Searching for spring

 I keep looking for signs of spring. The warm weather on Saturday seemed very spring-like but the brief period of snow on Monday reminded us that winter is not quite over. I have seen several soaring birds that I think are turkey vultures. I saw at least of dozen robins over the weekend. Walmart has put out some gardening supplies: mulch and paving bricks. The sun keeps setting further north and daylight is about two minutes longer each day. Sap is running in the maples. I still have not seen any crocuses.

On Monday local gasoline prices jumped to over $4.00.

The exterior of the new Walgreens has changed.

There is renovation going on in what was once a gas station on the corner of Washington and Weston Streets. The building permit says that it is owned by RF Capital Investments LLC. The grapevine rumor says it will be a distillery. We will see.

Recently I stumbled on some information about past Jasper County residents. If you are a fan of America's Got Talent you probably remember a comedian named Ryan Niemiller.  He placed third in the 2019 season. His arms did not form properly and he used his disability in most of his humor. He graduated from Kankakee Valley High School in 2000. The other past resident is buried in Weston Cemetery and is one of the many Civil War veterans buried there. He was captured and held in a prisoner of war camp. He was one of 109 prisoners who took part in the largest prison escape of the Civil War. Here is a video explaining the escape and here is a link to his findagrave memorial. (If you click on "photos", you should find some newspaper articles about his life.) (There are two other Civil War veterans in Weston who were in prisoner-of-war camps but they were Confederate Soldiers. See here and here.)

The early March meetings began Monday with the Commissioners meeting. They approved a couple of buried cable permits and were told that at the next meeting there would be a request that involves connecting another dairy to a gas pipeline.  A citizen wanted a speed limit on part of CR 1400N and after some discussion it was discovered that the lower speed limit already exists but the signs for the speed limit were never posted. The Fair Board has discovered that the footboards in the grandstand need to be replaced and would like to purchase some used aluminum footboards that will cost about one half the cost of new ones. They requested $31,000 to purchase them and said that they may need additional funds next year to install them. Instead the Commissioners voted to recommend to the Council that they be given an additional appropriation of $40,000 and not be given additional funds next year. (The Fair Board budget is part of the Commissioners' budget but additional appropriations need approval of the Council.) In 2024 the Fair will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Usually rezone requests that have been recommended by the Plan Commission are approved with little discussion, but the rezone request needed for a meat processing plant south of DeMotte had an explanation similar to that given to the Plan Commission. I missed the start of that explanation at the Plan Commission, so some of it was new to me. The speaker noted that the way people buy beef has been slowly changing, with more people buying from farmers rather than retail stores. That change was accelerated by the pandemic. The new demand exceeded what the small packing houses could provide. He noted that there are no large processing plants in Indiana but that 50,000 head of cattle are processed by the small plants each year. That leaves about 100,000 head of cattle that are shipped out of state to be processed. The rezone was approved for a project that has been given the name "Operation Ribeye".

The Marion Township trustee and the committee planning the Central Jasper County EMS service suggested that a medical director for the County should be hired to plan for the future EMS service and to help coordinate among the four County EMS services. The proposal was approved.

The Sheriff was given permission to fill a part-time dispatcher position that was vacant. He warned that the jail was facing some major expenses from the medical problems of one of the prisoners. Stephen Eastridge gave an update on a study that the Commissioners wanted about the cost of running utilities from Remington north to the Interstate intersection. The Surveyor was given permission to replace a draftsman who is leaving. He has been with the department for 15 years and commutes from Kokomo.

Before they adjourned, the Commissioners approved a change in their plan of how to spend ARPA moneys. They will devote $1.5 million to roads.

In the afternoon meeting of the Drainage Board, Operation Ribeye was back in the meeting room. The standard easement for a County ditch is 75 feet, meaning that nothing should be built within 75 feet of a ditch. However the site plans have a bit of the parking lot extending into this zone for the Sipkena Ditch. Operation Ribeye wanted a variance that would reduce the setback to only 40 feet. After discussion, the Board decided not to give a variance but would allow an encroachment on the easement of 25 feet. The company will not be able to claim damages if the County damages anything that encroaches on the easement and no structure can be built there. Also, the company agrees to maintain that part of the ditch. 

The second item on the agenda was the drainage plan for Flatland Pigs LLC. This is the name of the company that is restarting a CAFO on the site of the former Tip Top pig operation.  The Board decided it needed more information and took no action at this meeting. 

The Board will have a public hearing at its April meeting for the Kane Nesius Agreement Tile Abandonment and for the Cowden Lateral Tile #34 Abandonment. The discussion of the Dunn's Bridge Solar Project, which at the last meeting was scheduled for this meeting, had been canceled. However, the Commissioners discussed and approved a suggestion to hire an engineering firm to review all plans for the Dunn's Bridge project. The next meeting will be April 4.

On Monday evening the Park Board and Corporation met. The Board had a quorum but the Corporation did not. They discussed the soccer program with a spokesman from the Rensselaer Regional Soccer Club (website here). The spring season will begin April 10 and last until early June. There will be five teams in the travel program, which play other  teams in the North West Indiana Soccer League. Cooperation between the Parks and the Club seems to be going smoothly.

Contracts for the Blacker-Field tournaments are signed. There are still a few dates for which concession workers have not been determined. Prices for finishing the new tennis courts have gone up because material costs have risen. RBI has obtained two grants, one of $29,000 from the Jasper Foundation and the second a patronicity grant of $37,500 that must be matched locally. So far a bit over $24,000 has been matched.

 The Tourism Commission meeting scheduled for March 5 was canceled because a quorum could not be met.