Mid August

 County Council meeting

The County Council began its budget hearing on Tuesday evening. Before they began that task, they approved a seven-year tax abatement for a 15 million dollar methane pipeline that will link another dairy to the two that already are linked to a natural gas trunk line. To do this they first had to designate the areas as an economic revitalization area. The tax abatement itself, which reduces the personal property tax for seven years, had opposition from Councilman Moore, who thought it cost the County tax dollars because he believed that the pipeline would be built with or without the tax abatement. The response to him was that the County was trying to build a reputation for being business friendly to attract future investment, and that denying tax abatements on new investment was a way to tell future investors to look elsewhere. The tax abatement passed with Moore dissenting.

The Sheriff asked the Council and was granted approval of changes to the Departments benefit package. Currently only spouses can be beneficiaries for retirement benefits. The change allows unmarried persons to list a beneficiary. The Council also approved an increase in life insurance.

The Council passed an amendment to an inter-local agreement, changing the name of the Central EMS to Jasper County EMS. The Commissioners had already approved this change.The Council then passed a series of additional appropriations.  At about 45 minutes into the meeting the Zoom feed started working. 

The Council then began the budget hearings. The Coroner would like a full-time deputy because sometimes none of his 12 part-time assistants are available for calls. The Sheriff had the most complicated and largest budget to review. He wants to increase the contribution to the police pension to help it become fully funded. He wants to eliminate the matron position and add a secretary position because the duties and need for work have changed. He pointed out that Rensselaer recently significantly raised salaries in the Police Department and now his Department has the lowest police salaries in the County. The jail population has returned to the pre-Covid levels, with a census of 85 on Tuesday. He was concerned about what inflation would do to Department expenses in 2023.

Before the meeting was continued until 8:15 on Tuesday morning to continue the budget hearing, the floor was open to public comments. One young man from Wheatfield who has spoken at meetings before, thinks there is corruption within the County government and would like to have the auditor removed. He was told that the Council was not the appropriate body for his complaint, but was allowed to speak his piece.

I will not attend the Tuesday budget hearings. I have a high tolerance for boring meetings, but not that high.

JC BZA meeting

The Jasper County BZA met on Monday evening in the Court House with one cause on the agenda. A person with property near Fair Oaks Farms wanted a variance to build a residence in a Highway Commercial (HC) zone. The owners want to sell the property and a prospective buyer will not purchase unless he can build a home on the lot. The Board was unsure why the property was zoned HC and after a short discussion, approved the variance.

Urban Forestry meeting

The Rensselaer Urban Forestry Council met last Thursday but did not have a quorum. The Council hired an arborist who examined the 18 trees on the east side of US 231 south of SJC that the City planned to remove and as a result the City will remove only seven of the trees. A couple of new trees are planned for the Courthouse square. The Council is working on a tree guide for Rensselaer. And Rensselaer is now listed on the Wikipedia page for Tree Cities.

The next meeting will be September 8. The Council meets at 5:00 in the basement of the First Christian Church and the public is welcome to attend.

Odds and ends

The biggest news recently is that Franciscan Rensselaer is planning a $28 million modernization and upgrade of the hospital. The planning must be quite advanced because a contractor is already listed. See here for more.

The cooling structure at the power plant is being demolished.

As I was there, a dumpster was delivered.

Speaking of electricity, my son sent me a link to how electricity is generated in the MISO area, which includes NIPSCO and probably IMPA. The table seems to be updated every hour. I was surprised that nuclear is as big as it is. Even during the day solar is very small. It is also interesting that they forecast wind and solar energy two days out.

The last weekend for the LaRue Pool will be the 20-21 weekend. 

The July storm knocked down or damaged over 50 grave markers in Weston Cemetery.

September will have a lot of events. Little Cousin Jasper kicks off the month, with the Weston Cemetery Walk and the SJC Homecoming the following Saturday, and Oktoberfest the next Saturday.