Various meetings, October 2022

 BPW

On Monday the Rensselaer Board of Public Works approved three invoices. Pay request #5 from Thieneman Construction was for $822,893.58 and Commonwealth Engineering was for $33,398,78, both for work on the Lift Station and sewer project. Commonwealth Engineering also had an invoice for $25,017.78 for planning for the elevated storage and water main replacement project. A representative from Commonwealth told the Board that there was an opportunity for the City to obtain grant funding of approximately $2 million for lead service pipe replacement. He asked the Board to approve a contract for $$238,000 to prepare the work needed for removal of the lead pipes, which the Board approved.
The Board approved the promotion of a City Police patrolman from second-class to first-class patrolman, and it also approved accepting an applicant to the Fire Department as a probationary firefighter.

Below is a picture of the lift station as it appeared over the weekend.

If you go to the north end of Matheson Street, you will see a patch of corn removed from the corn field. The small area is owned by the City and will be used in the sewer expansion that is part of the lift station project.

City Council

The roll call at the City Council meeting was read by Shelby Keyes, who has replaced Frieda Bretzinger, who retired after the last City Council meeting. She was appointed by the Republican caucus to fill the position.

The gas tracker for October will reflect a 25¢ increase per hundred cubic feet.
Stephen Eastridge, the director of the Jasper County Economic Development Organization, addressed the Council about public art. The innkeepers tax, which is collected by hotels and other businesses that rent rooms to visitors, is expected to reach $275,000 this year and the RenArtWlk is one reason for the increase. The Tourism Commission will be appointing a five-person working group to advise them on ways to continue developing art, and this will include more than murals. The Commission wants to fund more murals, but thinks it needs to spend its funds in the next year or two in the other Jasper County communities where people feel they should be treated as well as Rensselaer has been treated. Because the Commission will not be spending money for Rensselaer murals, he would like the City to spend $40 to $45 thousand next year to fund those murals. He noted that the Sun Times may be doing an article on the Rensselaer Art Walk, and that enthusiasm for murals has spread north to some of the communities in the Region. No action was taken at the meeting but something will probably be done before the end of the year.

Three linemen from the Rensselaer Electric Utility recently competed at a lineman rodeo and won several awards, both as individual and as teams. The plaques and trophy were awarded at the meeting. The plaques are for Apprentice Charger Changeout, 1st Place; Apprentice Pole Top Rescue, 3rd  Place; Team First Place Hurtman Rescue; Team Second Place Crossarm Changeout; and Team Third Place Transformer Mystery Event.

There were several public relations requests. Up to $150 was approved for a retirement party for the administrative assistant in the Planning Office. There were two requests approved for the Fire Department, $150 for food for the Fire Prevention Week open house at the Fire Station on October 13 (from 6:00 to 8:00), and $250 to purchase donuts for a training on October 29. The October 29 training is for extinguishing fires on electric cars such as Teslas and has about 250 people registered, some coming from other states, a much bigger attendance than expected. The final public relations request was for $400 to reimburse the Mayor for a gift card for the retiring clerk-treasurer.

Lights have been installed at the new tennis courts at Brookside Park so people can now play tennis in the evening. The Street Department asked to have the Christmas holiday run from December 22 through December 25 and it was granted. The Department is also planning to make changes in the trash and recycling routes for 2023, which will mostly affect the Houston Subdivision. Finally, the Council approved the purchase of a new lawnmower by Weston Cemetery.

Airport Authority Board meeting

The Airport Authority Board met Tuesday evening. A consultant reviewed data about funding prospective projects, asking if they were ready to begin constructing a new hangar. They were not. What impressed me in the data is how completely future construction depends on federal funding. After discussing hangar rental, the Board approved a $5.00 fee for daily rental in the old hangar. (There had not been a daily fee established and there is some demand for very short-term rentals.)

The previous airport manager, Ray Seif, worked hard to get approval for high school aviation classes and apparently the local high school had agreed to them. But then he left and the plans fell apart. Now there is a chance that these classes may come about if there is enough student interest.

There are problems with the Airport's website that affect updating and use on mobile devices. The website was created by KV Publishing but they no longer do website design. The Board wanted more information before deciding how to fix the problems.

The Airport has a grant for $30,000 for three flight simulators and there was a discussion of what options to include to get the best performance but still stay within the budget. A decision may be made at the next meeting.

Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce

The speaker at the October meeting of the Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce was Stephen Eastridge, head of the Jasper County Economic Development Organization (JCEDO). He will celebrate his fifth anniversary on the job on November 1 and during those years has had his office destroyed in the fire of the Town Mall, moved to a new office on Washington Street across from the Court House, and had work disrupted with the Covid restrictions.

His emphasis is to create a community that people want to live in, believing a welcoming community will attract new business. Instead of hitting the road and trying to sell the County, he has put more emphasis in working with existing businesses, seeing what they need to thrive and expand. Workforce development is also important. He has worked with the local schools to show students what opportunities exist in the County. Tourism has not been traditionally thought of as something economic development offices should be promoting, but that is changing.

 
During his tenure, the County has had $750 million of new investment, creating 374 new jobs and retaining another 155. Dunns Bridge is making the biggest investment, and though it will create few new jobs, it will substantially add to local tax revenues and use few County services. JCEDO has partnered with five other counties to find ways to leverage our strong agriculture base to spur more development. Some agricultural products are further processed here (such as IBEC, ConAgra, and the methane pipeline several dairies are building), but perhaps more can be done.

 
A lot of the work of the office is not visible to the public. The discussions and negotiations with potential new or expanding businesses have to be done in private and those discussions can take several years to bear fruit. Mr Eastridge said he is currently working with four or five prospects.

Other things

The ash trees in front of the library are among the very few ash trees left in Rensselaer. They have survived because they were treated to protect them. Ash trees are among the first trees to lose their leaves  in the fall. 

Below are a few more scarecrows from Milroy Park. All are from the City or City programs.

I have been told that Help at Home moved out of the offices in the College Mall a month or two ago. Apparently their day services program did not attract enough people. Anyone displaced can find day services at Lirio (formerly CDC Resources).

The First Christian Church is hosting a painting event to benefit the Rensselaer Care Center. Below is the flier with information about the event.