Mystery window
During December I posted many pictures of decorated windows. Here is what I think is a final one. I would never have found it if I had not been told were it is. Do you know where it is? If so, tell everyone by leaving a comment.
New Commissioners
County government has two new Commissioners for 2025 and they got a workout on Tuesday morning. At 8:00 the Board of Finance met. It is required to meet between the first and last Mondays of January and the three County Commissioners are its members. The Board elected Rein Bontreger as president and Tammy McEwen, the County Treasurer, as secretary/treasurer. It approved an investment policy for 2025, which the Board members had in written form. The State severely limits how counties can invest funds, limiting them to liquid, safe assets such as CDs and Treasury notes. The County has over $30 million in various accounts that the Treasurer invests and last year the County earned more than $1 million on those funds. The meeting lasted only about 15 minutes.
The Commissioners meeting that followed was not as short, lasting about two and a half hours. Rein Bontreger was elected president and Ryan Hilton was elected vice president. The next item on the agenda was the opening of highway bids for various items that the Highway Department uses. This took about twenty minutes and involved a lot of prices that made no sense to me but were important for the Highway Department. As in past years, all bids were accepted so that if the low-price supplier cannot deliver, the County can get the material when it is needed.
A new State law now requires that contracts that the Sheriff previously approved must now receive Commissioner approval. The Commissioners approved a contract for battery maintenance. They also approved the yearly forfeiture audit. Finally, they approved the retirement of K-9 dog Alpha.
The Coroner wanted to make sure that the change in Commissioners would not interrupt planning for a new forensic center. Sharon Colee from Community Services had several items for Commissioner approval. A furnace at the Fase Center failed and was replaced at $5200. She wants a railing at the entrance of the Fase Center to help those who are mobility impaired. Both of these items were approved. She had investigated getting DeMotte water for the Fase Center but there is no nearby water main, so the cost would be over $100,000. She wants the Commissioners to do a walk through of the Rensselaer Center to see maintenance issues.
Last year the Commissioners approved $30,000 from Opiod settlement money to the House of Grace and Tammy Tidd, head of the House of Grace, would like a similar amount this year. In the four years that they have had a location in Rensselaer, they have served 19 women and have two current women living here with another pending. The local facility can handle up to four women. I think she said that they have bought a house here. The Commissioners decided to make a decision on the request in February.
The Commissioners approved the replacement of an employee in the Clerk's Office who retired at the end of last year. The Office is still short-staffed because an employee is on maternity leave. The Commissioners also approved two conference requests from the Health Department. They were skeptical, however, at the Department's request to fill a full-time position for a second person to do food inspections and septic-tank inspections. The Health Department argued that the position would be needed because two new subdivisions are going in near DeMotte. The matter will be on the agenda again in February.
The transfer of the Remington EMS building to the County was delayed because one of the people signing did not have the proper seal. Next on the agenda was "Arrowhead Grant." I could not find the full name of the Arrowhead organization, but it gives small grants in our area. The Commissioners could not think of any programs that might benefit, but said "maybe next year.
The next 20 or 25 minutes were devoted to appointments to boards and various office positions. In most cases the current members were retained. There were several applicants for the Airport Authority Board and the Commissioners approved Tommy Gutwein. Noah Hoek and Chad Healy were added to the Citizens Advisory Board for Land Acquisition. The Community Corrections Advisory Board adds Jake Misch, Justin DeYoung, and Clifford Robinson (who may be the new head of the Public Defenders Office). Ryan Hilton was added to several boards, including the Fair Board, Kankakee River Regional Planning Board, and the Jasper County Plan Commission. Craig Standish will be new on the Northwest Solid Waste District. Both were added to the Water and Sewer Board. Jake Misch wanted off the Property Tax Board of Appeals and will be replaced by someone whose name I did not catch. Risk Management Board added Diana Boersma and Craig Standish. The commissioners appointed George Hamstra to the Town of DeMotte Plan Commission and John Schwab to the Remington BZA.
Employee bonds were approved for employees who handle money. Three buried cable requests were approved. There was a brief discussion of plans to renovate a barn at the County Highway Department and the Commissioners approved getting bids to move along the process. The County has received safety grants and needs to request proposals to implement them. One citizen expressed concern about a plan for an unelected regional government.
If needed, the meeting was continued until January 21 at 8:30 in the Commissioners' Room in the Court House.
After a short recess, the Drainage Board met. Craig Standish was elected president, Ryan Hilton Vice President, and Rhonda Eldridge secretary. Jacob Ahler will serve as the Board' attorney. There were also appointments to the various joint drainage boards with surrounding counties.
The Board approved compensation for the Board's attorney of $10,000 plus $215 for any work not covered by the usual duties. Landowners drained by the Zimmer Ditch brought signatures to reconstruct the ditch. The next step will be for the surveyor to do a report outlining what work needs to be done and how much it will cost. The Board accepted certifications for the Sands Ditch and the R. E. Davis Ditch and approved signing a hold-harmless agreement with Genova Plastics. There was discussion of the need to update the County's drainage specifications because some of it is out of date.
These were the last meetings to be held at the Sparling Annex for at least a couple of months. When the remodeling is finished, the column in the center of the room will be gone.
Odds and ends
There was a Park Board meeting on Monday evening but this post is long enough already so I will write about it for the next post.
Rensselaer avoided heavy snow fall that the weekend brought both north and south of us.
During January daylight increases by 47 minutes, with about two thirds of that coming by later sunsets and about one third by earlier sunrises. The reason that the two are unequal is due to the eliptical orbit of the earth and the fact that it earth is tilted on its axis. The perihelion for earth (when it is closest to the sun) just occurred on January 4. Did you enjoy the extra warmth on that day?
On January 1 I took a picture of the building trades house at SJC. It has windows and doors, so work inside can be a bit more comfortable than it would be without them.
Leaving SJC I noticed a new sign at one of the entrances. The hours for the open house are from 10 to 4.
Driving past SJC on Sunday I noticed that they had their semi-trucks used for CDL training decorated. I was able to get a picture on Tuesday.
1 comment:
That last window is at Dr. Markleys chiropractor. I was wondering if you’d find that one! ;)
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