Some videos

A mural that moves

On Saturday the motors were turned on for the new mural on the Horton/Yallaly building. Here is a video of it. (View on Youtube here.)

Here is the mural from a different angle.

Off to Canada

Tuesday's post showed the last of the generating engines removed from the power plant. On Wednesday jacks were set up alongside it and it was lifted into the air.

In the late afternoon the truck trailer slid under it. Below is a video showing that.

I believe the initial plan was to move it on Wednesday but by the time the crew was ready, it was too late. The move came Thursday morning. The State Police told them that the earliest they could move it was at 8:30.

I arrived and talked to the lady in the guide car. She said that she had never guided a load so tall. I believe her job was to drive ahead and find where the bucket trucks that were part of the parade had to raise wires.

Below is a video of the truck starting its journey.

About half an hour later it maneuvered around the stop lights on Grace and College.

The truck had a lot of wheels--I counted 62--but that was less than the 74 on this truck.

The truck was headed for Monon where the engine will be loaded onto a train car and shipped to Canada.

Left behind were the jacks and an empty space in the power plant building.

Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission meeting

On Monday afternoon the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission held a meeting. It swore in a new member, Kevin Smith, and elected a secretary, Jeff Webb, who is needed to sign documents. After a long discussion, they approved the payment of $10,700 to a company for assistance in rebidding the brick-street project. They approved a spending plan for 2024, something new that they must do to comply with State regulations. They discussed having a consultant or lawyer research their TIF areas. JCEDO had suggested that the Commission support a facade grant program to encourage downtown business owners to improve the attractiveness of the downtown. At this meeting they gave details of what they wanted. The program would give grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to business owners for exterior improvements. The owner would have to match the grant 50-50 and would only receive the funds when the project was completed. Grants would be given out four times a year and the total for any quarter would be $25,000 or less. The Commission took the matter under advisement.

Finally, the Commission decided that the normal times for future meetings would be the first Monday of the month at 5:00 pm.