A second February post

First, some pictures

The second of the regional school arts shows is now on exhibit at the Fendig Gallery. This one is for students in grades 3 to 5. It runs until the 19th, which is the date of the closing reception. The Gallery is open Tuesdays noon till 4 and Thursdays 2 to 6.

One of the fun things of these exhibits is seeing how ability increases as we go up the grades.

Below is a view of the power plant showing where the Nordberg engine used to be. Notice that there are still metal bits in the pit.

The metal bits are slowly being taken out. I suspect the work is money-losing; the scrap cannot be worth the time and effort needed to get it.

North on Owen Street work has begun on a new sewer line. The picture below was taken Sunday, so work is probably much further along now.

Workers were pouring more concrete at the lift-station construction site this week. Access to the site is restricted, so it is hard to get good pictures or see what is going on.

Commissioners meeting

The February Commissioners meeting had a long agenda of routine matters. There was  one buried cable request, from NIPSCO doing repairs on a substation on a gravel road. It was approved. A person in the Surveyor's office was approved to get his applicator's recertification, which is needed every five years. The Health Department was authorized  to purchase flu vaccines for County employees early to get a discount. The Department also asked for $1880 for a concrete approach to their new shed, which seems to be completed.

A new hire at Animal Control was approved pending Animal Control Board approval. The Sheriff, down 3 of ten dispatchers, was allowed to use a former Rensselaer dispatcher for part-time work. She is full-time in the Clerk's office. He was also given permission to fill a jailer position to replace a jailer who has given two-weeks notice. The Commissioners opted to stay with the news media of record, the Rensselaer Republican and the KV Post. They publish legal notices. 

The Commissioners continued the contract with the company that prepares the CCMG (Community Crossings Matching Grant) applications. (For the past few years the County has received $1 million for road improvements. The grant requires a 25% County match.) At the last meeting the Commissioners approved a conflict of interest disclosure for the Courthouse drainage project. (The project is being done by Jeff DeYoung's company and he is now one of the Commissioners.) Apparently there was a question if it had been properly seconded, so at this meeting it was. The Council cleaned up some board appointments and approved a bunch of requests for people to attend conferences.

The renewal of a pest control contract attracted some negative complaints about how well the company had been performing, so the item was tabled and alternative companies will be sought. The city of Rensselaer gave a presentation on the Brick Street Project. It has been funded with a $2 million grant and will involve the reconstruction of the brick-street portions of VanRensselaer and Harrison Streets. Utility relocation will begin in May and the two streets will be shut down from June to December. The City needs to reuse 50% of the bricks. The Little Cousin Jasper Festival will be relocated to Potawatomi Park. The City would like the County to also redo the sidewalks that border the Courthouse Square on Cullen and Washington Streets. The Commissioners granted an easement for water.

The Commissioners then passed a revised holiday schedule, approved recommendations from the sick bank board, and raised the meals per diem from $30 to $40. They then heard from a resident of the Deer Park subdivision who said she had a neighbor from hell and wanted to know what the Commissioners could do to curb the offensive behaviors. They did not have any definitive answers for her.

They approved the purchase of a $18K recycling trailer for Wheatfield. The Coroner wants a 3 mile stretch of gravel road paved. Site preparation has begun for a new EMS building (between the County Highway garage and Community Corrections, in front of the Animal Shelter). 

Drainage Board

The Zoom link for the Drainage Board never was established. There were too many failed logins and Zoom locked the Board out.

NIPSCO had two items on the agenda. The first was a question. They had received approval for a project that was now going to be delayed. They wanted to know if there was an expiration for that approval and were told there was not. They then received approval for another project that had a couple of ditch crossings.

The drainage plan for the new EMS building was approved. Loves Travel Center has made a minor change in its plans for the RV park (which will have a capacity of 62). They want a sidewalk from the park to their store that will cross the County right-of-way. Their plans were approved.

Finally, Project Ribeye (a proposed  meat processing plant south of DeMotte) had been granted permission to put a gravel drive on the easement of a County ditch. Now they have decided that they want to move their building so it will partially sit on the easement. I was surprised that the Board agreed to this. I do not think the Board prior to December would have allowed it. However, the company has agreed to maintain the ditch and has already cleaned it, so perhaps that was a deciding factor.

Rensselaer BZA and Plan Commission meetings

The Rensselaer Board of Zoning Appeals met on Thursday evening to consider a conditional use application from D-1 Towing for a lot on Walnut Street next to the railroad. It is the lot that a few years ago had the wrecked train. The owner of D1 bought most of the half block, all except a lot on the east the CSX owns. The owner could not make the meeting; he was dealing with a wreck on the Interstate, so his wife presented the case. What they propose is to wall the property in with a six-foot-high concrete-block wall and use the lot for holding vehicles that they tow, whether from accidents or for police impoundments. They are currently using property to the east owned by Heritage FS for this. (I missed the change from Vision FS to Heritage FS. I am not sure when that happened.) This is very temporary storage. They also plan to construct a garage on the site and move their rotator, a very large tow truck with a crane-like arm, to this location because it is closer to the Interstate than their Francesville location. I am not sure why this conditional use variance of an I-1 (light industrial) zoned property was needed, but it was. It was approved.

The Rensselaer Advisory Plan Committee met after the BZA meeting and heard a presentation of the comprehensive plan. The plan is almost complete and will be presented to the Council in the next few months for approval. The most common concern heard in the public comments was a concern about the future of SJC.

Other bits

February 4 marked the 50th anniversary of the fire that destroyed the administration building at SJC. Some alums remembered.

The County Clerk has published the list of candidates for May's municipal primary election. Bill Hollerman is retiring and not running for re-election, but all other incumbents are running. There are two contested Council races: Kevin Armold and Frieda Bretzinger are running to succeed Hollerman, and Zion Miller is challenging George Cover. There are two Republicans seeking to challenge Mayor Wood, Scott Barton and Jeff Phillips.

Compass Travel Center had its grand opening and ribbon cutting on Feb 3.

Autumn Trace has begun construction on a new assisted living facility in Kentland.

The Farmhouse Kitchen  Restaurant at the Mercantile in Francesville will be closing in March.

The Alcohol Beverage Board of Jasper County will meet on Feb 14 in City Hall at 10:00. Usually these meetings are quick and uninteresting unless there is a new license on the  agenda. The new license at this meeting will be for Hop Quest Brewing Company in Wheatfield.