Real winter arrived

 The title of the previous post was "Real winter is Coming." It arrived late Saturday night when temperatures dipped below zero. They stayed below zero all of Sunday and briefly rose above zero on Monday. Tuesday was also bitterly cold. Most schools closed on Monday and Tuesday. The cold air affected much of the middle of the US, extending down into Texas.

Below is a picture from Sunday. The snow on Friday was mixed with rain and when the snow plows cleared the streets, there were big blocks left along the sides of the roads. Then the lighter snow and heavy winds that followed created a drift around some of these blocks.

Part of the River froze, as this picture taken from the Talbert Bridge shows. However, you can see in the distance that some of the River is unfrozen. The rains from last week increased the flow in the River and the current is too strong for it to completely freeze despite the bitter cold.

I heard a some reports of frozen pipes and saw a car in the College Mall parking lot getting an assist with jumper cables. I wonder how many people had some significant inconveniences caused by this arctic cold.

County Council meeting

Tuesday night was cold and the roads were still sketchy, so I decided to attend the County Council meeting via Zoom. The audio was good, but the video was blurry.

The meeting began with reorganization. The Council retained its officers from 2023, Steve Jordan as Chair and Gary Fritts as Vice Chair. The agenda had two pages of additional appropriations, most because of discrepancies between the budget and the salary ordinance. A few were things that had been discussed in the past but no action had been taken. The longest discussion was about Animal Control. Several Council members wanted to see data to justify the amount spent on the Department. Animal Control said that all the area rescues are full so that they cannot transfer animals as they could in the past. All of the various additional appropriations were passed.

Rensselaer Fire Chief Kenny Haun gave the Council members a packet about the fire tower that will be constructed behind the FireHouse. His goal was to raise $250,000 for site preparation and if the County gives him the $75,000 he has requested, he will have raised a bit more than $300,000. Some of the additional funds will be used to purchase storage containers, two to hold bales of hay used for live burn training and one for everything else. The City has paid for everything done so far. The anticipated completion is late March or early April and the first class has been scheduled for April 6. There was a discussion of the problems of staffing, and Haun said that calls keep increasing but getting volunteers remains very difficult. Because the additional appropriation had not been advertised, the Council could not give him the $75,000 he wanted but it did vote to advertise the item for the next meeting.

The Council approved an amendment to the salary ordinance and then made appointments to various boards. The retained members and the only question they had was whether the Chair of the Council could serve on the Plan Commission. They approved a contract for their attorney and had a brief discussion about pay for public defenders. The meeting lasted an hour and fifteen minutes.

Façade Grant

Jasper County Economic Development Organization announced the first recipient of a façade grant, Toplink Business Center. 

Here is their announcement from Facebook.

We are pleased to announce Toplink Business Center as our very first Rensselaer Facade Improvement Grant awardee. We had two applications to this first round of the Facade Improvement Grant, both applications were very competitive. Toplink ultimately had a stronger application due to the building's size and number of businesses within its footprint. After several years of vacancy, the passion and dedication Toplink's owners put forward to completely refurbishing this building is an accomplishment. This building's predominance in the downtown area means this grant money funding will go a long way to beautify this vitally important piece of the city. We look forward to future applications and are excited to see how the Facade Improvement Grant will revitalize Rensselaer.

Toplink will use the grant funds for new windows and awning on the north side of the building, new windows and doors on the west side, tuck pointing on the entire building, and signage.

This grant would not be possible without a partnership from the City of Rensselaer and the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission.

Our next round of grants are due by Monday, February 24th. For more information on the grant itself please visit: https://www.jaspercountyin.com/grants/

Notes

Last year the Commissioners had said that they wanted to reexamine the solar ordinance. They have organized two public meetings to discuss the solar ordinance and also battery storage and carbon sequestration. The first is at the Fase Center in DeMotte on January 25 at 6:00 pm and the second is scheduled for February 16 at 6:00 pm at the Jasper County Fairgrounds. Hopefully they will generate more than heat.

Candidates for the May primary election have until Feb 9 to file with the County Clerk. She released the names of early files and there will be at least two contested races on the Republican ballot. Congressman James Baird will be challenged by Charles Bookwalter. Two people have filed for the position of County Auditor, Diana Boersma and Treasure Gilbert.

Dollar Tree was briefly closed on Tuesday morning because they forgot to renew a food license with the Health Department. The fee was quickly paid and the store opened.

The Tourism Commission that was rescheduled to January 17 has been canceled.

The Fendig Gallery is currently showing the first of their local school exhibits. This one is the 31st Regional School Art Show: Primary School, K-2. It will hang until Jan 28. Hours are T 12-4, Th 2-6, S 12-2.