3000

 If you understood the title of the previous post, you might have predicted the title of this one. More about this at the end.

I mentioned a solar farm being planned for Starke and Pulaski Counties. It is further along that I realized: it has had a ground-breaking ceremony in which Governor Holcomb participated. It is called Mammoth Solar and if all the phases are completed, it will be the largest solar farm in the United States. We are seeing a lot of capacity in solar, which generates electricity erratically, not at night and little during bad weather. I wonder when we will reach the point at which additional solar will be useless. If we really are so concerned with carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, shouldn't we be building nuclear?

I think I forgot to mention in the previous post that the solar panels planned for Dunns Bridge II will be able to capture light on their reverse sides, which will be especially useful when the ground is snow covered.

The last tournament for Blacker Fields, a girls softball tournament with nine teams, took place over the weekend. I do not know if it was scheduled for one or two days, but if it was supposed to have Sunday games, the weather canceled them. Tri-Kappa worked the concession booth.

Rensselaer got about three inches of rain from a system that began early Sunday and lasted until late on Monday afternoon. The river will probably peak close to flood stage. Farmers who have not finished their harvest may have to wait a bit before they get back into the fields.

The baseball tournaments for Blacker Fields in 2022 have been announced on Facebook:

-Aces on the Mound (April 8-10, 2022) 
-USSSA Laser Show (April 22-24th, 2022)
-Brawl for the USSSA Team Belts (April 29th-May 1st, 2022)
-USSSA Roses for Mom (May 6-8th, 2022)
-USSSA Web Gems (May 20-22nd, 2022)
-USSSA Summer Sizzler (June 3-5th, 2022)
-Home Run Classic (June 10-12th, 2022)
-High Heat Classic (June 24-26th)

There are also some softball tournaments booked, giving the fields 12 tournaments for next year. 

GRG Auto Repair announced on Facebook that it was closing. Also on Facebook was this interesting post from the Rensselaer Electric Utility: "City Electric Department removed 2 transformers and 2 utility poles from Babcock Quarry pit last week.  The transformers were used to power the drainage pumps in the pit.  If we continue to get a lot of rain, it won't take long to fill the quarry."

Last week the Parks hosted its annual Fall Fest. 

Among attractions were hay rides, pumpkin carving, the Riley Read, and a bounce house.

The windows for the restroom in Brookside Park finally arrived so the new siding could be finished.

I have noticed activity in recent weeks at what was CTS Tire on the corner of Washington and Front. I was told that some former employees of CTS Tire will be opening an auto repair shop.

On Friday and Saturday St. Augustine's is having a rummage sale. What makes this one interesting is that the woman who was in charge got very sick last week so the job of organizing and running the sale fell to a person who has never before run a rummage sale. I expect there will be lots of stuff because St. A's has not had a rummage sale for a while.

The Rensselaer Board of Public Works met Monday afternoon to open bids for the lift station and unsewered areas. They received three bids. As each bid was opened, the bid packet was examined to see if it contained all the required forms. The one I found most surprising was a certificate of no investment activities in Iran. The bids were in the $7 million to $8 million range. Part of the project will be funded by an OCRA grant and that is a reason for the many required forms. The bids were handed over to Commonwealth Engineering to review and make a recommendation. 

The City Council met an hour later. They had a public hearing on a $50,000 OCRA planning grant to develop a comprehensive plan. The local match will be $5560 if the City gets the grant. Awards will be made in December.

The Council unanimously passed a new tax abatement policy. It had been introduced at the last meeting but no action was taken. It will give the City a tax-abatement policy almost identical to that of the County, DeMotte, and Remington.

A person from the City's financial consultant, Baker-Tilley, reported on a study of the rate structure for the gas utility. The utility financed its new tap into the gas trunk line with a bond and wants to make sure that it can make the twice-a-year bond payments. Baker-Tilley recommended having a customer charge that would bring in money during the summer and reducing the charge for initial usage. It should have a minor overall effect on consumers, moving payments from the winter to the summer. To make the change, an ordinance must be introduced at one meeting and a public hearing needs to be held at a second meeting, so no action was taken at this meeting. Both the Mayor and Gas Department superintendent said there was a strong likelihood that there will be an increase in gas prices this year.

Baker-Tilley has also been advising the City on trash fees. A motion was approved to get quotes on new garbage totes for residents. They would come in two sizes, a 96 gallon tote and a 35 gallon container for elderly who do not generate much garbage. The monthly trash fee will increase at the beginning of the year to $18.40 per month. Those that get the smaller container will be charged only half that. There was discussion of the problem that people put out more than one can worth of garbage and people who are putting out garbage that is not in cans. 

The gas department was given approval to sell two trucks, one a 2003 model and the other a 2005 model, for $2000 each.

Councilman Cover suggested that the City consider hiring a code enforcer and establishing a city court. At one time Rensselaer did have a city court. The Police Department has narrowed its search for new officers to three candidates. 

This is the post number 3000 on this blog. The title of the last post was 2999 in Roman numerals. I did not notice when I hit the 2000 mark, but post 2500 was in August of 2017, more than four years ago.  There is a chance I might make it to 3500 but I doubt if I will ever get to 4000. I am in a race with age and I expect age will deny me 4000.