Last post for August

Notes

In a post about the Lillian Fendig exhibit, I included a picture of some basketball players that she painted that belongs to the Rensselaer High School. I received this comment:

The basketball painting by Lillian Fendig was commissioned by the RHS Class of 1960 in memory of 1st Lt James E Taylor. Jim was a member of the class of 1960 and the basketball team wearing #23. Jim was killed in Viet Nam on February 1, 1969 and posthumously received the Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in battle. The painting has hung in the hallway outside the RCHS gymnasium. The Class of 1960 continue to honor Jim for his brave service to his country.

James Taylor is buried in the Remington Cemetery. 

On Friday Markit Arts had a premier showing of a short film about the Rensselaer murals. It will eventually end up on YouTube. Before the showing I snapped a picture of the car that keeps getting repainted.

The film was projected onto a white wall that previously had a tree painted on it. (You can see it at the very bottom of this page.) After the event ended, Ryan Preston started creating a new tree mural. It resembles a tree he had painted on the wall of the old Sears building that was destroyed by fire.

The jail has installed an x-ray machine to screen incoming prisoners. This was the subject of a number of Commissioner and Council meetings.

On Sunday a contractor began resealing the parking lot by the LaRue Pool. The first step was to put tar on all the cracks. The tar showed up clearly with the setting sun.

This past week this part of the lot has been sealed and parking lines painted, and work has progressed to the west.

The Tuesday night Farmers Markets have ended. Some calendars begin the season of autumn with September 1. I hope you had a nice summer.

City Council meeting

The Rensselaer City Council met Monday evening in an uneventful meeting. The Council passed an appropriation reduction that will allow money to be used in next year's budget and passed a resolution that amended another resolution that the City can move forward with the proposed phosphorus building at the sewage plant. The Council affirmed a telephone poll allowing use of public relations funds to be used for expenses for Kids Night at the Farmers' Market and also approved reimbursing an employee for some other expenses for the same event. The Council also approved spending $2000 from public relations funds for a City employee Christmas Party later this year and a donation of $500 to the American Legion for their annual Thanksgiving dinner that is available to all.

The City will contribute the same amount to employees HSA as it did last year, $1800 per employee. The Council approved hiring a replacement for the Mayor's administrative assistant, who recently resigned. The City earned $50,556.25 from its recent auction and those monies were distributed to the departments that submitted items. The Council approved spending $5400 for a second Kawasaki mule for the Cemetery. The Police Department has received complaints about the new guardrails on SR 114 east of town where a culvert was recently replaced. It tells complainers that they should complain to the Indiana Department of Transportation. The Fire Department was recently one of several awarded money to expand its training facility. The Fire Chief was not at the meeting so details were sparse.