Miscellany Mid-November 2024

Some SJC news

On Wednesday the Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce held its final luncheon of the year at Strack & Van Til with a presentation from Ernest Watson about programs at SJC. He talked mostly about the building-trades program that recently started. That program has had problems finding high school students because of scheduling (the students need a three-hour block of time and some schools cannot provide that) and the foundation courses that are needed are not there. The program does have a student from the Indiana Ag and Tech school who would be willing to work every day if it were permitted.

It has taken a while, but SJC is now focused on hands-on training. Mr Watson commented that it has gone from higher education to hirer education, a focus on providing skills and certificates that make students ready for jobs. There is a demand for people in the trades and not enough young people are entering them. The CDL program limits classes to four students, much less than some programs north of us. The students learn on manual transmissions because then they can drive any semi. Students who learn on automatic transmissions cannot drive manual transmission trucks. 

SJC has developed useful relationships with WorkOne and United Way of Northwest Indiana, both of which have funding to help people upgrade their skills. SJC will have an open house on November 21 from 6:00 until 8:00 for anyone interested in knowing more about their program.

There is a chance that SJC will host a school for training linemen. Let's hope it happens. Saint Joe has its winter newsletter on-line. The subdivision that will gradually emerge west of Halleck Center now has a name, the "Waugh Estates".

Finally, the recently-hired CEO, Rachel J. Lattimore, who was hired this past summer, is leaving. She gave her notice in September and will leave before the end of November. I talked to her briefly and she said her vision of the future was not the same as the vision of some Board members. She did not go into details, but my guess is that she is interested in exploring new opportunities while some on the Board still want to resurrect the past.

Annual Prairie Arts Council Holiday Sale

The Prairie Arts Council Holiday Sale began on Thursday and will end on Saturday. There is a lot of stuff for sale—the gallery is packed with things. There are several jewelry exhibits.

Of course there are paintings.

I am not sure what these are.

More paintings and glassware.

If you have not stopped by, Saturday is your last chance.

The Celebrating Photography show that was scheduled to run through December has been canceled because of building maintenance.

A mystery tree/bush

This summer I noticed a strange little tree or bush that was growing in my yard next to the street. I used to be able to identify almost all the trees around town, but this one was a complete mystery to me. It had very ordinary leaves but strange pink-red fruit that was oddly shaped.

My curiosity finally made me search for it. It is a European Spindle. It is not native to North American but so far has not spread enough to be declared an invasive species. Its berries pop open and reveal a hard seed. The whole plant is poisonous. You can find more here and here.

Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission meeting

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met Thursday afternoon. On their agenda was a public hearing for a resolution that would a) enlarge the Drexel/Fairgrounds economic development area, b) establish the Van Rensselaer Residential allocation area, and c) amend and restate the Drexel/Fairgrounds economic development plan. There were several people who asked questions about what this meant. The Drexel/Fairgrounds TIF district connects via roads two areas, one on the east side of US 231 across from SJC and the other west along SR 114 from the old City limits to the Interstate. Any property tax revenues from new development in these areas goes to the Redevelopment Commission and they are supposed to spend them to provide infrastructure such as roads and utilities. The resolution establishes a new TIF area, a two block tract north of Van Rensselaer and a strip along Elm Street east of Melville Street. This is a residential TIF, something new allowed by the State.The resolution both expands the area in which the Commission can spend money and the things on which the Commission can spend. After the comments, the Commission passed it and this is the final vote that it needed. (The City Council previously approved it.)

The Commission continued the Façade grant program with funding at $100,000 for 2025. It loosened the timing of the spending, so more than $25,000 can be spent in one quarter if it is taken from another quarter.

Finally, the Commission approved a 2025 spending plan. During that discussion, Superintendent Craig from Rensselaer Central Schools reported on how the $25,000 given to the Schools last year helped the Corporation's pre-school, which enrolls 43 kids this year. There is no State funding for pre-schools. This year the Corporation is requesting another $25,000, but for school supplies instead of pre-school. The State gives schools $156 per student for supplies, but Rensselaer spends more than that. I am not sure if the vote to accept the 2025 spending plan also approved that request or if it needs a separate approval.

Odds & ends

Saint Augustine had its annual turkey dinner and bazaar on Thursday. Preparing dinners for hundreds of people takes a tremendous amount of work and I respect those who do it.

Below is the finished window painting on the window of Gallina Insurance. (The previous post had the sketch.)

On Monday and Tuesday there are some County meetings that may have substantial audiences.

Approaching mid November 2024

 The Wine Room

There is a new business in Rensselaer, The Wine Room. It is located in the old REMC building, now named Toplink Business Center. The Wine Room occupies the corner of the building next to Kellner and Cullen and is quite large.

A closer look at the Christmas-Tree manikin from the picture above.

A view of the other half of the room.

It is a very pleasant space and I think it would be a good space for some kinds of events and parties. I am not the target audience, but I will be watching to see how the business develops.

The owner of the business also owns Erica's Boutique on Front Street. 

A year ago there was a ribbon cutting for Hometown Mortgage in this building. It no longer is listed on the window sign so I think it has abandoned this office. Hometown Mortgage is located in DeMotte and the Rensselaer office was a satellite office.

Across the street, what was ASG Staffing has a new name, Verstela.

City meetings

On Tuesday afternoon the Rensselaer Board of Public Works had its shortest meeting that I can remember. It lasted two minutes. The only item on the agenda was a vote to affirm a sewer bond anticipation note agreement. I am not sure what this does but the City's financial advisor, Baker Tilly, wanted it done.

After a long wait, it was time for the City Council meeting. There had been mention at the previous meeting that this meeting might be streamed over the Internet, but the equipment was not yet in place. The first item was a presentation of and vote on a rate ordinance and bond ordinance for the upcoming sewer project. There are two parts to this project that is mandated by the State, a upgrade to and expansion of the sewer plant that is estimated to cost $19 million and a combined sewer overflow project that will have an estimated initial cost of $9 million. The State Revolving Fund (SRF) will finance the first of those with a 20-year interest-free loan but the second will have to be financed with a bond that will pay interest. To pay back this debt, the utility will need to raise rates and the City will raise them in three steps. Currently a customer using 4000 gallons of water a month has a sewage bill of about $56. The rate ordinance will raise that to $73 in 2025, to $90 in 2026, and to $102 in 2027. Without the interest-free loan from the SRF, the bill in 2026 would be $108. The City will try to get as many bids as possible for this work in hopes of getting lower prices but there are few contractors who do this type of work. There will be a public hearing on December 9 on the rate ordinance. The Council suspended the rules to allow the bond ordinance to be passed at this meeting.

The Rensselaer Urban Forest Council gave a report on what it has been doing. Since 2008 it has planted 987 trees. However, 1070 trees have been removed. Not stated is that many of them were ash trees that were killed or damaged by the emerald ash borer.

The Council had a second reading of an ordinance to close the Scott Street railroad crossing and then passed the ordinance with Mr Armold voting against. The gas tracker for November will be a small decrease in rates. The City supply bids for gasoline and diesel were awarded to Keystone Cooperative, the successor to Ceres Solutions. The Council approved two public relations requests, one for the retirement of two City employees and the other for an employee Christmas party.

Rensselaer received a Community Crossings grant of $733,623 to improve roads. The Mayor would like to apply for a grant to build a trail from Rensselaer to the Interstate. The Council approved the application. The Rensselaer City budget has been approved by the State. The Fire Department 1996 pumper is down again and there is no estimate yet on what it will cost to fix it. The City continues to gradually replace lead service lines. The City received reimbursement for some CDL training of employees. If the weather cooperates, a new mural will be started on the LaRue pool bath house.

Other meetings

The Tourism Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled because it would lack a quorum. (I could have gone to the Alcohol Review Board meeting instead but I forgot that it meets at the same time the Tourism Commission meets.) There was nothing exciting on the agenda. Members who missed the June presentation on Placer.ai were invited to view the demo video on Zoom. You can see what Placer.ai does in a June post.

The Airport Authority met Tuesday evening but the Rensselaer City Council meeting conflicted because they moved their meeting due to Veterans' Day.

Odds and ends

The local races in Election 2024 were rather uninteresting. The only County races that were contested were the three at-large County Council seats and the Republican candidates easily won those. There will be a number of new County officials come 2025 (two new commissioners, a new council member, a new auditor, and a new judge), but they were mostly determined in the Republican primary, which had quite a few contested races. 

On Friday I drove to Monticello and was delayed in Monon by a train that stopped across the tracks. While I waited, I took a picture of a new mural that Monon has. It is by a local artist, Romulo Diaz. who seems to be a tattoo artist.

The White County paper has an article about the mural and also the other murals in Monon. There is a big mural by Cameron Moberg that is on a north-facing wall that I tried to photograph once but the light was bad. Here is a decent picture of it.

On Monday a Veterans' Day Ceremony was held at Weston Cemetery.

Veterans' Day was established to commemorate the end of WWI with an armistice beginning on November 11 at 11:00 in 1918. Memorial Day was established to commemorate those who died in the Civil War. Veterans' Day honors all vets; Memorial Day honors those who died in service.

Windows downtown are being painted again this year with Christmas decorations. These first two are on Brick Street Ice Cream.

City Hall

The Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce office.

And finally the start of one on Gallina Insurance

November meetings and pictures

Halloween pictures

There were multiple opportunities for kids to get Halloween candy this year. One of the trunk or treat events was held at Saint Augustines on Halloween evening. Many visitors were greeted by Spiderman, who did not have any candy.

The first stops were at the line of trunks next to the school.

It may be hard to see, but there was a pirate handing out candy from his pirate ship.

From there the kids went into the school where more candy was available.

The skeleton had a box of candy for those brave enough to take some.

Not all those giving out candy were as scary as the skeleton, but maybe this witch was.

And there was a second witch a bit further down the hall.

When I left, there was still a line of kids eager for candy outside.

The organizers said they had 855 people come through.

November 1 was All Saint's Day and the kids at Saint Augustine School dressed up in costumes again, this time as a saint. At the school program each kid told a bit about the saint he or she was representing.

Commissioners meeting

The Commissioners met Monday for a rather uneventful monthly meeting. There were no buried cable requests. However there was mention of a problem with contractors installing cable along State highways. When contractors get permits to install in the County right-of-way along County roads, the County Highway Department gives those applications to the Surveyor to see if there are any drains involved. When contractors get permits to install along State roads, those permits are not forwarded to the Surveyor. Recently about seven miles of cable were installed along US 231 and the cables were installed above tiles rather than below them.

Mayor Phillips addressed the Commissioners informing them of the upcoming project to upgrade the sewer system as required by a court order several years ago. To pay for this project, the City will probably be raising sewer rates over the next three years by 40%, 40%, and 20%. This will about double the sewer bill of the average resident, which is $55.00. It will also have a big impact on the County and for this reason that the Mayor was telling the Commissioners about what to expect.

The Commissioners approved a service agreement for some tax software from a company called GUTS. The Health Department received approval for a new hire of a multi-media communications coordinator. The primary reason for the position is that the Health Department has seen an influx of Hispanics who do not speak English and wants someone who can communicate with them. The Health Department assured the Commissioners that the person would be available to help other departments who might need translations. The Council must approve the funding for this position. Remodeling of the Health Department is going well.

The County''s IT guy noted that the County was left without internet for a day because a fiber-optic cable was cut. He asked that the Commissioners approve a second, backup internet provider so if the main provider's service failed, service would not be interrupted. The cost would be $119.95 per month for three years. The Commissioners approved his request.

The Commissioners approved a Carpenter Wind Farm/Drain Tile memorandum of understanding. This had been requested by the Drainage Board and worked out with input from the County's compliance monitor. The reason that Commissioners were asked for their approval is because they hired the compliance monitor. 

The Commissoners approved two rezones that had been sent to them from the Plan Commission with a favorable recommendation. The first was an amendment to the zoning map adding four parcels to the wind-farm overlay district in Carpenter Township and the second was for a zoning change from A1 to R1 for a possible subdivision in Walker Township.

The building that the Jasper County EMS is using in Remington is owned by Remington and Carpenter Township. They want the County to assume ownership with the provision that if the County does not use it for six months, the ownership reverts back to Remington/Carpenter Township. The Commissioners approved the transfer.

In other business, the Highway Department wants a "yield" sign switched to a "stop" sign in a northern subdivision that has expanded, It will need a public hearing. The Commissioners agreed to a proposal of $20,000 to repair and polish the tiles on the first floor of the Court House. (The second floor was done a year or two ago.) The State Board of Accounts was unhappy that the salary contracts for the Sheriff had not been signed so the Sheriff asked the Commissioners to sign them. He also said that the State Board of Accounts wants a better accounting for inventory. Given the rain on Monday, the Commissioners will let the burn ban expire on Tuesday. The meeting was continued until Nov 18 if needed.

Drainage Board meeting

After a short break, the Drainage Board met on Monday morning. First Church is expanding its parking lot but said that they had planned the existing retention plan to be big enough to handle the expansion. The Board approved. The Board then approved the Carpenter Wind Farm MOU that the Commissioners had approved earlier in the morning. A drainage plan for a proposed community center at Grace Fellowship was approved.

A drainage for a substation that is part of the Biscayne Falls solar project in Walker Township was approved conditional on its getting its State permits. (Biscayne Falls is the new name of what was the Solar Pack solar farm.) Three bids were opened for the Kankakee River phase 5 bank stabilization project. Phase 5 covers the last two miles of the project. There were three bids, but one was incomplete. The bid was awarded to the low bid, Gutwein from Francesville. It covers excavation only. Bids were then opened for the materials. There were three companies bidding and all bids were accepted so that the project will be able to get material when they are needed.

There was a brief discussion of the possibility of a boat launch on a bit of County land along the Kankakee. That lot is considered too small but perhaps some additional land could be purchased. Porter and Lake County tourism are interested in getting better access to the river for recreation and may be adding public-access sites on their side of the River.

The meeting adjourned at 10:50.

Park Board meeting

The first item of business at the Rensselaer Park Board meeting Monday evening was a request from the Little Cousin Jasper Festival to continue use of Potawatomi Park for future festivals. The Festival Committee thinks the Park venue works better than the Courthouse Square. There was some discussion of what changes could be made to make Potawatomi Park work even better in the future, and having electricity in the center was one item mentioned. There may also be some changes downtown that may make it easier to serve beer at events. The Board approved the request to use Potawatomi and nearby parks in 2025.

There followed a discussion of plans for a miniature train display in Foundation Park. Preliminary plans had been presented at the previous meeting and Board members suggested three changes: eliminating the small parking lot off the highway, bringing the display closer to the highway, and shortening it by having only two cars instead of three. There were concerns about the cost of maintenance. The item was tabled for the next meeting.

There were some updates discussed. The Jackson Pickle-ball Courts have been paved. The asphalt will need 30 days to cure. It will have four courts running east and west. During the winter it will probably be fenced and it should be ready for use in the Spring.

The Board approved funding for a mural on the south side of the Brookside Pool building. That side was recently power-washed and primed. The Board also approved investigating how best to illuminate the mural at night.

Below is the LaRue Pool bath house with its new coat of primer paint.

Park restrooms except those at Filson Park have been winterized so are no longer available. The Park takes care of 167 trees that the Urban Forest Ministry has planted and waters them for three years. The Soccer league is thinking about a policy for unruly spectators, which was a problem this year. New roofs are needed for the LaRue Pool bath house and the Gifford Shelter. There is the possibility that next year some of the Park baseball teams might play teams from neighboring towns. The comment was made that no one can pitch; in some games most runs are scored by walks.

The next meeting will be on December 2 if there seems to be a need for a December meeting.

I noticed the other day that some kids were playing in our new splash pad.

Alpenhorns at the Library

The alpenhorns returned to the Rensselaer Library on Sunday. They are part of the German Band Inc from Valparaiso.

Below is a video of part of a song they played. To hear it as it was in the Library, turn up your volume to maximum. The alpenhorns are very loud.

If you want to get your own alpenhorn, you need a bit of money. A cheap one will run about $1500 and the horns being played at the Library cost about $5000. However, they can be a good investment. A horn made by a prominent maker can rise in value a lot after the death of the maker.

Odds and ends

The green machine is making its rounds in Rensselaer.

I had some pictures of oak leaves that turned from green to brown. Not all oaks are so bland. Here is a different species of oak that has orange and red coloring.

Many trees are bare or almost bare. 

I rode to Remington on Sunday and saw only three or four corn fields that were not yet harvested.

Below is the building-trades house at SJC as it appeared Monday morning.

The piece of sidewalk that was removed a few days ago because of a crack has been replaced.

The fire training tower got its first use over the weekend. The Rensselaer Fire Department Facebook page has pictures and stats.

Peak color?


Enjoying Autumn

We are either at or slightly past peak color. Tuesday was very windy and a lot of leaves left the trees. It was fun watching them race down the north-south streets. Trees that are spectacular one day can be partially bare a couple days later, so enjoy what we have because it will not last long.

Tulip trees turn golden in the Fall.

Some oaks have pretty fall leaves, but my oaks just turn brown.

Have a candy-filled eve of All Saints' Day.

City Council meeting

At its second October meeting, the Rensselaer City Council passed a salary ordinance that increases pay by 2%, increases longevity pay, and increases contributions to the HSAs. It also sets on-call terms to one week with a stipend for the week. There were about ten City employees at the meeting and I think they came to see what the salary ordinance would do. The Council suspended the rules that require two readings so the ordinance could be passed with only one.

The second item on the agenda was an amendment to the golf cart ordinance. UTVs that are registered will be grandfathered in but no new UTVs will be registered. The maximum fine was reduced from $300 to $250 because the violations bureau cannot collect fines larger than $250. Again, the rules were suspended so this ordinance would be passed with one reading.

Two items from the Plan Commission were next. The Saint Joe property had no zoning. Now it will be zoned B2, a business zoning. College Woods will be zoned RS, residential suburban. The second item was to allow non-conforming uses to continue when ownership changes and to allow rebuilding if the building is damaged or destroyed. Both passed, with Mr. Watson abstained on the first item.

An ordinance to close the Scott Street rail crossing was next. One reason given was safety. The crossing has no lights. There was a motion to suspend the rules to allow the motion to pass at this meeting, but Mr Armold voted "no" and a motion to suspend the rules must have unanimous consent. The matter will be on the agenda of the next meeting.

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission wants to make changes in the TIF areas, creating a new residential TIF and expanding the area in which TIF funds can be spent. Included in the proposed resolution is a list of properties that the Redevelopment Commission may want to acquire in the future. Redevelopment Commissions no longer can use eminent domain to acquire properties, but they still must list them before they start trying to purchase them. The resolution was approved and now goes back to the Redevelopment Commission, which will meet on November 14.

The Council approved some transfers of funds for the Cemetery and Parks. It also approved changes to the entryway of City Hall. It will add power door openers and heating. No dollar figure was given for these changes.

Supply bids for gas and diesel were opened. There were two bids and they were taken under advisement. The Council approved Grimmer pay request #8 for $377,582.42, The Brick Street Project is now 97% complete. A few punch-list items are being completed.

The Council moved the Nov 11 meeting to Nov 12 because of Veterans' Day. The City is seeking applications for a new Gas Department superintendent. (Carol Lockridge is retiring in early January.) The Council will try to stream its next meeting. Two new squad cars are now in service. The first class using the new fire tower is set and it has full enrollment. Gutters are now on the Gas Department building.

Odds and ends

On Tuesday a final asphalt layer was added to what will be new pickleball courts in Brookside Park.

We continue under a no-burn ban. I tried to dig up some plants in my garden but gave up because the ground is too hard.

I learned why workers were tearing up a new sidewalk. The panel they were removing had cracked and the City wanted it replaced.

Three--make that two--ribbon cuttings

Ribbon cutting for a revived greenhouse

On Wednesday the Rensselaer branch of the Indiana Ag and Tech School (IATS) held a ribbon cutting for the reopening of a green house on the SJC campus. The green house was abandoned when SJC suspended operations in 2010 2017. This year IATS moved its Rensselaer location from the Fairgrounds to the campus and decided to take advantage of the greenhouse.

When I saw the announcement I assumed that they had fixed the old hoop house. They had not. Instead they had repaired a smaller building next to it that included a small greenhouse and a classroom behind it.

The skeleton of the hoop house remains but it will take some work to restore it. That may happen next spring.

Before the ribbon cutting, students who had worked to restore the building spoke. They mentioned that the building was full of mouse droppings and they began cleaning it wearing hazmat suits. They had to replace some of the panels of the green house and there was a lot of work needed to get the hydroponics part of the greenhouse working. They also cleaned, painted, and refinished floors in the classroom part of the building. They were proud of what they had accomplished and deservedly so.

The Rensselaer branch has about 35 students. IATS is a public charter school that draws students from as far away as Clinton County. After the ribbon cutting I had a guide take me through the building and he was an eighth grader from the Rossville area. The bulk of their classroom work is done on-line using Edgenuity, a national provider of on-line instruction. Once a week, on Wednesdays, they meet together at SJC.

Below is a picture of the ribbon cutting. The people on either side of the door are IATS students.

Below is a very short video showing the ribbon being cut.

Below is the classroom behind the greenhouse. There are also some storage closets and a small room used to germinate plants.

To keep the plants from freezing in the winter, the greenhouse has a heating unit.

Those attending were treated to some homemade cookies after the ribbon cutting.

I asked a couple of students why they chose IATS. One girl said she lived on a farm and entered many animals in 4H, but the key to her choosing IATS seemed to be that she was bullied at her regular school. I wish I had talked to more of them and gotten their stories.

Fall fun at Filson Park

A ribbon-cutting event had been scheduled for Filson Park Thursday evening but it was postponed because one of the principals was ill. However, the rest of the planned activities took place including a concert, pumpkin carving, roasting hot dogs, making smores, and the movie, "Hocus Pocus".

The bird that for the past few years has been sitting outside eMbers has a new home. It was given to the City but until now the City had no place to display it.

This ringed globe is new. It was provided by the Prairie Arts Council.

The fire hydrant on the corner has been made into an art piece.

A lot of asphalt patching has been done recently, including around the new sidewalks at Filson Park.

Fire tower dedication

I left Filson Park before the sun set to get ready to go the second planned ribbon cutting of the day. That ceremony began with about 20 minutes of various people thanking the many people who contributed to the planning and building of the fire tower.

There was no ribbon cutting. Instead two hoses were uncoupled. The people standing above were firefighters from Rensselaer with a few from neighboring departments.

Then the best part of the evening began. Those attending were invited to explore the tower, which is constructed from shipping containers. There are many hallways that have white walls. They may not stay white after bales of hay are set on fire as part of training.

Metal stairs take up a lot of the room inside.

I kept climbing until I reached the top so I could take some pictures. The final ascent was on a ladder, not stairs. The bright lights made it hard to get pictures in some directions. Below is the view looking to the east. Notice the partial circle next to the building. That is around a second ladder, this one on the outside of the building. I contemplated descending using it but decided to go back down the way I had come up.

Below is the view of the fire station from atop the fire tower.

Coming back down I left the building to go onto the deck that the firefighters had used for the uncoupling picture. 

After leaving the building, I thought the southeast corner was lit very nicely so I stopped and took a picture. Notice the cage around the ladder mentioned earlier.

The tower will provide training not only for fire fighters from around the state but for other first responders including police and EMTs. One of the reasons that Rensselaer wanted this is to reduce the burden of traveling for training. There is a lot of training needed to become a fireman and if it includes frequent trips lasting a couple of hours, that makes the training burdensome.

Odd and ends

On Thursday morning we had another patchy frost. The first light frost was a week earlier. The first frost damaged some of my garden plants but I do not think it killed any.

Work on converting the old tennis courts at Brookside Park to pickleball courts continues. On Wednesday the foundation was being prepared.

The next step was to put on a layer of crushed stone.

I was asked if I knew what was happening with YNG. I do not know but the large space that they rented in the College Mall is empty. (Update: See comment at end.)

Finally, a picture of Fall.