Decorations, parades, and a meeting or two

Below are some pictures from the Chirstmas parade that was held on Saturday afternoon. Better pictures in a video of the entire parade can be found on Facebook.

There were a lot of big vehicles in the parade. D-1 towing had four or five trucks, including some massive tow trucks. They could be very loud.

Rensselaer had several fire trucks in the parade, including its new aerial truck. It also could be very loud.

Not loud was this large John Deere tractor.

The Girl Scouts marched and gave out candy.

The Jasper County Highway Department had several snow plows in the parade. I guess that is appropriate for a Christmas parade.

The Cub and Boy Scout rode on a float.

Retired Iron had three tractors.

Near the end of the parade there were some horses. This year there were no camels.

Santa was at the end of the parade. I asked him what his new reindeer was called. He said, "GMC."

After the parade I stopped by Potawatomie Park to see what was happening with Frosty Fest. There were people checking out the trees and a long line for a visit with Santa. While I was there, Santa was not terrifying infants. Earlier in the day I saw him with a baby and a small child who desperately wanted to get back to momma.

The bowstring bridge is decorated.

I updated the previous post with a link to a complete explanation of what the Kentland mural shows. 

The County Commissioners met Monday morning in a long meeting that dealt with a lot of little issues. They approved a buried cable permit for Century Link to bore under a road in Fair Oaks. A citizen wanted a speed limit on a section of CR 1000 N. There will be a public hearing on her request in the January meeting and the Commissioners may make a decision then. A rezone request that had been recommended by the Plan Commission was approved. The Commissioners approved juvenile probation contracts with Lake and Porter Counties. The Lake County contract was the same as last year's, for 200 bed days. There was no Porter County contract last year because Jasper County had enough carry over from 2019. (Jasper County does not house juvenile offenders at its jail.) The Commissioners approved the Purdue extension contract. This is an annual contract that details how Purdue and the County split the costs of the local extension office.

The Head of Animal Control wanted to be paid for comp time that he cannot use and the Commissioners approved payment for some of it. He also wanted to upgrade his phone service which was not upgraded when the rest of the County switched to NITCO. The County IT people will see what can be done. The Commissioners appointed a person to fill a vacancy on the Animal Control Board. 

Commissioner Culp proposed EMS subsidies for township EMS providers that increased payments by $66,190, a 13.1% increase that was not split evenly. His proposal was passed.

 Next was a discussion of whether the County recognized a road as a County road. A person wants to develop a property along an unmaintained extension of CR 1000 N and needed to know what the legal status of this extension was. One document referenced was prepared by Lura Halleck, a lawyer from a century ago and mother of Charles Halleck. Some further research may be needed.

The County has a problem with its insurance for cyber security. I did not understand exactly what the issue was, but heard mention of multi-factor authorization and remote access. The Commissioners decided on a new policy and will work to correct whatever the problem was that the previous insurance company objected to.

The County formed a task force to make recommendations after NIPSCO announced that it was closing its Wheatfield coal operation. It suggested that getting utilities to all four interstate intersections in the County should be a priority. The one that is least served is the 205 intersection. The Commissioners approved a contract with Wessler Engineering to do a preliminary study to determine what it would cost to extend water and sewer from Remington to the intersection.

There was a long discussion of the problem of water leakage and humidity in the basement of the Court House. The heavy rain (in late June?) resulted in water in the basement. An examination of the downspout system showed blockage and some damage in the very old drainage pipes below ground. The water from the roof goes into the sewer system after passing beneath the theater and draining into a sewer pipe on Front Street. The Commissioners approved a contract for work to correct the problems.

There was another long discussion about Health Savings Accounts for County employees. As I understood the discussion, at present employees can contribute to HSA accounts with after tax funds. Some want to have the contributions deducted by the County, which would make the contributions pre-tax, reducing the tax obligation. The Commissioners set in motion efforts to get the change done for the 2022 year.

There was a short discussion of what is happening with the proposed central Jasper County EMS service. The Commissioners voted to approve the contract with Phoenix for 2022. It has the provision that allows either party to cancel with a 60-day notice so if the new EMS service is up and running by mid 2022, the switch from Phoenix to the new service can be made.

The Commissioners finished the meeting with a number of small items. They approved a bridge contract. Normally this is a four-year contract, but the State wants to get them staggered so this new one is for only two years. They certified ten voting center locations. The closest to Rensselaer are the fire station and the fairgrounds. Seven properties that did not sell at a recent tax sale were approved for a Commissioners sale. The difference between the two is at the tax sale the buyer must pay back taxes. At the Commissioners sale the back taxes are removed in an effort to get the property back on the tax rolls. They did not act on holidays for 2022 but set meeting dates for Commissioners meetings for 2022. The meetings will be on the first Monday of the month except for July and September, when the first Monday is a holiday. The meetings will be on the Tuesday. The joint Commissioners/Council meetings will be on July 18 and September 15. Finally, they approved replacing an officer at Community Corrections. The individual leaving will be joining the Rensselaer Police force.

I skipped the Drainage Board meeting because nothing on the agenda looked blog worthy. The Tourism Board had a very short meeting last Friday and nothing discussed there seemed blog worthy either. 

Mentioned at the meeting was the identification of the John Doe buried in Old Settlers/Makeever Cemetery. He was murdered by a serial killer in 1982 and DNA analysis identified him as William Joseph Lewis from Peru. After the paper work is done, he will be removed from his present grave and buried next to his father at Peru, Indiana.

Below are a pictures of a few of the trees in Potawatomie Park. Donaldson's has some snowmen made of filters.

The Little Cousin Jasper Festival's tree salutes American verterans. 

SJC has a tree this year.

Supercuts has an unusual tree.

Rensselaer has new street decorations this year. I think the snowmen are part of the new lights.

Also part of the City decorations are those in Milroy Park.