Because she could

Weather

Rensselaer got less snow than was forecast on Wednesday. It snowed most of the day, but it was light and most of what fell on streets melted. Still the local schools called off classes.

We got more snow Wednesday night so the roads have a snow cover this (Thursday) morning and schools are closed again. The temperatures are lower than they were on Wednesday, so the snow may stick for a while.

City Council meeting

The Rensselaer City Council met on Monday with a fairly short agenda. It began by passing an ordinance to return outstanding warrants, a bookkeeping measure that I think puts funds for checks that have been issued but not cashed after a couple of years back into the general fund. It then heard from its bond consultant about the bond financing for the waterworks improvement project, the new water tower by the Interstate and water main improvements. The bonds will get funding from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) and will have a zero percent interest rate. The ordinance, which will be presented and passed at the next meeting, authorizes bonds not to exceed $9,350,000 but the expected amount is $5.5 million and $2 million will be structured as forgivable. The actual issuance of bonds will be on February 24. The bond consultant, spoke for about 5 minutes, then left so he could drive back to Indianapolis.

The Council approved a resolution to transfer the Weston Perpetual Care fund to a new account, done because the State Board of Accounts told them to do this. There were also two new opioid fund accounts established because the City will be receiving money into these accounts for several years.

The Council approved $250 for the City Open House on Wednesday afternoon for the City's Comprehensive Plan and up to $100 for a sympathy gift for an employee's parent. They also approved seeking requests for proposals to do an inventory of the electric department. The water utility had received two bids to make improvements to the electrical service of the two water towers and the Council approved one of them. They also approved replacing one of the two aerators at the sewage plant.

The back of City Hall has been selected as a site for a mural this summer. There was a concern about whether people who get utility e-bills are getting the announcements that those who get paper bills get. The City-wide garage sale will be on April 29 and clean-up week will be May 1-5. The Electric Utility had received three bids for a new truck and the Council approved the low bid. Delivery will be in about six months; the only way to get the government discount is to place an order.

Slow news week

At the City Council meeting I heard that workers would attempt to move the last engine to be scrapped from the power plant on Tuesday. They had a new machine, shown below, but it never did pull the engine out. There seemed to be no workers on site on Wednesday.

There seems to be a lot of activity on the construction of the new lift station but I cannot see what the workers are doing. 

My 12-year-old granddaughter publishes the only paper in a town I sometimes call Nowhere, Nevada. It is a monthly, one-page paper. In the January edition she reports on the result of a cross-country ski race:

The race that I did there were only 4 people in my race, 2 of which were kids and 1 adult. I won my race and then I went to the snack table and drank hot chocolate and then coffee and then I ate a whole bunch of junk food because I could. Then mom came in 5th in women. She's very happy that she finished the race.

She writes the paper because her mother make her do it. Mom thinks the project is educational.

I post links to my blogspot posts on Facebook. I recently discovered some statistics that Facebook keeps on these Facebook posts. I am not sure what the time frame for these numbers are, perhaps the past month or past two months.

 

Miscellany, mid January

 County Council meeting

The County Council met on Tuesday with a different look from that of 2022. There were two new Councilmen, Eric Kidwell (who began in December) and Jason Armold, who was elected to replace Rein Bontreger. The Council reorganized by electing Steve Jordan as president and kept Gary Fritts as Vice President.

The first item on the agenda was the pay for the new SRO officer for the Kankakee Valley School System. The person hired has over twenty years of law enforcement experience in Benton County, and the Sheriff's Department has a matrix that ties pay to years of experience. The Council was asked to determine where they wanted to start the new officer. The County will pay 25% of the salary and the KV school district will pick up the other 25%. After some discussion, the Council decided to start him at 7 years, which is as high as the matrix goes. (The three SRO officers for the KV schools live in Wolcott, Rensselaer, and Benton County.) 

Next the Council supported the prosecutor seeking a new car for his investigator priced below $40,000. If he finds a suitable vehicle, the spending for it will have to be advertised before the Council can put it on the agenda for approval.

The Sheriff requested several additional appropriations that were needed because of errors in this year's budget. One was tabled for clarification and the others were approved. The Council approved moving some dormant funds, accounts from which no expenditures have been made for at least a year, back to the general fund. The Health Department has been trying for several meetings to pay employees for extra work involved with Covid shots. At this meeting all the requirements to have the money transferred were met and the payments were approved.

The Council changed the meeting schedule for July, moving its meeting to July 11. In the original schedule the meeting had been scheduled during fair week. Finally the Council approved appointments to about ten boards. Only three seemed to be new appointments rather than reappointments.

Special BPW meeting

The Rensselaer Board of Public Works had a special meeting on Thursday morning to open bids for the Elevated Water Storage & Water Main Replacement Project. The bidding was split into two parts, one for a water tank near the Interstate and the other for water main and feeder line replacement. The first part received three bids, from firms in Indiana, Kentucky, and South Dakota. Each bid had a base price and then a price that included mandatory alternatives. As I understand it, the firm had to include a bid for these alternatives, but the City can choose which, if any, it wants included. The base bids had a high of $4,568,428 and a low of $3,867,500. The water-main replacement part had only one bid, for $982,450. All bids were taken under consideration and Commonwealth Engineering will make a recommendation after it reviews them.

Other things

Work has begun on extending sewer lines on Owen Street and John Deere Road. 

The pipe has been positioned along Owen Street.

John Deere Road will be reduced to a single lane between Owen and Matheson Streets as the pavement is ripped up. The sewer line will go south on Matheson for a few hundred feet.

The Evans, Finney, and Taylor Eye Care Group has moved into its new quarters, the former Jordan's Floral Building. They have a lot more space than they had in their old building.

Strack and Van Til has built a roof for one of its entrances.

Update: A comment on Facebook noted: "Strack and van Till has had a roof over the outside entrance you showed. Perhaps they just repaired it?"

The Carnegie Center is hosting the first of its four school displays. This one is for K-2 and will close on Jan 29.

There is a new business next to the Main Street Bakery in a space that I did not realize existed. It is a beauty parlor, The Beauty Oasis Salon, which a Facebook page Beauty by Ash.

Appleseed seem to be getting ready to open its Appletree Center because they now have a director. She has been the director of the Growing Patch Learning Center in Remington, which is also run by Right Steps.

New at the Airport

Tourism Commission meeting

The Tourism Commission meeting on Tuesday morning introduced a new member, a lady who lives in DeMotte and has a design studio and an event center in Hebron. Her design studio has done work around the country but most of it is ag related. She has done a lot of work for Fair Oaks Farms.

There was not a lot on the agenda. The revenues from the innkeepers tax set a record in 2022. The Horse and Carriage event in Rensselaer was sold out. Planning has begun for this year's Jasper Jaunt, which will be held the 3rd weekend in September. The farm trail will be launched in the spring. It will feature a number of farms that have retail operations. This year's mural week festival will have $50,000 to spend in DeMotte and Wheatfield, funded by the Tourism Commission, and $35,000 for Rensselaer, funded by the City and administered by the Jasper Newton Foundation. Someone mentioned that Remington is busy converting a former bank building into a new town hall.

Airport Authority meeting

The Airport Authority Board met on Monday evening with one vacancy and one new member. They started the year by re-electing the officers that had served during 2022. They then stopped their meeting and convened a meeting of their Board of Finance.

The Airport has a substantial sum of money in bank accounts that are earning next to nothing. However, interest rates have risen in the past few months and the Board would like to take advantage of those rates. So the Board of Finance passed an investment policy, which had been prepared by Baker Tilley, that specifies what investments the State allows. The State limits local governments to liquid, low-risk investments. The Board then considered investing most of what they have in the bank in money market funds, T-Bill, and T-Notes. These investments should result in a huge increase of interest above the $57.10 that the Airport earned on its funds for December.

When the regular meeting restarted, the Board approved the actions of the Board of Finance. They then discussed many things. The search for a new courtesy car continues and the Board authorized the Airport manager to spend up to $7,000 for a promising vehicle. The website has been completely fixed. There was a long discussion of farm rental and flooding issues. There was a shorter discussion of what they need to be doing in the next few years, especially with hangars, and that discussion will continue in future meetings. Mr Yallaly announced that he would serve until the end of the year but then leave the Board to have more family time. The Board will make a recommendation to the Commissioners to fill the existing empty Board position.

Chamber of Commerce luncheon

The Chamber met at the Jasper County Airport on Wednesday and heard a presentation from the airport manager about the two new flight simulators that the Airport recently acquired. They were funded by a grant and the reason that our airport received the grant is because it has been active in outreach.

The picture shows a student pilot taking off and landing at Jasper County Airport. One can select just about any airport anywhere as a starting point or ending point, though the gas is limited so one cannot fly too far. There was a commercial pilot in the audience and he was impressed at the detail of the graphics, which he said were better than some on simulators professional pilots use. A big advantage of the simulators is that they reduce the cost of learning to fly because they cut the amount of plane time a student needs, and plane time is expensive. The demonstrator said the big difference between the simulator and an actual plane is that you do not get the body sensations of the plane's motions.

Those who attend the aviation summer camp this year may get to log a few hours of training on the machines.

Board of Public Works

The Board of Public Works met on Monday evening before the City Council meeting. It approved an engagement letter for waterworks revenue bonds with Bose McKinney & Evans and the Law Office of Riley & Ahler. (The elevated water storage and water main replacement project has been put out for bidding and bids will be opened at a special BPW meeting on Jan 19 at 10:00.) The lawyers will prepare the bond offering that will finance the project.

The Board then approved a batch of invoices from Commonwealth Engineering, the Law Office of Riley and  Ahler, and Thieneman Construction. The City now owns a .9 acre lot behind Kentucky Fried Chicken that will be the site of a new water tower.

There was a firefighter application that was denied with no details given.

City Council meeting

The Council had a short agenda with nothing of great interest. The Council made a minor wording change to the municipal gas utility rate and charges ordinance. The gas tracker for January was good news, a decrease of 41¢ per hundred cubic feet. The Council voted to keep George Cover as Council president. The Mayor made appointments to the Accident Shooting Board, Alcohol Beverage Board, Fire Department Grievance, JECDO, KIRPC, Rensselaer Recycling, Rensselaer Redevelopment Authority, Safety Committee, Tree City Advisory Committee, and the Unsafe Buildings Board.

Some State money may be coming to expand the Rensselaer Fire Departments training facility. The Electric Department was given permission to seek quotes on a 3/4 ton pick-up truck. (It would replace a 2008 truck that is having problems.) Plans for the Brick Street Project are 75% complete.

Other things

The Jasper County Chronicle has published several articles. They seem to be publishing about once a day. They had an interesting piece on the Compass Travel Center a few days ago.

Back in 2020 the Historical Society had an exhibit about Rensselaer authors and in writing about it I divided them into major and minor authors. One of the Rensselaer authors who should be included as a major author is Shannon Anderson, who has been very successful in writing children's books. Her I Love Strawberries has won several awards. She has a webpage (check out her schedule and her media mentions) and also promotes books on her Facebook page.

I mentioned that the Airport Authority is switching money into assets that earn more interest. If you have funds in bank accounts, you might consider doing the same thing. For several years the interest rates banks have been offering have been below 1%, sometimes as low as .01%. (That is .01, not .1.) Now all five Rensselaer banks are offering special promo rates on CDs, some as high as 4%. If you are as old as I am, you might remember shopping interest rates back in the 1970s and 1980s. Those times may be coming back.

Do you recognize this building?

A year ago it was GRG Auto Repair and had two big garage doors in front.

Workers are still dismantling an engine in the power plant. It is the one that was furthest to the north and I believe was the oldest engine there.

First post for 2023

Commisioners meeting

Tuesday morning was very warm and foggy and I could not resist taking a picture as I set out to attend the first 2023 meeting of the Jasper County Commissioners. 

It was the first meeting for Rein Bontreger as a commissioner and he was elected president, with Jim Walstra elected VP. Below are the 2023 commissioners as they prepared to start the meeting.

There were no buried cable permits and the first item discussed was from the Health Department. It wants to pay four employees extra for working on Covid matters. The Commissioners approved the request and it now goes back to the County Council. The Health Department said it had received notification from the State that it had to monitor a person in the northern part of the County to see if he takes his meds. They will try to do this remotely and may need an extra line, which the Commissioners approved.

The City of Rensselaer was back to ask if the County would allow the City to annex the land on which the Health Department is located if and when it annexes SJC. The Commissioners agreed and their attorney will draw up the papers. The IRS mileage rate is now 64.5¢ per mile and for several years the County rate has been 44¢ per mile. The Commissioners decided to raise the County rate to 50¢ as of 1-1-2023. They approved the holiday schedule and the Commissioners meeting schedule as presented. (Meetings, first Monday of the month except July, Nov 21 [both joint sessions] Sept 5, and the 2nd December meeting on the 28th.) They also approved the annual contracts the County has with Lake and Porter Counties to house juvenile offenders. There was no change in rates.

There were two bid openings on the agenda, both for the Highway Department but at two different times. They accepted all bids for hauling stone, tires, and bituminous emulsified asphalt. They accept all bids so if the low bidder cannot deliver during road construction, they can use another supplier to get the work done. The prosecutor was given permission to replace a vehicle used by his investigator. The car was obtained from the Sheriff's Department a year or two ago and at times it stalls out while driving. The Council must also act on this matter.

The Commissioners then spent 25 minutes making appointments to three dozen boards, committees, and various County positions.They reviewed a conflict of interest form for Courthouse work by Jeff DeYoung, who bid on the work before he was selected to replace Kendell Culp, and then approved the contract for the work. At a December meeting the Commissioners had accepted a bid for leasing County farm ground and at this meeting they approved the lease contract.

The frost law was in effect for a couple of days but lapsed on Tuesday night. The Commissioners approved filling another vacancy in the Clerk's office. The Clerk also told them that she did not want the Courthouse open for the municipal elections this year (primary May 2, general November 7). She suggested that these days be made County holidays as they have been in the past. The meeting was continued until January 17, if needed.

Drainage Board

The Drainage Board meeting on Tuesday began with a reorganization. Jeff DeYoung was elected as Chair and James Walstra as Vice Chair. Jacob Ahler was approved as attorney and Rhonda Elridge as secretary. The Commissioners decided which of them would serve on several joint drainage boards: Jasper-Newton, Jasper-White, Jasper-Benton, Jasper-Starke-Pulaski, Pulaski-Jasper-Starke-White, as well as the Kankakee-Yellow River Commission. As part of the reorganization, they also approved the compensation for the attorney.

The first item on the agenda was the drainage plan for Project Ribeye, a meat processing plant planned south of DeMotte. Their original drainage plan had been approved several months ago, but it had been revised and they approved the revision. Next there was a discussion of flooding on the north side of SR 114 east of the Fairgrounds. Putting a bigger culvert under SR 114 was deemed unlikely because that would require cooperation from INDOT. A retention pond was suggested. Those involved will continue to work on a solution.

 
A farmer wanted to put 3 irrigation pivots within the 75-foot right-of-way easement of a County ditch. The Board decided that it would stick with precedent and not allow permanent structures to be placed in the right-of-ways.

Finally the Board reviewed points of concern from its engineering consultant about the Dunns Bridge solar project. These are items for which the County would like to have agreements in writing with NextEra. The Board approved moving forward and submitting these points to NextEra.

Other Things

Someone noted in a comment on the last post the Frida's Restaurant has closed.

Someone or someones have started a digital paper on the substack platform that will cover Jasper County news. They call it the Jasper County Chronicle. For now the subscription is free. You can find it here.

I stopped by S-blended Nutrition on Wednesday to see their new space. It looks great.

Rensselaer has a few more vacant storefronts as the new year starts. 

Gutwein-Risner's Insurance has moved but there was someone inside painting on Wednesday.

Some of the Christmas windows have been removed, including these gingerbread men on Fenwick Farms.

But I noticed one on Rule's building that I had not seen before.

The former GRG garage now has a new window display as work continues getting it ready for a new occupant.

Several days ago a person blinded by the low afternoon sun hit and took out the mailboxes by the post office on Rutsen Street. No one was hurt.

As of Thursday, days are a bit more than 6 minutes longer than they were at the winter solstice. Are you enjoying all that additional daylight?