News from mid September

 Downtown news

At the end of last week new paving bricks were beginning to appear in the Harrison/Van Rensselaer intersection.

Brick work was also being done in Filson Park, both around the fountain and behind the stage area.

In other downtown news, the Ritz Theater is changing ownership. I have heard no details.

Continued Commissioners meeting

The Commissioners met Monday morning in a meeting that was continued from the September 2 meeting. An item on the agenda for Animal Control was postponed until the October meeting. The Extension Office had a request for a new storage shed and it was decided that if it needed external storage, the Office could use some of the existing Community Garden shed and that other storage needs could be met with new shelving and internal reorganization. A conference request from Human Resources was approved. Also approved was a request from the Highway Department to replace two employees, for road work and a part-time cleaning position. 

A series of quotes to improve a storage barn at the Highway Department were approved, including $22,2904 for 2 inches of spray foam for the walls and 4 inches for the ceiling, $5660 to rough in plumbing, and $10,568 for electrical work in a maintenance area and $15,540 for electrical work in the rest of the building. Part of the space will be used by the Surveyor's Department and part by the Highway Department.

There was a long discussion of the fee schedule of the Coroner. Currently the Office pays a case fee for deputies who respond to a call and a separate transport fee when they transport a body to the morgue. The problem is not the amounts but rather the accounting for these fees and here the issue was bounced to the County Council, which needs to amend the salary ordinance so both fees are included. There needs to be a separation of compensation for services and reimbursement of expenses.


A committee of five has been selected to work on planning a new forensics center: Jeff DeYoung, Craig Standish, Andrew Boersma, the Sheriff or his representative, and someone from the Council.

Sara DeYoung gave a presentation of what the Jasper County Economic Development Organization (JCEDO) does. The organization is a non-profit organization with a 20 member board. It has an office staff of 2.5 persons. Much of what she said is on the JCEDO website. JCEDO has an inventory of properties that might be of interest for companies seeking to expand into Jasper County. They usually are interested in availability of utilities, supplies, labor and transportation. Today jobs often follow people rather than people following jobs. The key to attracting people is quality of life, which includes such things as schools and other amenities. 

The Commissioners agreed to hire Baker Tilly to prepare two financial plans, one for the current state of the County and another looking forward. Their payments are not to exceed $20,000 for one and $30,000 for the other. 

NIPSCO has proposed putting a gas-fired peaking plant on its Wheatfield site. It would like Baker Tilly to prepare an impact study and a possible tax abatement plan. The cost would not exceed $17,500 and NIPSCO has agreed to pay for that study. The Commissioners approved the language of the agreement pending NIPSCO also agreeing to the language. 


EDP Renewables is planning a wind farm in Carpenter Township. A road use agreement for that farm was approved for Meadow Lake Wind Farm Eight LLC. However, the project has a new name, Carpenter Wind Farm LLC. The request to the Commissioners was to assign the previously granted road-use agreement to Carpenter Wind Farm. That was granted. EDP also wanted to amend the agreement with an updated list of roads and several other amendments. It will improve the roads that it uses. The Commissioners also heard from their construction compliance monitor, a firm hired by the County to provide expertise that the County does not have internally. (The County decided that they needed this expertise after its experience with the Dunns Bridge One Solar Park.) The amendments were accepted.

In public comments, Craig Standish asked if there was any progress in moving forward with a 4-H shooting range at the Fairgrounds. The range will need a site plan approved from the City of Rensselaer. Another citizen complained that the meeting was sloppy in following Robert's Rules of order. One example he gave is that in County meetings people often say, "I motion that...." instead of "I move that...." He also said that the presiding officer should repeat the motion before a vote. Finally, a citizen asked for an update on a CO2 ordinance. She was told that nothing is being done until a court case in Iowa is decided. It will set the limits on what a county can do.


It seems every month there is a continued meeting that lasts as long or almost as long as the original meeting. Maybe it is time for the Commissioners to schedule two meetings each month.

Jasper County BZA and Plan Commission

The Jasper County BZA met Monday evening with one cause on its agenda, a special exception to allow for a cell tower near Fair Oaks. The company building the tower is Southern Tower and Verizon is the first and so far the only carrier signed up to use the tower. For Verizon this tower will fill in a gap in coverage and will provide network resiliency for traffic on I-65 in case of disruptions to other towers. There is another tower a mile to the south that is used by AT&T and T-Mobile. The tower will be 195 feet tall, which is what is allowed in the County ordinance. The company will lease a 100 by 100 foot patch in a wooded lot near the railroad tracks


There was one person who opposed the plan, arguing electromagnetic fields from cell phones and cell towers was dangerous, especially for children. Despite his comment, the Board approved the special exception.

The Plan Commission met after the BZA meeting with one cause on its agenda, a rezone from A1 to A2 for a future subdivision in Walker. The owner said that some of the land was wooded and that the parts that he farmed were poor land, so he thought housing would be a better use of the land than farming. He gave the Commission members maps of what he was proposing. He said that the lots would be four or five acres in size. He also said that the land was next to a solar farm and he liked it because it was peaceful. The Commission voted to send his request to the Commissioners with a favorable recommendation.

The next meetings of these two groups are on the schedule for October 21 but several of the members said that they were doubtful about attending because they might be in the fields harvesting. There will be items on both agendas, including items about the Carpenter Wind Farm. The meeting might be moved to 6:00 at the Fairground. Or the meetings might not happen at all. The BZA is more doubtful than the Plan Commission.


Getting ready for the Cemetery Walk

The Weston Cemetery Walk held its dress rehearsal on Sunday and seems ready for the Saturday performances. The list of people portrayed and the actors was in last week's Rensselaer Republican and you can find the article on-line here. One of the graves that will be visited has this iconography which is quite common in Catholic Cemeteries but unusual for Weston.

The IHS are the Latin letters equivalent to the first three Greek letters in the name "Jesus". The family buried here (Healy, not Healey, a completely different family) were Catholic. I do not know why they chose Weston rather than Mount Calvary, but some members of the family are in Mount Calvary. 

Another grave visited is that of Emmet  Kannal, for whom Emmet Street is named.

Performances are at 11:00 (in the Hall Shelter) and 2:00 (walking through the Cemetery). Tickets are available at Cup of Joy and Brown's Garden Shoppe.

SJC Homecoming

I stopped by the SJC Homecoming on Saturday and did not see any alumni that I recognized, though if I knew any of them, I probably would not recognize them because many people change so much in appearance just a few years after they leave college. There seemed to be a good-sized crowd there and I was told that the graduating classes of 1984 and 1974 were especially well represented.

There was entertainment in the form of a baseball scrimmage by players from Ca;ument College of Saint Joseph. There was a brat tent (shown) and a beer tent (not shown).

Odds & ends

Days are getting shorter as we approach the autumnal equinox. There are a few fields that have been harvested and some of the corn fields look ready for harvest. There are some bean fields that are still totally green. The trees in my neighborhood still have not started changing color.