TOP
On Thursday there was a ribbon cutting for the opening of TOP.
TOP is The Other Place Workspace, a professional shared workspace. It makes up the eastern part of the old REMC/County Annex building and contains 3000 square feet of space. There are six offices that people can rent and one is already rented. The first rental is for a financial consultant whose main office is in Lafayette and this office serves as a satellite office for meeting local clients. The offices range from 100 square feet to 212 square feet and all rent for the same amount. They rent for $500 to $600 depending on how long the rental term is, with a minimum of three months. Until August 1 there is a discount for rentals.
There is an alternative to renting offices. A person can rent access to the facilities for $55 a month with a three month minimum. That will give access to the lobby, conference room (shown below), restrooms, a kitchen, and an area that will have a couple of computers connected to the Internet.
Below is the largest office. It was not the first claimed. That was the office in front with large windows.
The rest of the building is called TOPLink Business Center and it has an almost unused Facebook page here. The building was built about 1964 for REMC and no one at the luncheon remembered what was on the site before then. In about 1985 REMC moved and it became an annex to the Courthouse, housing a number of offices, most prominently the Health Department, the Prosecutor's Office, and a Court room. After the County purchased the former PNC Bank building and moved some offices there, the building sat empty until 2022 when the four Fleming brothers purchased it.
After the Chamber lunch, there were tours of the whole building. The 8000 square feet that are not part of the TOP workspace are mostly unfinished. There is room for about ten offices or retail spaces, and the area will be remodeled to suit the needs of whoever wants to rent space. One space will be rented starting in October. Rent includes utilities.
(An earlier post on this building is here.)
Other things
We got hours of sprinkles on Sunday that never accumulated enough to get streets wet under trees and we got a better rain on Tuesday, with about a third of an inch. It was not enough to lift the burn ban in the County.
The dry weather has created interesting patterns in the grass at Weston Cemetery. One can see where people were buried, and these are not new graves, but graves that are more than half a century old. Apparently the dirt used to fill the holes does not retain water as well as the undisturbed soil does.
The storm-sewer replacement under College Avenue seems to be finished because now the sidewalks are being ripped up.
The Rensselaer Republican had an update on the Project Ribeye meat processing plant that was planned for south of DeMotte. An agreement with DeMotte to hook up water and sewer needs to be finalized before construction can begin.
The weekly car show, Cylinders and Snacks started a few weeks ago. Today (Thursday) there were a lot of cars participating.
Last week I went to the Business-After-Hours event at the Chamber of Commerce and when I was writing the previous post, I did not remember some of the tidbits I heard while there. There was mention that the owner of Walters Auto Electric had retired. The building no longer has its sign and the note on the door reads, "Closed. We have retired. It has been a pleasure serving you."
There was mention of a new food provider who delivers a limited menu and does not yet have a physical location for dining. It is called "Not Your Typical Wings" and the Facebook page is here. The owners left this message on another page: "we are a restaurant in a temporary location until a building is ready for us to move in! that’s why we are doing deliveries only at the moment! but hoping in the next month or so we can move to a store front in town!"
Finally, there was discussion of a Facebook page that links to many events that are going on locally. It is called Destination Rensselaer.
Board of Public Works meeting
The June Board of Public Works meeting on Monday began with approval of change order #5 for the main lift-station and unsewered areas project. It added an additional grinder station on West Clark, additional trees, changes to roads and walkways, and some other things. The cost is $99,126.85 and it adds an extra 93 days to the project, which was substantially completed on May 15. The Board also approved Thieneman Pay Request #13 for $941,498.43. Thieneman expects to be finished by Friday and be out of here. (I assume that means that any additional work will be done by subcontractors.) Two invoices from Commonwealth for the lift-station and unsewered-areas project were also approved, one for $20,054.78 and the other for $611.22.
Maguire Iron, the company that is building the new water tower by the Interstate, made its first pay request and it was approved. The amount was $206,754.31. When it finishes getting the foundation in, there will be a lag of about a month before it starts building the tower. Commonwealth Engineering had three invoices related to this project that totaled $11,372.
Baker Tilly had an invoice for $20,000 for work on the asset management plan for the sewage department. It was approved. Assistant Street Superintendent Bryce Black recommended to the Board that the City enter into an agreement that would make it open to getting financing from a Federal grant. The concern is PFAS contamination in drinking water and right now it is not regulated but may be in the future. The money that the City might obtain would give the City additional testing. The Board accepted his recommendation.
City Council meetings
After the usual preliminaries, the Council approved an ordinance to write off uncollectible utility accounts. They are accounts that are over seven years old or where the person has died or has declared bankruptcy. The gas tracker for June will reflect a 15 cent decrease per hundred cubic feet.
Sharon Colee from Community Services gave a presentation about public transportation in Rensselaer. The Community Service vans are the only public transportation in Rensselaer. In the first five months of this year they made 3750 one-way trips, with 85% of their trips originating in Rensselaer. The cost per trip is a dollar. Her presentation was to introduce the Council to the idea that the City should provide some money for this transportation in its budget and she left documents with the Council members. When pressed on what she was after, she said she would like the City to provide $1000 per month. The item will be on the agenda for the next meeting. (This week's Rensselaer Republican has more details about her presentation.)
The Council approved a Police Department request for public relations funds for $82.28 for hosting lunch for some school kids. It also approved an amendment to the Community Crossings project to spend $14,360 to repave Augusta Street. The Council granted permission to the Assistant Street Superintendent to apply for a recycling grant that could pay 50% of the cost of replacing the leaf vac, which has frequent breakdowns.
The Mayor is looking for people who would be willing to serve on the Redevelopment Authority, which rarely meets except when bond funding is needed. The appointees must live within the City limits.
Work on Filson Park started and now is stalled because the plans need approval from some State department or board and also because the Park needs BZA approval. There was a brief discussion of backyard pools, an issue a citizen raised at the last Plan Board or BZA meeting. The matter was tabled.
The Fire Department responded to 21 calls since June 6, all but one grass fires. The Council granted a request from the Fair Board for the use of a garbage truck during the County Fair. The gas department will totally rebuild the regulator station next to McDonalds at the south side of Rensselaer. All City gas goes through it. There was a question about the many reports of gas leaks recently. The problem was not gas leaks but rather too much odorant was being added due to a failure of a sensor on the trunk line. Natural gas is odorless so an odor is added so leaks can be recognized.
The Council had a special meeting on Wednesday to open bids for the Brick Street Project. I entered the wrong day on my calendar and missed the meeting.
Tourism Commission meeting
The Tourism could not get a quorum for its scheduled Tuesday meeting so postponed the meeting until Thursday. It began the meeting with the question of whether the County was receiving the inns-keeper tax from the AirBNBs. The matter will be investigated.
The staff of JECDO and Tourism proposed hiring consultants from Ball State to review the resources of the County and what is being done to promote tourism to determine if some adjustments could be made to improve results. The cost of the study will be $12,500 and the Board approved it.
There was a discussion of the need for a community calendar and an application called whatsup247. Jasper County Tourism no longer partners with South Shore and is looking for a way to let people know what is going on locally. Benton County uses this and you can see what they do with this product here. The matter was tabled until the next month as members investigate further.
Businesses are being encouraged to do things that tie into Art Week and a form is available to help. Tourism has recently published brochures on murals, the farm trail, and a listing of attractions and tourism related businesses. There was another discussion of using a marketing company for a range of services. The Commission approved spending up to $5000 to have a Tourism website constructed.
The Commission approved spending $2500 for an event at the end of Mural Week that will feature dueling pianos. The planned site is the lot that once had Long's gifts.
At the last meeting there was mention of a local artist who wanted to be included in Mural Week. The Commission approved $2500 for supplies but did not like the proposed location, the back wall of the Barnes Shelter in Iroquois Park. The comments were that no one uses the park. The Commission approved a sponsorship of $300 for the Memories Alive in Weston Cemetery event sponsored by the Jasper County Historical Society and $5000 for the Little Cousin Jasper Festival. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday July 10.
Jasper County Tourism is giving information about mural artists who will be participating in Mural Week on its RenArtWlk Facebook page.
Airport Authority Board meeting
The Airport Authority Board meeting on Tuesday evening discussed routine airport matters. There was a brief discussion at the beginning of an Illinois woman who did five big donuts on airport farmland. She had been at a dog show at the Fairgrounds and alcohol was involved. The case is in the Court system and the Board members discussed what damages they might seek.
The Airport passed INDOT inspection. Both flight instructors have left for other opportunities but a new one will start soon. There are five candidates for the position of assistant manager. 32 young people got airplane rides in the Young Eagles program. Five planes, all from Lafayette, participated.
The REMC operated at that building in 1956 when I started at the State Bank of Rensselaer. Norma Gratner ( later Swartz),Isabelle Blaze were two who worked there. Ross Hamer was a lineman and Cecil Sutton was the manager.
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