Is spring here?

A ribbon cutting 

Two new businesses have opened in what was GRG Auto. One is Rural Bling, which offers printed tee-shirts, sweatshirts, and other clothing. Most of their business is for teams, businesses and organizations and at present they do not have scheduled business hours.

The other business, in the smaller part of the building, is a floral shop, Backroad Blooms Hometown Floral. Below is a picture as the owner of Rural Bling is ready to cut the ribbon.

Some of the shirts are printed with the tranfer machine shown below. The owner designs the patterns, prints them and then this machine uses heat and pressure to transfer the print to the shirt.

The owner recently purchased Northside Tavern, so she is keeping very busy.

Commissioners meeting

The Jasper County Commissioners met for their monthly meeting on Monday morning. There were no buried cable permits to consider. They approved the two items recommended by the Plan Commission, a rezone of a property near McCoysburg from light industrial to agricultural and a change in wording in an ordinance that left an area around communities that neither the community nor the County seemed to control. 

Patrick Culp from the Tri-County School Corporation gave a short presentation about a referendum that will be on the May ballot for those in that school district. The referendum will ask to continue the tax that was last approved several years ago. He noted that Tri-County has seen an increase in enrollment and the revenues will be used for smaller classes, more classes, new programs, and facilities upgrades. State law requires a rather lengthy statement on the ballot and Mr Culp is worried the wording may lead some to believe that passing the referendum will increase taxes rather than keep the existing taxes in place. The presentation was informational with no action requested, but the Commissioners passed a resolution of support.

Sheriff Williamson wants to switch dispatch software. The current software is not well supported and offers no training. The software that the Sheriff wants is that used by the State Police. The Commissioners approved this request and also approved a replacement, if necessary, of a correctional officer who submitted a letter of resignation. 

The Commissioners filled a vacancy on the Airport Authority Board, appointing Andrew Andree who previously served on the Board and was also on the County Council a few years ago. They allowed the Airport to add the old airport courtesy car to the County auction, specifying they will get the net proceeds from the sale, not the gross. The City of Rensselaer wants to upgrade the sewage lift station at Community Corrections. The City does not know its specifications and there will be additional load when the new ambulance building is finished. The City and County attorneys will work out details.

There is still water leaking into the Courthouse basement after heavy rains. The Commissioners tabled again awarding a pest control contract. They did accept several mowing bids. 

In the public comments part of the meeting, someone from the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area reported that plans to remodel the public shooting range have hit a snag. Their range consultant says that the ricochet zone includes a county road and he will not certify the range remodeling unless that is corrected. Realigning the range is beyond the budget. He suggested two possible solutions. One was for the County to vacate the road and have Fish and Wildlife maintain it. The other was to close the road when the range is open (Wed-Sun, 8:00-4:00). The road is gravel, lightly traveled, and runs through Fish and Wildlife property. The Commissioners said that they do not want to vacate it but would be open to closing it if the Area would consider adding more things for the non-hunting public. The Area is supported by hunting fees, so that is the audience that it serves. The discussion ended with the suggestion of a meeting of involved parties to see what can be done. The meeting was continued until March 20, if necessary.

Drainage Board

The Drainage Board met Monday afternoon. INDOT is planning work on a bridge next year on SR16 that is over a regulated drain and wanted to make sure that they were OK with the Drainage Board. They were. NIPSCO plans to string fiber optic cable over several County ditches and wants to use the right-of-way as they do. They were approved. There was a long discussion about NextEra and the Dunns Bridge projects that I did not understand. The County and the company are not in agreement on some issues.

Rensselaer Park Board

The Rensselaer Park Board met Monday evening. They had approved the Little Cousin Jasper Festival using Potawatomie Park for its September festival by an e-mail vote and at this meeting ratified that result. Next they heard from the Rensselaer soccer program. They will start their season on the April 15-16 weekend. They play in a league that includes teams from several neighboring communities and this year will host games. Last fall they had 197 kids involved. There were concerns about the lumpiness of some fields and also whether AEDs (automated external defibrillators) could be made available. 

The Board approved a request to provide a free tennis clinic. They approved a list of summer programs and also spending $3500 to support that programming. Tentative new programming for the summer includes camps for Tree-mendous Trees and Little Kids Camp; clubs for adult swim, and events: LaRue Pool Opening Day Ceremonies, Morning/evening adult recreational swim times, movie on the field, pickleball league, disc golf league. Plus all the camps, clubs, and events from 2022.

Miscellany

Appleseed Childhood Education announced that it has opened its Appletree Rensselaer Early Learning Center on March 6. Their press release is here.

The Jasper County Extension Office has announced that its Ag/NR Educator, Brian Overstreet, is leaving. He will stay with Purdue Extension, but with a job that will serve a wider area.

The City of Rensselaer is seeking a new Building Commissioner. I heard from a reliable source that the current Building Commissioner has taken a new job with a local company.

As of the end of last week, the work on the Owen Street sewer project has reached the north end of Owen Street and should now turn west, tearing up John Deere Road.

More signs of Spring: Walmart is setting up their garden area in the parking lot. Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday. Crocuses are blooming. I saw my first one on March 2, just before we got a couple inches of slushy snow.

After seeing the crocus shown above, I checked a yard that I know has lots of crocuses.

We have had three big rains in the past couple of weeks and they have raised the Iroquois River to near flood stage. 

Finally, Lenten Luncheons started on Wednesday and there was a large turnout. The first one was at St. Augustine's and about 90 people attended. (See the sidebar for the schedule.)