Winter hit suddenly again this year. Last week we had very mild temperatures until Thursday, then a transition day on Friday with a cold north wind, and Saturday had highs in the 30s.
Almost all the leaves are off the trees, but there are still a few trees that are a bit late in losing their leaves. Below is a picture of a tree in Hal Gray Park taken over the weekend.
Board of Public Works meeting.
Monday's BPW meeting approved invoices and spending that totaled well over $1 million. The big one was pay request #6 for Theineman Construction for work on the lift station and extending sewer lines. It was for $944,720.52. Work on sewer lines along Clark Street is mostly done. On Tuesday a crane was at the lift station construction site putting in huge concrete manholes.
Here is what the crane was installing.
The Board also approved a change order that added $125,711.58 to the cost of the project and extended it by 16 days, with the finish date now of May 10. A manhole along the River was in much worse shape than anticipated so the decision was made to replace it. Also, the test soil bores did not detect some limestone that was near the surface and the construction company had to remove 378 cubic yards of it. (You may have heard the jackhammering for a couple of weeks.)
The Board approved a Commonwealth invoice of $29,711.12 for work on the lift station project and $19,318.70 for design and permitting on the elevated water storage project. The City has reached an agreement to purchase a lot of .91 acres plus access rights and the Board approved having the Mayor sign the purchase agreement when it is completed.
City Council meeting
The first part of the City Council meeting on Monday evening was devoted to several fire department items. Dain Hayworth, Marion County trustee, had praise for the local firefighters. He had been on some recent fire runs and observed them. The first item on the agenda was a pay increase for the three fire department drone operators. The position requires FAA certification. It passed. A discussion of something called fire territories followed. A fire territory would give the Fire Department a status similar to the Air Port Authority, with its own budget and ability to collect some taxes. Mr. Cover thought that there should be a special meeting to discuss this idea and the Mayor asked Mr. Hayworth to find a time that would work for everyone.
The Council repealed the salary ordinance passed at the last meeting because some of the salaries had changed. They did not seem to pass a new ordinance and I do not understand why they did not. The gas tracker for November will reflect a 30.5¢ decrease per hundred cubic feet. The Council approved $35,000 for the RenArtWlk project for 2023. The funds will be administered by the Jasper Newton Foundation.
City supply bids for gas, diesel, and tire services were opened. There was a single bidder on each item and a committee was formed to examine them and make a recommendation at the next meeting. The Council approved a request for public relations funds to purchase an item for a silent auction at the December Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The Council changed the date of its second December meeting from the 26th to the 27th. (The 26th is a City holiday.) SJC has approached the City asking to be annexed. The advantage for SJC would be lower utility bills. It gets electric, gas, water, and sewage from the City and has to pay a higher non-resident rate. The Council approved a motion to proceed exploring the matter. The City has a potential buyer for the Wärtsilä electric generator. It was the newest of the engines and the main generator at the power plant before the power plant was shut down. It is huge and would have to leave town by rail.
(Below is what the demolition in the power plant looked like about a week ago. The Wärtsilä engine has the yellow ladder and rails.
Rensselaer BZA
The Rensselaer Board of Zoning Appeals met on November 10th to consider a variance of use for a property located at 202 N McKinley Avenue. The lot is zoned R-2 and the owners would like to use the building for a business. That business is Sage Bridal Studio, presently located on Washington Street across from the Courthouse. The building was built in about 1895 and Jackson Funeral Home purchased it years ago with the intention of eventually using the lot for parking. The BZA approved the variance, but limited it to Sage Bridal Studio, which does business by appointment.
Joint Commissioners/Council meeting
The County Commissioners and County Council held a joint meeting on Tuesday evening before the regular County Council meeting. A number of items from the previous Commissioners meeting were discussed. There was new information about EMS. The County EMS is being held up by red tape. The service changed its name twice and with those changes it needed new EIN numbers. Attempts to reach IRS in Salt Lake City have been frustrating, with frequent messages to call back another day because the lines are too busy and occasionally hour and a half waits with nothing accomplished. Without the EIN number the State will not issue the certificates needed to operate.
The Coroner repeated his case for a full-time deputy. It is likely that a committee will be formed in early 2023 to investigate the case for and against.
The remaining two commissioners approved a trial by the Highway Department to contract with a private company for snow plowing in two subdivisions. (The Highway Department is short of manpower and has had difficulty in hiring people with CDLs.)
(The Republican committee that will select Mr Culp's replacement will meet on Thursday and the results should be public by Friday morning.)
County Council meeting
The Council approved a bunch of additional appropriations and transfers. One large one for consultants was needed because the County pays the engineering firm BF&S to monitor work on the Dunns Bridge solar farm, and then waits for reimbursement from NextEra. Sometimes it takes a while before the reimbursement is received.
The Council held a public hearing and then approved the designation of Carpenter Township as an Economic Revitalization Area. Mr. Bontreger read the entire document and it took about ten minutes. This will allow tax abatements to be given to the proposed wind farm.
The Surveyor's Office on behalf of the Drainage Board requested permission to seek a $1.5 million loan to begin work on the Davis Ditch System reconstruction project. (This is in Kankakee Township.) The solar farm people have agreed to help fund this but so far there is nothing in writing. The Council approved going forward but will want to approve a final bank agreement.
The Sheriff and the Superintendent of the Kankakee Valley School Corporation made a case for adding a third SRO to the KV school system. The system has 3300 students and operates five schools: the high school, a middle school, an intermediate school (grades 4 & 5) and elementary schools in Wheatfield and DeMotte. The School Corporation would pay 75% of the expenses and the Sheriff 25% and when school is not in session the officer would serve as a normal sheriff deputy. The Council approved funding for the position if the Commissioners approve the position.
The Sheriff requested an additional appropriation of $10,000 for overtime pay that may or may not be needed but because it had not been advertised, the Council could not act on the request. The Council did approve his spending of $3000 for a grant that would allow the County to hire one or two additional officers, with the federal government picking up 75% of the salary for several years.
The County Health Department wanted to have employees receive Covid compensation for their work during the pandemic. However, they had received hazard pay, so the Council wanted more information before they approved anything. The Council needs to make an additional appropriation for the outbuilding that the Health Department is building but it had not been advertised so no action was taken.
Stephen Eastridge had two projects that he presented to the Council and requested that they pass preliminary resolutions establishing economic revitalization zones, a first step in granting tax abatements. Both were approved. The first project was for a 16,000 foot warehouse on SR 10 that is related to Belstra Milling. It is expected to add ten jobs. The second was an expansion of FBI Builders in Remington for manufacturing trusses. It will cost $3 million and add 17 jobs. Both are the result of companies trying to integrate vertically to shorten supply chains. There is also some federal tax break for investment that will expire at the end of next year so businesses nationwide are pushing up projects.
Some more pictures
There was a Veterans Day program on Nov 11 at 11:00 in Weston Cemetery. There was a cold north wind that probably discouraged some people from attending. The ceremony started with some songs from the sixth grade choir.
I noticed that the remodeling for the Appletree child care building has added outside doors to each of the classrooms.
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