BPW
The Board of Public Works met on Monday to approve paying construction bills. First up were Thieneman pay request #19 and #20 for $239,563.40 and $49,374.11 for work on the phosphorus building, which is a new addition to the sewage plant.
(Below is a picture of the phosphorus building. It sits just inside the gate.)
Next were three invoices connected to the new water tower near I-65. One was for $47,700 from Commonwealth Engineering to pay for their work for on-site representative, and the other two, for $360,559 and $38,000 were from Maguire Iron, payments for constructing the water tower. The tower is up and the welding done, but it still needs to be painted. A change order for Maguire Iron involved a deduction of $79,300 and increases of $66,000 and $110,700 that will add work on existing water towers and the water treatment plant.
A claim of $38,125 was approved from a local builder for work on the phosphorus. The building is now finished. Fire Chief Haun received approval for a wellness insurance policy that provides protection against some of the chemical hazards that firefighters may encounter. The cost of $8611 will be split between the City and Marion Township. Finally the Board approved an amendment to a grant proposal that the City is submitting for more lead-line replacement. The amendment should make the proposal score better.
City Council meeting
After the usual preliminaries, the City Council ratified the appointment of Mayor Phillips to the IMPA board. Police officer Walker was given a letter of commendation for talking down a potential suicide from the I-65 overpass.
The Council passed an EDA RPR Task Order that will pay up to $110 for inspection to Commonwealth Engineering during the Brick Street Project. The money will come from the water utility, which will be reimbursed at the end of the project if there are project funds remaining. Five inquiries were sent out and two replied, with Commonwealth deemed the best candidate.
The Council approved purchase of a shoring box (used to keep the walls of a ditch from falling in on workers) for $15,543. Two quotes were obtained and the cost will be split between the water and gas utilities. The Council approved an amendment to the salary ordinance. There was a question if this requires two votes, and the City Attorney will investigate. If it does, the second vote will be at the next meeting.. A small transfer of funds was approved as were three requests for burial rights. The Council accepted conflict of interest statements from Kevin Armold and Jeff Rayburn.
The gas tracker for February will reflect a 6¢ increase per hundred cubic feet. A proposal from Commonwealth Engineering to submit a grant on behalf of the City for additional lead-line removal was approved.
The City''s concerns about a Front-Street property were addressed in a Court hearing on January 12. The Court issued an order specifying what had to be done with dates. In Administrative Comments the Mayor announced that a committee had been set up to see if the old light plant could be used as a Park Department office. Ceremonial groundbreaking for the Brick Streets project will be on Tuesday, February 20 at 9:00 am. The contractor is ready to get started removing bricks and Van Rensselaer in front of City Hall will be closed starting February 26. The Council made appointments, apparently with a telephone vote because the second January meeting was canceled, on members of the Plan Commission, Park Board, and Redevelopment Commission.
The Police Chief announced that a candidate had been selected to fill the police department opening. Chrissy Martin is the new secretary in the Building Department. The foundation for the Fire Department training tower will be poured on March 2, weather permitting. The tower itself should be erected in about two weeks. The Fire Department is currently without its rescue truck; it needs repairs.
Cleanup week will be May 6-10 and the Townwide Garage sale will be May 4.
Tourism Commission
The Jasper County Tourism Commission met Tuesday morning with two new members. The Commission agreed to be a sponsor for $5000 for the Jasper County Fair, which will be celebrating its centennial this year. Last year there were approximately 159,000 visits by 49,000 people according to a company that gets its data from the tracking on smartphones.
Ball State has completed a draft of a strategic plan and there will be another meeting in March. The Tourism Office is working with Cameron Moberg planning a marketing piece. Yodel has officially launched in Jasper County.
There were two funding requests. The first was from Main Street Remington asking for $20,000 for a large mural on the Ziolkowski building on 2 S Ohio Street. The total cost is $45,000 and the Town of Remington has pledged $10,000. The request was approved.
The other request was from the Connection Center in DeMotte that is completing a 28,000 square-foot domed facility that will be able to host a variety of sports and recreational activities. This is phase II for the Center that already has a health and wellness building that hosted 63 distinct events in 2023. There is no date set yet when this rec center will open.
The Connection Center Rec Center is owned by the Calvary Assembly of God Church and leased to a separate organization, the Connection Center. The Rec Center cost about $2 million but would have cost double that if not for the volunteer work used in building it. The Connection Center as a 99-year lease and will pay lease payments to the Assembly of God Church until the building loan is paid and then the lease payments stop. The revenue to support the Rec Center will come from a variety of different types of membership, sports camps, rental, and tournaments. The Center is closed on Sunday, partly because it shares parking with the Church, and one of the Commission members pointed out that closing on Sunday would make attracting tournaments difficult because most tournaments like a Saturday-Sunday schedule.
Overall the Commission members liked the idea of the Rec Center. There was no dollar amount requested, but the amount that is granted may be large enough so it would require the County Council to release money from the Tourism Commission Reserve Fund. The discussion lasted about an hour, perhaps the longest discussion ever by the Tourism Commission. No action was taken at this meeting. The members would like more information about estimates of how much use will be by people from outside the County (tourists) and how much use will be by local residents, and that estimate may determine how much the Commission is willing to grant.
The meeting lasted an hour and a half.
Airport Authority Board
The Airport Authority Board met Tuesday evening. A few years ago there was a proposal to put a 4-H shooting range north west of the Airport and the Airport Authority opposed it. The next suggested location for this shooting range was east of the Jail and for some reason that suggestion died. The new location is on the Fairgrounds and the Board was asked if the Airport might be OK with it. The range would be designed so the shooting would be toward the west. The Board passed a motion saying that the Airport had no objection to this location.
Most of the meeting was concerned with the details of running an airport. Fuel sales for January were very low, not just locally but throughout Indiana as the weather kept planes grounded. The Airport will again offer two internships this summer, one for a college student and one for a high school student. There are some people interested in building their own hangars at the Airport and there was a long discussion of what a lease for such a building should contain, (The lease is for the land.) After many ideas were tossed around, the members came to an agreement and passed a motion to approve those terms.
Notes
Temperatures were unseasonably warm last Thursday and Friday. I took advantage of a warm day to take some pictures of the new water tower.
I have heard robins but have not seem them yet. I have heard and seen sandhill cranes flying overhead. And I saw an ant the other day. The sun is getting higher in the sky.
La Trinidad Bakery had a ribbon cutting on Wednesday.
Time is almost up for candidates to file for the May primary. There are a lot of contested races on the Republican side. There are two candidates for US Senate, Jim Banks and John Rust. The incumbent Senator, Mike Braun, is running for governor in a field of six. Congressman Jim Baird has four challengers. Judge Potter has a challenger. Jim Walstra is not running for reelection as Jasper County Commissioners and four people would like to replace him. Jeff DeYoung has three challengers. There are five candidates for Jasper County Council at large including three incumbents and I think the top three will be on the November ballot.
The Democratic ballot has fewer contested races. There are two candidates for governor, for U.S. senator, and US. Congressman.
The current exhibit at the Historical Society Museum is the Vintage Kitchen. Here are a few pictures of things in it.
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