Rensselaer Adventures: Barbeque and lots more

BBQ

Rensselaer has a new place to eat, Boneheadz BBQ. It shares space with Mt Hood Pizza. I stopped by to ask a few questions and had a delightful conversation with the new owners. I asked if they were part of Mt Hood and they said that they were not. They were a separate business sharing the space. Apparently having two businesses operating from the same space is not uncommon in Chicago.

The owners live in West Lafayette. I commented that meant a long communte and they said it did not bother them. They also run a food truck that goes to festivals and events, so they said they are used to travel. I expect that means that they may not be open in Rensselaer during some of the weekends in summer.

They will do all their barbequing outside, even in winter.

In addition to selling their newly cooked food, they also sell their own barbeque sauce.

If you like BBQ, stop by and check them out.

Redevelopment Commission meeting

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met on Thursday afternoon. It reviewed the TIF management report that had been submitted to Gateway. (You should be able to find it from this link.)

The report was put together by Baker Tilly from data provided by the Clerk-Treasurer. At one time the Clerk-Treasurer wrote the report, but as requirements kept increasing, the City decided to hand it off to its financial advisors. Members of the Commission were unclear about where some of the numbers were coming from.

The other item on the agenda was about EDA reimbursable grant funds. The City has a grant from EDA (Economic Development Administration) of about $1.7 million for the $2.5 million dollar brick street project. Under the terms of the grant, the City pays bills and then submits them to the EDA for reimbursement. The City wants to make those payments from TIF funds. The project will probably be bid in May, with work starting at the end of July or early August, and finishing in the spring. The Commission approved the request.

There was a brief discussion of possible grants for charging stations for electric vehicles. The City is negotiating with the County and Good Oil to get City water and sewer extended to the west side of the Interstate.

A long city council meeting

The Rensselaer City Council's second April meeting took place Monday evening. In the Citizens' Comments section, a spokesman for the Eagles requested closing of a half block of Harrison Street on June 12 for Eagle Fest and on September 9 for a fish fry, and also use of the City Hall parking lot on May 6 for corn hole. The May 6 and June 16 events are to raise money for individuals with cancer. The request was granted.

The Council then had a public hearing for the Wastewater Treatment Upgrades Preliminary Engineering Report that was prepared by Commonwealth Engineering. The City is under a court order from 2007 to upgrade its sewer handling and as part of that order thinks that this may be a good time to make substantial improvements to its sewage plant. There are grant funds available, and to apply for those grants the City needed to have the preliminary engineering report that was the subject of hearing. The current plant is nearing the end of its useful life and has shortcomings.

The consultant from Commonwealth outlined some alternatives considered and said that the one chosen "includes a sequencing batch reactor type secondary process, aerobic digester expansion, expansion of the existing UV system, intermediate lift station, biological phosphorus removal with chemical backup, and a replacement effluent sewer." (I do not know what that means.) The estimated cost of the project is almost $14.5 million. No one other than the Commonwealth representative spoke.

The Council then moved to its agenda items. It approved an ordinance annexing the Saint Joseph's College property. It approved both a resolution and an ordinance for an economic development rider that gives a discount on electric rates for new development that meet certain conditions of size of investment and electrical usage. If I understood the discussion, the State ultimately funds this. It also approved both a resolution and an ordinance for a green power rider. This seems to allow customers to pay extra for the electricity if they choose renewable power, though electricity from all sources is mixed on the grid and cannot be separated. It seems geared to companies that want to tout their greenness. It will increase their cost by about $6 per 1000 kilowatt hours.

After a transfer of funds for Weston Cemetery for road improvements, the Council took up tax abatements. White Castle is planning a $35 million expansion. They have purchased the property to their west that contains a large, run-down metal building and will either renovate or replace it with a new building. (The old building once housed the Earl Soesbe Company.) White Castle expects to add 20 jobs paying an average of $21 per hour. Included in the cost is new equipment, both for the new facility and their present building. The requested seven-year abatement was approved.

Below is a picture of the property that White Castle recently purchased.

The Council then took up existing abatements. All abatements gradually decline, so by the end of their life they are quite small. The City has 11 active, and all were approved to continue. From the agenda, some companies had more than one abatement (common when they have an abatement both for real estate and equipment). Abatements were approved for Proform Finishing Products LLC (Genova), Conagra, Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA), Richard Reese Family LLC (Genova), White Castle, Melt Blown Filtration, and Indiana Facemasks.

As part of its capital asset management, the City's electric and water utilities had sought bids for field inventory collection. The bid for the water and wastewater study was $28,623 not to exceed $32,000 and for the electric study $46,840 not to exceed $46940. Both were approved.

Three bids were opened for advanced metering infrastructure. The City wants to replace existing meters with more advanced meters that collect additional information. The three bids were taken under advisement and a recommendation will be made at the next council meeting.

The Park Department would like its master plan updated. It was last updated in 2009 and it needs to be updated if the Park is to apply for grants. The Mayor will see if KIRPC, which did the last plan, can do an update.

Several months ago the Police Department sought quotes for a new car and Gutwein Motors was selected. Recently Gutwein informed the City that the model it had promised is no longer being manufactured but offered the Police Department a similar car with more features for an extra $6500. That price was still below the competing bids, so the Mayor conducted a telephone vote on whether the car should be purchased and the vote was four ayes and one nay. The Council ratified that vote, which puts it in the minutes.

Councilman Cover said that the utility office has had its workload increase and asked for an increase of $40 per week in pay for the office manager. It was approved. The Gas Department open house (which features a free lunch) is this Friday from 11 to 1. The Police Department announced it had picked up its new vehicle. The Electric Department will be rebuilding an electric line on Melville. The new lift station will be partially on-line this week. Sewer construction is complete north of town and is finishing on West Washington. The only remaining area unfinished is on Clark Street. The meeting lasted almost an hour and a half, very long for a City Council meeting.

Below is a picture of some final sewer-line construction on West Washington Street.

Miscellany

Harrison Street was closed on Monday.

I wanted to see what the City workers were doing because the brick street project has not begun yet. They were planning to remove the old tunnel that connected the Courthouse with the what was once the jail. It was not meant for transfering prisoners becuase it is only a few feet tall and has utility pipes in it.

The workers found what looked like asbestos and so have for now stopped the work until they have the safety of removing the tunnel evaluated. Harrison Street is back open for traffic.