More decorating

BPW


The Board of Public Works met for its regular monthly meeting on Monday after it had met in executive session to interview two candidates for the open police officer position. In the regular meeting the Police Chief announced that one of the candidates had been selected for a conditional offer of employment. There are still some tests that the candidate must pass and he is expected to be sworn in sometime in January.

As usual, the bulk of the short meeting was devoted to approving invoices. Commonwealth Engineering had four, for work on the lift station, the elevated water storage, and for lead service line replacement. The lead service line replacement will be for Front, Weston, and some of Van Rensselaer. The other invoice approved was for Theineman Construction for work on the lift station project. The work on the exterior is finished and they are now filling around the structure and working inside the structure to install pumps and whatever else needs to be done there. The Board also approved moving ahead with the bid process, which has some deadlines imposed by the grant funder.


After the meeting I asked about the three large portable storage tanks that I noticed along the side of what was the SJC softball field. They were and may still be being used for maintenance work at the sewage plant.


City Council meeting

The first of three December City Council meetings was short and uneventful. The Council quickly approved establishing a fire-truck escrow fund and a gas-utility-truck escrow fund. They had been recommended by the State Board of Accounts and there was no explanation of what they did. Also recommended by the State Board of Accounts were changes in the ordinance for the Public Relations fund, so the Council repealed and replaced it. The gas tracker for December reflects a 1.5¢ increase per hundred cubic feet of usage. The Council approved some transfers of funds for various departments.

Baker Tilley, the City's financial advisor, prepared a resolution stating the initial use of a portion of ARPA funds. They will be used to pay the City's portion of the water main replacement and the brick street projects.

The Major announced that the City would be receiving a Community Crossings grant of $646,675. This is for road repair and construction and the City must match $1 for each $3 received. 

The Council approved two small cuts to the 2023 budget that the State said were necessary. The Cemetery is ready for Wreaths Across America on the 17th. The Council approved the purchase of a plow blade and a cab for a new mule that the Park Department acquired.

Other things

The Republican caucus appointed Eric Kidwell to replace Jeff DeYoung on the County Council. Last week's Rensselaer Republican paper had details, but I do not see it on their website.


Embers was featured in a podcast from done by a group called Tasty 219. Listen here.


Appleseed had a news release recently about a commitment to fund early childhood education. "Jasper Newton Foundation (JNF) is partnering with Fair Oaks Farms, LLC and Lake States Dairy Center, Inc. to bring $150,000 in funding to increase the access and availability of high-quality early childhood education classroom opportunities in Jasper and Newton Counties."


Below are pictures of some of the trees on the Christmas Tree Walk at Potawotomie Park.

Franciscan Health Rensselaer, with the tree of Lori Smith behind. I do not know who sponsored the white tree.

Chief Industries.

Here are a few more pictures of the decorated windows in downtown Rensselaer.

The paintings are sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, Mainstreet Rensselaer, and the City of Rensselaer. The main artist was Denise Espino who teaches the painting sessions at Frida's.

Airport Authority Board meeting

The Airport Authority Board meeting started a bit late because they had to find a quorum. The website problems that they discussed at an earlier meeting were mostly fixed. There was a long discussion about a drainage problem. The person who farms their land feels he has suffered a loss from a drainage issue caused by an adjoining land owner and wants to deduct that loss from the rent he pays the airport. Eventually the Board decided to send him a letter telling him what they expect from him.

The Board set the meeting times for 2023 as the second Tuesday of the month at 6:00 pm. They had a discussion about improving security and set pricing and rules for using the flight simulators that the Airport will receive this month. There was mention of an study of the economic impact of Indiana airports that can be found here. (Jasper County Airport is on page 4.) The meeting ended after a discussion of how to get a higher return for the cash the Airport has in bank accounts. The answer was T-bills but the Board of Finance must act on that before it can happen.