inflated dome behind the Dairy Adventure building. The climbing wall on the giant bottle of milk took more supervision and could accommodate fewer people.

On the way to Fair Oaks Farms I snapped a picture of the Indiana Face Masks buildings. The one on the right is new and does not look like it is completely finished. The building on the left was previously Greene's Furniture and the one in the middle was an antiques mall.

On Wednesday I took a picture of construction of the new veterinarian clinic east of Fountain Stone Theaters. The roof trusses have been installed.

The softball tournament scheduled for the past weekend did not take place. Perhaps the heavy rain on Friday made the fields too wet. An introduction to disc golf on Wednesday evening had a big turnout. The course had had a lot of use. There will be a free movie at the LaRue Pool on June 13, which I guess means that the pool will open before that. Last I looked there was still no water in the pool.