Signs

On Sunday the Jasper Newton Foundation held what it called the "Window Sash Bash Open House" to celebrate the restored windows in the Carnegie Center. The event also dedicated the relatively new sign for the building.

On the back of the sign is a plaque saying that the sign is dedicated in memory of Robert Lewis and in honor of Linda Reiners, who were instrumental in repurposing the building after the Library moved.

The event had a speaker who talked about the importance of quality of life and how preserving old buildings can improve the quality of life of a community.

The renovation cost about $110K and was funded lby a 50K grant from Indiana Landmarks and another grant of $7500. The company that did the work is based in Plymouth, Indiana.

Recently I noticed the sign below. It is at the former State Highway site, which is now an empty lot. Since the State is still the owner, I suspect there were no bids, which is not a surprise because the potential liabilities from chemical pollution are high. At one time the State was willing to give the property to the City and the City did not want it because of those potential liabilities.

Save-A-Lot recently got a new sign.

So did Pizza Hut along with a new roof. The former roof was red.

eMbers has new signage.

The color of the corn is a sign that it is harvest time. Wednesday is the vernal equinox, which some consider the end of summer.

Another sign of fall are the pumpkins and mums that Strack and Van Til is selling.

Last week the Weinermobile paid a visit to Strack & Van Til. I asked the two people who came with the vehicle what the purpose of the visit was and was told it gave people a chance to take pictures. I saw quite a few people posing themselves or others with the vehicle. 

AutoZone is resurfacing their parking lot.

This past weekend was busy. Francesville had its fall festival, Wheatfield had its Sandhill Crane festival, SJC had a homecoming for alumni at Lake Banet, there was some kind of horse event at the Fairgrounds, and Reinforcements Design had a car show featuring cars designed by Ferdinand Porsche. I went to the Memories Alive Cemetery Walk at Weston Cemetery. The program for this year's walk as well as the previous years can be found here. 

The re-enactor below is portraying Martha Sharp. She married one of the two Joseph Sharps buried in Weston Cemetery. The other is in a grave about 20 yards away and he married Martha's sister. The other Joseph Sharp had three children, one of whom is buried not with her parents but with her aunt and uncle. I have no evidence for this, but my guess is that she was buried in the lot of the wrong Joseph Sharp.

This year we featured Civil War soldiers from Jasper County who died in the War and are buried in Weston Cemetery. Someone asked me if there were any Confederate soldiers buried in Weston Cemetery. I was surprised to learn a year or two ago that there are two.

The BZA and Plan Commission met Monday night. The BZA had one cause, a request for a frontage variance. The Code says that a property in the country should have 250 feet. The petitioners wanted to split a lot so the house could be sold and they could keep the farm buildings. The lot with the house did not meet the 250-foot requirement but the members of the Board did not seem to have problems with that.. Rather they wondered if the lot line for the house met the setback requirement for adjacent buildings (12 feet) so decided to continue the matter until the October 18 meeting.

The Plan Commission had two rezone requests, both A1 to A2 so that houses could be put on two-acre parcels. (The requirement for a house on an A1 lot is a ten-acre parcel.) One was for the same property in the BZA cause and both were approved. They now go to the Commissioners for their approval.

One Tuesday night the County Council met. They rescinded two additional appropriations from the previous meeting and then reapproved them coming from a different fund. The Sheriff outlined his plans to contract with a food vendor for jail meals. He expects a significant savings and plans to implement the change in October. The Council had no objections to him rehiring a deputy who had left. The salary will be more than for a new deputy but there will be savings on training and outfitting.

The President of the Council read the 2022 budget, which was a lot of numbers that made no sense when heard rather than read. There were raises for County employees. The Council then heard from four entities that must get Council approval for their budgets. (The vote will be at the September meeting.) First up was the Rensselaer Central School Corporation, which needs Council approval because it has an appointed school board. The total budget is $10.19 million, higher than last year. The Corporation receives $7000 per student from the State. Last year the Corporation was down about 100 students from the previous year but this year it is up about 30 students from last year. It faces a slow decline in enrollment, which is quite common among rural areas (and probably some city areas–fertility rates have fallen.) 

Next up was the Airport Authority. The Council met the new airport manager, Emily Hackler. The Airport has little change in its budget.

The Indiana Solid Waste District had a slight decrease in its budget. It serves nine counties and because Jasper County has the highest assessed valuation of those counties, our Council approves its budget. 

Finally the Iroquois Conservancy presented a flat budget. It has a new secretary/treasurer, Kim DeWees. It would like to have the farm land in Benton County that is in the Iroquois watershed to pay the same assessment as watershed farmers in Newton and Jasper counties.