More meetings

Despite a week of very cold temperatures, the Iroquois River did not freeze over. 

Water is slowly rising in the Babcock Quarry. You can compare the picture below to a picture from early November to see the rise. (The platform near the end of the road once held the pump that kept the water level from rising.)

You can see some of the hundreds of geese that are hanging out in the quarry in the picture above. 

The cold weather froze the water seeping in from the western edge of the quarry.

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met Tuesday to adopt a declaratory resolution to enlarge the Lintner Park TIF area. This is the first step of several before the TIF is enlarged. The property the Commission is adding is about 28 acres, presently zoned for agriculture, east of the present TIF area. It is inside City limits and there has been interest shown in the past about the area. It is next to the railroad so a spur line is possible. 

The Airport Authority Board met Tuesday evening. They discussed a five-year Capital Improvement Plan that needs to be submitted to the FAA by February. Their engineering consultant pointed out that the recently passed federal infrastructure act had money dedicated to airports and that the Jasper County Airport was eligible for $159,000 a year for five years. He said that one of the uses they might make of this money is to build a new hangar. The airport has an old hangar that was built in the 1940s and replacement of that building, which is considered a safety hazard because it is too close to the taxiway, has been a priority for several years. Members of the Board suggested other options and the plan was made more vague to include those options. Final guidance on how these infrastructure funds may be spent is not yet available. A major goal of the Airport is to add an east-west runway that would be long enough to serve larger private jets. Some of the land needed has not yet been acquired and there was discussion as to when in the plan it should be acquired. 

The Board approved a request from Work One to allow a client to shadow the Airport Manager. There was a long discussion of the vacation and comp time policy for the Manager. The meeting was interrupted with a Finance Committee meeting, which noted that with the very low interest rates there was not much that could be done to improve the return on cash assets. The meeting concluded with the Board retaining its 2021 officers for 2022.

Several people involved with the invasive species initiative held a Zoom meeting on Monday. They set a date for a call out meeting to get more people involved. The tentative time and place is March 15 at 5:30 at the Carnegie Building. 

On its website but not in this week's edition the Rensselaer Republican reports that SJC has named Chad Pulver as chancellor. Late on Thursday SJC put the release on its website. I do not recall that SJC ever had the office of chancellor. I wish Dr Pulver success in his new position.

On January 22 at 10:00 am Bieser's Gourmet Kettle Corn Factory will have a ribbon cutting ceremony in Morocco.  It is nice to see a new business opening there.

On Thursday evening both the Rensselaer Plan Commission and the Rensselaer BZA met. The Rensselaer Plan Commission approved an amendment to the Schuster Road Platt. The City is planning to develop this road after getting a property donation from NITCO. The BZA approved a conditional use variance for a dog-grooming business on West Lincoln Street. The owners plan to move to a storefront in a few months.  The Rensselaer Plan Commission has another meeting scheduled for February 10. Both groups retained their officers from 2021 for 2022.

The Fendig Gallery is now hosting the Annual Regional Primary Art Show. The exhibit ends January 30. Masks are required for all visitors.

The foundation for new tennis courts is being prepared in Brookside Park.

Foundations are also being prepared for a new, smaller Walgreens where Arby's once stood.

Titan Construction is doing the work. On Thursday they had dug a trench for a footer.

Construction is supposed to be finished in March.