Cars show, ribbon cutting, and meetings

 JC Cruisers 28th Annual Car Show

The 28th annual KC Cruisers Car Show took place on Saturday and as always there was a large collection of strange and unusual vehicles.

I do not know what this vehicle was. It looks like it was pieced together from a variety of other cars.

I asked how old this well-maintained vehicle was and was told it was a 1930 model.

There were a number of low-rider vehicles, but none outdid this one that looked like its body was sitting on the ground. I was told it would raise when driven.

Not a lot of the vehicles on display are older than I am, but this one was.

Some cars on the north end of the show.

I do not know what this was, but it looks expensive.

The oldest vehicle there was a 1908 Buick.

It drives at about 25-30 miles an hour but the owner said it has reached 40 mph. The headlights are carbide lights, the kind of lights once popular with miners and cavers. It travels in its own special trailer.

A Rensselaer native had an important role in promoting the Buick brand in the 1940s. His story is recounted here.

Ribbon cutting Sorrel & Rye Mercantile

Sorrel & Rye Mercantile had its ribbon cutting on Friday. It occupies the building that was The Briar Patch and before that an office supply store. 

The store offers women's clothing, antiques, and home decorations.

Notes

The County Clerk recently published the ballot for November's municipal elections. Most races are uncontested. The results of the primary told us that the Mayor's race and Councilman for fourth district would be contested, but now there is another. Jeff Rayburn will run as an independent against Zyan Miller who beat George Cover in the Republican primary.

Titan continues work on the power plant. Last week as I went by, a cement truck was leaving but the vehicle that pumps the concrete to the far interior of the building was still on site.

Several weeks ago a robin built a nest on the outside window sill of our kitchen window. I would have loved to have gotten a lot of pictures but the camera would focus on the window screen and would not show what was in the nest. Last week the chicks finally left the nest and flew away. I find myself expecting the birds to still be there.

The sign indicates that Not Your Typical Wingz will soon be locating in the south part of the building that houses Mount Hood Pizza. The previous occupant was a hairdresser. This is the space that Ayda's began as a Mexican grocery before it quickly shifted to becoming a restaurant.

The Farmers Market now has an assortment of garden produce and the Tuesday night markets are starting.

The horse barn got its certificate after the July Commissioners meeting and construction has resumed. It may be ready for the Fair.

The Fendig Theater performances begin Thursday.

Tourism Commission meeting

The July Tourism commission meeting began with and was mostly filled with a presentation and discussion of Yodel, a web-based approach to encourage community participation in the events of the community. The company (website here) has its headquarters in Columbus Ohio and most of the cities and counties it serves are in Ohio, but it is expanding into Indiana and currently has three Indiana clients. It presents itself as a centralized hub for locating what is going on locally. It has a calendar of local events which it gets from member organizations or from scraping the calendars of local organizations. Currently it is web only but the company is working on an app for smartphones. The cost to the community to set up the system is $4300 with a monthly service fee for a county the size of Jasper County of $330. There is no cost to the organizations that use it or to individuals using the website. You can learn more by browsing the Yodel website.

Success of Yodel depends on the number of organizations and individuals that use it and it has to be promoted to gather those organizations and users. The Tourism Commission is not willing to gather participants but the Jasper-Newton Foundation is. There was concern that this would not readily lend itself to increasing tourism, but it could be valuable for community development. There is another vendor, WhatsUp24/7, with a calendar solution but those who have looked at it and Yodel thought that Yodel had better features and was cheaper. WhatsUp24/7 is used by a couple of neighboring counties.

No decision was made at this meeting and Yodel will give the members of the Commission more information.

At the last meeting the Commission agreed to spend $5000 to EyeDart Marketing for the development of a website. At this meeting they agreed to allow the Director of Tourism to spend an additional $5000 for other marketing services that EyeDart offers.

There were no funding requests. The next meeting is scheduled for August 8 at 10 am at the Sparling Annex.

Rensselaer Board of Public Works meeting

The July meeting of the Rensselaer Board of Public Works lasted about ten minutes and in those few minutes the Board approved for the Water Utility Improvement Project:

Grimmer Change Order #1 that adds 128 days to the project because Grimmer cannot readily get brass fittings,

Maguire Iron Change Order #2 which saves $7000 because it eliminates the need for a trailer,

Maguire Iron Pay Application #2 for $974,409.12, and 

three Commonwealth Engineering invoices totally $37,727;

and for the Main Lift Station & Unsewered Areas Project:

Thieneman Change Order #6, $23,679.84 for a variety of things,

Thieneman Pay Request #14 for $327,441,03, and

Commonwealth invoices for $8926.31.

The Board also approved paying an invoice of $13,200.09 from Commonwealth  for work on planning removal of phosphorus from wastewater. Finally the Board heard that there is an IDEM mandate about removing phosphorus and the estimated cost will be about $1.3 million. The City has some funds left from the sewer project, but will need close to $800,000 more. The City will explore ways to get these funds.

Rensselaer City Council meeting

The first July Council meeting began with approval of a 79¢ increase per hundred cubic feet in the gas tracker. Before the meeting I was told that the large increase was because the City did not use the amount of gas for which it had contracted, but that this increase would be offset in future months when it uses more than the amount for which it agreed to purchase.

 

The Mayor presented a key to the City to Bill Hollerman in recognition of his 23½ years of service. Expect pictures in a future Rensselaer Republican. His seat will be filled this week by a Republican caucus. Next the Council approved spending $1624 for a protective coat on murals that will be on two walls behind City Hall.

There was a brief discussion of GIS. The County is moving to a new system because their current system will no longer be supported. The City uses a system called WTH and there is no desire to abandon it. 

The Council approved limiting access to 150 feet of the northeast section of the alley next to Unique Finds. Delivery trucks will have to back out of the alley on the other end.

Cruise Night was busier this year than in the past few years. The burn ban was lifted at the beginning of the month. The Fire Department has responded to 62 more calls this year than last year at the same date.

There will be a special Park Board meeting on Wednesday at 6:00 pm and Rensselaer Plan Commission and BZA meetings starting at 6:00 on Thursday evening. The Park Board meeting will be in Iroquois Park and the other two in City Hall.