Fall colors

 Maple trees are showing their fall colors.

Health Fair

On Thursday, October 19 there was a health fair at the Jasper County Fairgrounds sponsored by Vaccinate Indiana. It has been several years since there have been health fairs in Rensselaer and because I found them useful in the past, I decided to go to this one.

I was there early and in the time I was there, few other people entered. Perhaps attendance picked up later.

This fair was a bit different from past fairs. The only testing that I saw was for blood pressure by the County Health Department. Most of the booths provided information about their services and gave out a variety of freebies. I was disappointed that I did not get the testing information, but I enjoyed all the freebies. There is another Health Fair scheduled for April 23, 2024.

Mayoral Debate

The Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Mayoral Debate on Thursday. It had a rigid format and the Chamber had requested that questions be submitted before the debate. Each candidate was given an opportunity to respond to the question in a very limited time. Among the questions asked were questions whether bulk pickup could be done twice a year, what improvements each would like to make, what they would do to clean up the city and yards, how high speed internet access can be insured and if the City should become a provider, how they can get businesses to move to Rensselaer, what they could do to deal with homelessness, whether they would consider going back to the the trash stickers instead of the monthly charges. Other questions asked what can be done with Saint Joes, what can be done with the drug problem, to explain why the power plant was shut down, what is the biggest problem facing Rensselaer, and what they thought of CO2 sequestering. 

After these questions were asked and answered, there was still time so the audience was invited to ask questions. Candidates had suggested Rensselaer needed more housing and one question is whether we also have a need for more apartments. One person asked if they would support expanding recycling to more types of plastics and another wanted to know what we could do to promote Rensselaer tourism. Another asked how Rensselaer can keep its young people from moving out and another expressed disappointment that there was only one family restaurant.

The whole event was very well run and if you are interested in how the candidates answered, the video of the event is on Facebook here.

Last City Council meeting of October

In the City Council of Monday evening, October 23, the first item on the agenda was an amendment to the zoning ordinance. Noelle Weishaar thought that one part of it, which restricted new construction and possibly remodeling to be consistent with existing styles was vague, possibly subject to abuse, and would raise the cost of building. After discussion, other members of the Council agreed and the item was sent back to the Plan Commission for reconsideration. 

The Council did pass a revised ordinance that increases the fee to those who use the Rensselaer Police to monitor their alarm systems by two dollars. The justification was the cost to the Department has risen. The fee is less than the fees of private security companies that monitor alarm systems. After discussion, the Council approved a new salary ordinance that incorporates a number of salary changes. There was agreement that these changes should be decided when the budgets are submitted.

Work on water connections is finished on Weston Street and has moved to Front Street. Patching the holes from the construction will begin soon. Metal is arriving at the site of the new water tower near the I-65/SR-114 intersection. The City will find out this week if it will get a recycling grant and if it does, it will be used for a new leaf vac. The Park Department received approval to replace a 20-year-old tractor that is having mechanical problems. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50.

Wildlife sightings

I saw this little snake on the Washington Street Bridge. I think it was taking advantage of the warmth from the concrete. It is the only snake I have seen this year.

I have seen four praying mantises this year. Here are the last two, both in my yard.

Because they have been different sizes and colors, I suspected they might be different species. I did a quick Internet search and found that there are three species in Illinois, which probably means there are three in Indiana. One is native and the other two introduced.

Notes

RCHS graduate Eli Kosiba has been selected to compete in the Pan American Games. The Rensselaer Republican had an article about him on its front page last week and this week there are posts on Facebook fundraising for the trip.

There are a couple of new businesses in town. First Hometown Mortgages is now in the TopLink building (former REMC and County Annex building.) It is a branch office of the DeMotte location and does not make the mortgages itself but serves as a broker connecting customers with firms that do make mortgages. It is open Tuesdays through Thursdays, 9:00 until 5:00, and by appointment.

The other new business is called Simply Blessed and sells home decor and more. It is open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10:00 until 4:00. The reason for the limited hours is that the owner has a full-time job. It is located in the Chamberlin Building on the corner or Weston and Kellner. 

I had not seen any Facebook posts from Not Your Typical Wingz lately, and stopped by to see if they were still in business. They are not offering food right now but are working on renovating the space next to Mount Hood Pizza. They expect to have all the regulatory steps completed and hope to open in early November. Boneheadz BBQ, which in the spring was working outside of Mount Hood Pizza, has decided to focus on festivals and has abandoned Rensselaer.

The Kankakee Welcome Center on I-65 is now open.

The Jasper County Historical Society had a presentation at its last meeting about postcards. You can view the video here.

The shelter house at Filson Park now has the floor for what will become the restrooms.

Carbon capture is a now a local issue with many citizens opposed to using Jasper County for a proposed project. Here is an article about another project, one that was abandoned because of citizen opposition.