Crocuses!

I saw crocuses on Tuesday. Spring is here!!

And also some snowdrops.

BPW

Monday's Board of Public Works was a bit strange. It had three items on the agenda. The first was a firefighter application. The Board decided that they needed more information so did not act. The second was a claim from Commonwealth Engineers. It had been approved at the previous meeting but not been paid so the Board approved it again. The last was a bill from the Board's lawyer. It was withdrawn because the matter will be settled when the bond issue for the sewer project is approved.

City Council meeting

In the public comment section of the City Council meeting, John Cannon, a representative of the State Attorney General's office told the Council of some of the things that the Attorney General's office does. A big push is to return unclaimed property.  (You can check here to see if you are owed anything.) He said that the office was working with 26 other states to get the FCC to stop some of the robo calls coming from out of state. He also warned people to be wary of out-of-area contractors who solicit business after big storms. 

The Council passed an ordinance to rezone two lots from A2 to I1. This rezone for two lots immediately west of the REMC headquarters had been approved at an earlier meeting but it needed to be done with an ordinance. The gas tracker for March is slightly less then 10¢ per hundred cubic feet. A resolution that I did not completely understand allows the sewer department to partially reimburse the water department for the recent purchase of a vac truck.  (Both departments use the truck.)

Some dates to put on your calendar: April 30, Town-Wide Yard Sale; May 2-6 Clean-up Week; April 29 Gas Department Open House 11:00-1:00 or 11:00-2:00 (time not yet set).

So far this year Greyhound has had 19 passengers get on or get off the bus in Rensselaer. The bus stops at 6:00 on the way north and at noon on the way south. The stop is starting to be used more. Three employees of the Street Department recently used their CPR training on a person who needed it. The Gas Department will soon begin CRP training for its employees. For some it will be a refresher course. Weston Cemetery will begin its Spring Cleanup on the 21st. Fenwick Farms asked to have part of the City parking to its south closed while some  work is done on its building and the request was approved. Some of the lights in Potawatomi Park are damaged and the company that manufactured them is no longer in business so parts are hard or maybe impossible to find. The closing on the sewage bonds will be on April 24 at 9:00 in the Council Chambers.

PTABOA

The Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) met on Tuesday morning in the Court House. In a short meeting they approved four applications for property tax exemptions. Two were for small cemeteries that need to refile every two years. (This may only be for private, family cemeteries,) One was for Grace Point Resource Center that owns the building next to the First Merchants Bank and the other was for Family Focus, which works from what used to be Christian Haven near Wheatfield. Both of these are not-for-profit organizations. Property values have and are rising so assessments will also be rising.

Invasive species

In January 2020 a group concerned with invasive species formed in Jasper County but it has largely died partly as a result of Covid lockdowns. A meeting to revive it was held on Tuesday evening at the Carnegie Center. The nine people attending brainstormed ideas and managed to set up a steering committee for more planning. One person even stepped up to be the leader. The Soil and Water Conservation District has an invasive species buy-back program that will help residents replace invasive trees and shrubs with native species. See here. The next public meeting is scheduled for April 29.

County Council meeting

The agenda for the Council, which met Tuesday evening, was short but the meeting still lasted over an hour. The Fairgrounds wanted an additional appropriation to repair grandstand seating, something the Commissioners approved at its meeting. The Council could not make the appropriation this month because it had not been advertised. Animal Control did receive an additional appropriation for part-time help. The Director noted that about 50% of the animals they are getting are from people who died or who are moving into assisted living or nursing homes and about 50% are old animals that no one wants. The office repairs to the building have been completed. 

EMS is seeking to hire a director. The concern for County EMS is for the Southern EMS service. They are struggling to find younger people to replace the older people who are retiring and are depending a lot on the Wolcott EMS service. Remington is OK with combining the Southern service with the Central service if an ambulance is stationed in Remington.

The Sheriff and the Council had a long discussion on license-plate readers. The Sheriff would like seven cameras on four Interstate interchanges. Renting them will cost about $16,000 per year, which is more than he thinks his budget can handle. He would also like four cameras to be used on traffic trailers. He is reaching out to the community police departments and some Interstate businesses for financial help and wanted to know if the Council would also help financially. He wants to go with two vendors because that would allow the County to tap into their separate databases. One of the vendors would allow smartphones to be used as license-plate readers, so a deputy could take pictures of license plates in a parking lot and run them to see if the vehicle had any violations on record. The interchange that will probably see the first cameras it the SR 10 interchange because it seems to have had the most recent incidents. He noted that almost all trucks now have dashboard cameras because they are no longer expensive and his patrol cars also have them. The Council indicated that it is willing to help at some level.

Odds and Ends

On Tuesday morning work was being done on the exterior of the soon-to-be Walgreens store. The windows and door were installed.

On Saturday the Rensselaer Library had its annual Train Day.

This box is in front of the sign on the northwest corner of the Court House Square. I think it is a Little Library box, but when I stopped by there were no book inside. It looks like it was made by the plasma cutters at Chief Industries.

From a reader:

Barstool golf from November 2021 has donated over $400 to Fill the Bus.
Barstool golf from March 12, 2022 has donated $400 to the school lunch program.
Next Barstool Golf will be November 19th 2022.  Donation will be made to the CDC of Rensselaer.
All Bars and Clubs are involved and have info at least one week prior.
Northside Tavern is for sale.....owners are retiring (sort of). 

(I decided to break up the text with headers. Are they helpful?)