A couple more meetings from last week

 The Rensselaer Park Board met Monday, Nov 1 at the Heritage Barn at Pumpkin Vine Trail. It is a new event venue across CR 1000 W from Wilson Industrial. The owner was recently added to the Park Corporation Board

The Rensselaer Board of Zoning Appeals approved this venue in April. It is not in Rensselaer City limits but it is in the two-mile exclusion zone over which Rensselaer controls zoning. 

The venue has been busy with a variety of events. The main room can be used for basketball. There is a kitchen, bathrooms, and a balcony.

The Board reviewed the season with Blacker Field. The baseball teams were happy with the fields and next year there are eight baseball tournaments scheduled and four softball tournaments. In 2021 there were six baseball tournaments and six softball tournaments. The change in composition was seen as positive. The smallest baseball tournament had 15 teams but two of the softball tournaments had only four teams. Next year South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority will handle hotel bookings and the Parks will get a small cut of the revenue. The groups staffing the concession stand earned almost $10,000. The tournaments brought in visitors who spent money at local businesses. After the discussion, the Board approved issuing the tournament contracts for 2022.

Some extensions to the walking trails in Foundation Park are being constructed.

There is a sponsor for moving the tennis courts at Brookside Park, but they will need fencing that is almost as expensive as the courts. If they are moved, the current location of the courts will become home for batting cages. A question was raised about a splash pad. No big sponsor emerged, which is a reason the splash pad has been ignored.  

The Park Board will not have a December meeting and may not have a January meeting. The February meeting will be on the 7th.

The Jasper County Tourism Commission had a short meeting via Zoom on November 5.  Revenues for the innkeepers tax for the first ten months of 2021 exceed those for the full year of 2020 and also for the whole 2019 year. The 2020 revenues were hurt by reduced travel induced by Covid. The new Remington hotel opened late in 2019, which is a reason that the 2019 revenues were lower than those of 2021. Also, the ball tournaments had a positive effect on 2021 revenues from the innkeepers tax.

The Commission heard a report from the Memories Alive cemetery walk. It finished solidly in the black. There were 27 tickets collected for the morning performance and 92 for the afternoon performance. The Commission also heard from a concerned citizen who is concerned that the Blacker Fields will not be maintained properly. This person pays into the innkeepers tax and is worried that if the fields are poorly maintained, they will lose tournaments.

Last week I took a picture of the water in the Babcock quarry that should serve as the start of a series of pictures. The quarry is no longer pumping water to keep the level stabilized, so now the water should rise to the level of the water table. It may take a few months.

The fields have dried and farmers have been back finishing the harvest. I wonder how many of the kids in Chicago know what this crop is. I hope all the kids in Jasper County know.