The Ides of March 2023

 Winter lingers

We are less than a week away from the vernal equinox but winter is lingering. We woke up to snow on both Sunday and Monday.

On March 16 we will finally get 12 hours of daylight. (The atmosphere refracts or bends sunlight, so the sun appears above the horizon a bit earlier than it would if the earth had no atmosphere.)

Board of public works meeting

The monthly Board of Public Works meeting was held Monday evening before the City Council meeting. It approved two task orders that will keep spending for lead line replacement separate from other spending for the waterworks project. This was done to satisfy the State Revolving Fund, which is providing money for the project. It also passed transferring $10,000 within the budget for Commonwealth Engineering, subject to USDA conference. This is for the lift-station project.

The Board approved a pay request #10 for Thieneman for $595,460 and for Commonwealth Engineering for $18,434 for the lift-station project.  They approved a SRF disbursement request that involves a way of paying for services that I do not understand. Two firefighter applications were approved

City Council meeting

At Monday's meeting the City Council approved an update to the building code that raises several fees and also approved changes to the policies and procedures ordinance that updates them to be consistent with changes the Council has made since 1917. A committee had spent several months preparing this update.

The gas tracker for March will reflect a 9.5¢ decrease per hundred cubic feet. The electric tracker will reflect a $4.11 decrease per 1000 kilowatt hours.

Two bids were received and opened for the 2023 Community Crossings street work. One, from Milestone Contractors of Griffith, had a base bid of slightly more than a million dollars and the other, from Town and Country from DeMotte was for slightly less than a million dollars. The bids were given to the consultants from First Group to examine. They will bring back a recommendation that will probably be on the agenda of the March 27th meeting. The paperwork needs to be submitted to the State by April 6.

In the comments section of the meeting, Mr Cover said that he had been given a tour of the power plant and highly recommended that the other Council members take the same tour to see what was happening there. (After the meeting I heard mention that the City had received payment for the Wärtsilä  engine, so sometime in the next few months it would be moved. That will be quite the task because it is huge.) The Forestry Council received a grant to plant 27 trees this year and for the fifteenth year Rensselaer has earned the Tree City designation. Some trees on the north of Brookside Park need to be taken down because they are shedding branches.

 
The Street Department received permission to hire five summer employees. When work begins on the water tower near the Interstate, the underground piping will be installed before work on the tower itself is built.

Tourism Commission

The Tourism Commission met Tuesday morning. The revenues from the inns-keeper tax are down this year compared to last year; the slowing economy seems to be a reason. The Wheatfield Chamber is working on raising money for a protective coating for the murals planned there this summer. They are still working on finding walls. In Rensselaer walls at Ayda's and City Hall ave been offered.

 
There was a discussion of how to increase awareness of what the Tourism Commission does. One suggestion was that grants should be given with the provision that the Jasper County Tourism be acknowledged in the finished project. There is no signage recognizing Jasper County Tourism at the Blacker Fields even though Tourism gave $110,000 for the project.

There was a funding request from the LEAP (Leading the Education About Pigs) Foundation to help with a mural on the new Belstra Farm and Garden Greenhouse on SR 10 south of DeMotte. This is a new retail outlet. It is along the highway and the mural will be highly visible to traffic. No artist has been selected yet. The Commission approved a grant of $4500.

Last month the Commission heard a proposal for a new horse barn at the Fairgrounds but wanted more information, especially about other funding. The project has found $8000 in outside funding and the Fair Board has met and said that they would pick up whatever funding is needed beyond this and a grant from Tourism. The Horse area has 18 events scheduled for this year, beginning in April and continuing to October and they attract many out-of-state visitors. After a discussion that drifted to talking about whether and how people who camp at the Fairgrounds should be charged the inns-keeper tax, the Commission approved a grant of $40,000. The hope is that the building will be up in June or July.

This was the last meeting for JCEDO director Stephen Eastridge. The JCEDO Board was aware of his upcoming departure about six weeks ago and a replacement is in the works. No name was given.

Other things

The Jasper County Airport Authority met on Tuesday evening and most of the meeting was devoted to the nuts and bolts of running the airport. The Board approved hiring an intern for the summer. There was discussion of the possibility of hiring an assistant manager, a topic that will come up in future meetings. The airport course for high school students, which was a dream of the previous airport manager, may finally happen in the fall. The board passed some fees for aerial applicators (crop dusters) who use the airport.

The Rensselaer Plan Commission met on February 9. The meeting was very short. It passed a recommendation that will go to the City Council, which will set up a way to fund art with money coming from the Redevelopment Commission.

On Saturday the Rensselaer Library had its annual free Train Day with some elaborate model train sets.