Four meetings to end the month

 SJC Open House

On Saturday Saint Joseph's College had an open house intended to show prospective students the educational programs available on campus.  

The picture below shows the tables of the various programs. Closest is the CDL program. I asked if they did training for school bus drivers and was told that was a separate CDL certificate that they did not offer. 

Next to them was the Indiana Ag and Tech School, a charter school that meets at SJC on Wednesdays. They were unsure of how many students that they have this semester because their meeting on Wednesday was canceled due to weather, but it may be as many as 42. They had 32 enrolled last semester. Most of the almost 500 students enrolled in IATS are in the Indianapolis area and Rensselaer is a branch campus. It is a public charter school.

I talked a bit to the founder of IATS and Chairman of its Board. He is a writer who does not publish under his name. Rather he writes speeches for others and things like fundraising appeals. He said that the key to a good speech is to tell a story. (I am not sure how I can incorporate a more storied approach into this blog.) 

Further down the row and hard to see are tables for the veterinary certificate programs and the health-science programs. One of the draws for the health programs is that with a certificate one can work in the field while one pursues more education, such as becoming a registered nurse. 

Not in the picture and separated from the other tables was a table for WorkOne.  WorkOne provides financial aid to some of the people enrolled in the certificate programs, though I do not know what the criteria are for getting that aid.

I asked if the co-working program was still ongoing and was told it was. I also asked who was in charge overall and did not get an answer.

Rensselaer Plan Commission meeting

The Rensselaer Plan Commission met Monday evening before the City Council meeting. The Mayor swore in a new member, Scott Barton. The first two items of new business were about a 3.5 acre lot that was just inside the City's exclusion zone. The County had already approved the split of this lot from a larger lot, but the City needed to approve it because it was in the City's exclusion zone. They approved the split and also recommended to the Council that the zoning be changed from A1 to A2. The reason for the meeting was to consider a subdivision control amendment. The goal was to create a simpler process for small (1, 2, or 3 lot) subdivisions rather than have them go through the process for large subdivisions. The Commission created a committee to review the process consisting of Barton, Davis, and Sammons. The Commission then sent the matter to the Council with a favorable recommendation.

Before the meeting adjourned, member Stan Haines announced that he was resigning, saying he did not feel welcome. Perhaps this was due to something that happened at the previous meeting before I arrived.

The next meeting is scheduled for February 20 at 5:30. (Video of the meeting here.)

Rensselaer City Council meeting

The first item on the agenda of the City Council meeting was a public hearing for vacating a public right-of-way. At the west end of Vine Street there is a row of houses on the north side. North of those houses is an undeveloped alley. The owners of the lots immediately to the west of the Maxwell Ditch own both sides of that alley and there will likely never be a way to access that part of the alley from the east. By vacating the right-of-way the Council allowed them to connect the parcels they own.

Art in the Alley will take place on June 22 from 10:00 to 4:00 in Filson Park. The Council agreed to close Kellner Street for the event. The Council then heard a presentation from Reach Alert Systems about the emergency-alert system that they offer. The system can send messages via phone, text, and e-mail and can be customized in various ways to limit who gets which messages. It can be used for more than just emergency messages and the control will be with the City. The Council approved adopting the system.

The Council approved a proposal to have Peerless Midwest do maintenance on another water well. The cost is $26,368. Mayor Phillips then swore in Todd Wilson as Gas Department superintendent. An ordinance of fees for zoning and other building department matters was introduced. There was concern about how much some of the fees had risen. Mrs Weishaar commented that it is important to avoid doing things that will inhibit growth and development. 

The next two items on the agenda came from the Plan Commission meeting earlier in the evening. The Council approved the rezone from A1 to A2 and also the amendments that simplified the granting of small subdivisions. The Council approved a transfer of funds for the Park Department, needed for a later item on the agenda. Three conflict of interest forms from Council members were approved. A revised Ward Map was presented and Council members Armold and Weishaar were selected as a committee to review it.

The Park Department had sought quotes for replacing the roof on the pool house and recommended a proposal from Style Craft. The company wants a downpayment of 20%, which was approved. The amount of $23,700 was mentioned and I do not know if that was the total amount or just the down payment. Work will not begin for three months. Appleseed requested a donation of $100,000. There were concerns about the size of the ask and hopes that this would not become permanent. The donation was approved with Mr Armold voting against.

In comments at the end, the Mayor said that the State may require a wheel tax in order for local governments to continue receiving CCMG funding. The Fire Department had some electrical problems that fried equipment on the trucks. The meeting adjourned a few minutes after 7:00. (Video of the meeting here.)

Jasper County BZA and Plan Commission meetings

After the City Council meeting I hurried over to the Court house, arriving as the BZA meeting was finishing. I missed the election of officers but there was only one cause on the agenda, a special exception in Walker Township to allow adding onto a Post Frame Structure for living quarters for when their family is in town. It passed.

There was a surprisingly large crowd for the Plan Commission meeting that followed. There were two new members, Jacob Misch from the County Council replacing Steve Jordan, and Commissioner Ryan Hilton replacing James Walstra. The Commission elected Kent Korniak as President, Vince Urbano as Vice President (though he was not present), and Justin Rodibaugh as Secretary.

The first cause was for approval of a 6-lot subdivision in Walker Township on the east side of CR 200W north of CR 700N. The owners of a strip of land along the road live immediately to the south and would like to sell the north three lots and build on the south three lots, either for use by family or for rentals. The property was rezoned to R1 last year. Several neighbors spoke out with questions or objections. There was concern about drainage, some worrying it would lower the water table and others concerned because the land was swampy. The owners will need Drainage Board approval, so these objections were not the concern of the Plan Commission. The other major concern was renters and the possibility that having renters would lower property values. A couple of people liked the area because of its rural setting and did not want more neighbors. Despite the objections, the Commission approved the subdivision.

The other cause was a request for a rezone in Union Township from A1 to A2 to create a future building site. It was sent to the Commissioners with a favorable recommendation.

The next meeting will be on the fourth Monday of February because the third Monday is a holiday. The State Board of Accounts wants all attorneys working for Boards and Commissions to have a contract, so the Commission approved a contract for Mr Sammons.

Odds & ends

The legals in the January 23 edition of the Rensselaer Republican had an interesting notice titled "Legal Notice of Planned Improvement." The planned improvement is the demolition of the Wolcott Rest Areas on I-65. These rest areas were built in 1975 and the notice says that their parking areas are "undersized for current and predicted capacity demands." The five existing buildings and parking lots will be removed. Demolition will last from February until December. The estimated cost is $615,000.

The Jasper County Sheriff's Department is getting more than local news attention.

Jasper County will be getting a new historical marker, one for Charles Halleck. I believe it will be in DeMotte, where he was born.

Unwanted wildlife

 Jasper County BZA meeting

As I was getting ready to go to the Jasper County BZA meeting Monday evening, I looked out my back window and saw this:

A closer view:

I am not happy to see a deer in my garden because I know why it is there: to eat my plants. From past experience I know deer like sweet potato leaves. And something has been nibbling on the tomato plants and I suspect it is this deer. Because of the deer, my resident rabbits, and the ever present squirrels, this is turning out to be a dismal garden year.

Back to the Jasper County BZA meeting. There was only one item on the agenda, a request for sand mining in Walker Township. The sand being mined is the result of a person digging a pond that is less than one acre. He would like to sell the sand that he excavates as a way of getting rid of it. It turns out that a pond of more than an acre requires a lot more permitting, including an erosion control plan. The BZA approved his request provided he keep the size of his pond less than an acre and that construction be confined to daylight hours.

Continued Commissioners' meeting

On Monday morning the Commissioners met in a continuation of their meeting two weeks earlier. The main reason for the meeting was to open bids for the remodeling of the Health Department. Tecton Construction Management had solicited the bids for eight different parts of the project. Some of the parts received only one bid, but five bids were received for the electrical contract, ranging from $34,800 to $112,000. All bids were taken under consideration by Tecton, which will give a recommendation at the September Commissioners' meeting. Construction may begin in October.

The remodel will remove the post in the middle of the Conference Room in what I call the Sparling Annex.

After approving several  conference requests, the Commissioners heard a report from the Jasper County Trails Club. The Club had received a grant from the Jasper Newton Foundation to hire Kimley Horn to prepare a master plan for trails and that plan was presented to the Commissioners. The last time the County had a trails plan was 12 years ago when one was done by the Jasper County Economic Development Organization, but that plan had little effect. The State has been funding trails but none of that money has come to Jasper County. The hope is that with a plan and with the support of local government the County will be able to get some of the State funding. The master plan has trails connecting the four towns of Jasper County.

There was mention of a possible access to the Kankakee River on land that the County owns. Perhaps there will be follow up and this may be a concrete result of this part of the meeting. 

The Trails Club holds monthly meetings and there is one scheduled for 7:00 pm on September 17 at the Carnegie Center. They have a youtube channel here and a website here.

The Commissioners approved a request from Andrew Boersma to replace the employee that the Coroner and Sheriff share. Human resources received approval to do a mailing to County employees. Some requests from Animal Control were tabled until the September meeting. The Commissioners then took up a Solar Ordinance that the Plan Commission had submitted to them in May with suggestions for changes. A committee had worked to incorporate those changes and the revised ordinance was passed. There may be further changes to the ordinance as some people are still not happy with it. The overall impact is to increase restrictions on solar farms. (Background can be found here.)

EDP Renewables was on the agenda but that item will be discussed in September. At the earlier August meeting there was a discussion of improving a storage barn at the Highway Department. A new quote was presented at this meeting to put a concrete floor in the whole building with a dividing wall. The total quote was about $38,000 and it was approved. The Commissioners approved not more than $3000 to BF&S to work on grants for two Safety initiatives, one from the State and the other Federal. They also gave approval to the Sheriff to replace a jailer and to the Health Department to join the Indiana Network for Patient Care. Purdue Extension wanted a storage shed but the out-going audio was faulty so the matter will be taken up at the September meeting. A billboard company with a billboard next to the Fairgrounds wanted permission to trim a tree that was obstructing the billboard and that was granted. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 3. (The Monday is Labor Day.)

Odds & ends

On Monday workers began laying bricks on Harrison Street.

The forms for the last concrete pour were ready on Monday.

I noticed that the Jasper County Economic Development Organization Building has a new sign.

On Monday the goal posts on the SJC football field were being removed.

Back to meetings (updated)

 On the way to the Commissioners' meeting on Monday morning I noticed activity at the SJC football field. I could not see that any of the bleachers had been removed, but suspected that this was the day that the start of the take-down would happen. It rained while the meeting was in progress, and I could not see any progress made that morning.

However, on Tuesday morning part of the bleachers had been removed and by the end of the day I understand pretty much all of it was gone. Here are some pictures from Tuesday.

From another angle.

The sections being removed were laid out east of the field. They will be reassembled at Faith Christian School in Lafayette.

The pictures are not very good because the no-trespassing signs kept me from getting closeer.

Commissioners' meeting

The meeting was fairly routine. There were six buried cable requests, most from Remington or Carpenter Township and all bores for internet cable. All were approved. The voting centers for the general election in November will be at the same locations as they were for the primary election. For that election the center at the Fairgrounds Fire Station was replaced with one at the armory. Community Corrections received permission to replace two employees. Community Corrections currently has 25 males and two females at the facility and about 25 on home detention.

The Auditor received approval to spend $4000 for software that will reduce paperwork for the submission of claims. The Commissioners approved a rezone from A1 to A2 in Barkley Township that had been recommended by the Plan Commission. There was a discussion of a proposed Forensic Center that the Coroner wants. The County Attorney suggested that a way to move forward would be to make a request for proposals and the Commissioners directed him to prepare that for their August 19 meeting.

BP has informed the County that there will be no test well in 2024. There was a discussion on a suggestion to renew the striping on a road near a KV school and the Commissioners approved a contractor to do the work. The Highway Department has finished chip and sealing 50 miles of road. There was a discussion of improving a storage barn at the Highway Department with a concrete floor so it could be used for more purposes. Commissioner DeYoung will work on getting quotes.  

INDOT is beginning a grant program to fund small safety projects and the Highway Department and others will brainstorm what projects would meet the requirements of this program. The Commissioners need to take action on a solar ordinance in their August 18 meeting and will do so.. The Commissioners received a quick update from the Jasper County Trails Club, which has finished a master plan with the aid of Kimley-Horn. It will be presented at the second August meeting. 

The meeting was continued to August 19 at 8:30.

Drainage Board meeting

The Jasper County Drainage Board meeting followed the Commissioners' meeting. The Board approved a drainage plan prepared for the SJC Building & Trades subdivision. It will drain into the private ditch behind the subdivision that flows to Lake Banet. The proposed streets will not cause a significant change in runoff.

One of the cable requests that was approved in the Commissioners' meeting will cross some ditches. The crossings were approved. The George A Hart tile is largely in White County but includes about 200 acres in Jasper County. The White County Surveyor requested that Jasper County waive its rights so that he can plan a complete reconstruction. The Drainage Board declined because they want to know what the numbers will be before the Jasper County property owners are billed.  

The compliance manager that the County hired to look over the proposed SolarPak solar farm said that the plan appears to be in compliance with County regulations and recommended that the company be allowed to proceed pending State permits. The matter will be on the September agenda.

Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission meeting

At the start of its meeting on Monday evening, the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission approved claims and heard an update on the miniature train proposal. Zager Architecture will be developing the plans for the exhibit. In new business the Commission discussed a proposal to rewrite the Drexel/Fairground Economic Development Plan. It has had multiple amendments and the State Board of Accounts had questions whether the money being spent was allowed by the current EDP. The matter was tabled.

The Commission acknowledged receipt of a phase 1 environmental report on the property on the corner of Clark and Cullen. The Commission would like the City to purchase what remains of the building and tear it down in hopes that a clean property would be more attractive to a developer. The property in the past has had gas pumps and has been used for a laundry.

They ratified a poll that approved hiring Baker Tilley to develop a residential TIF district that could be used to finance the paving an unfinished section of 7th Street north of the Van Rensselaer School. There will be many steps taken before that TIF district can be finalized.

The Gas Department wants to put a gas line under I-65 when the water and sewer utilities cross the Interstate and would like to finance it through the Redevelopment Commission. The Commission approved the Gas Department getting an engagement letter with an engineering firm, a first step in the process.

Rensselaer Park Board meeting

The Rensselaer Park Board met Monday evening. They began with a discussion of the proposal to bring a miniature train back to Rensselaer. The original plan by Mr Whaley has been altered because it obstructed the view of the playground in Foundation Park, so the façade of the old depot will be replaced with a smaller sign. The Board approved a design contract with Zager Architects. The cost of the design will be paid by the Parks which will then be reimbursed by the Redevelopment Commission.

There is a softball tournament scheduled for Blacker Fields on Oct 5-6. The Board approved spending $7000 for mulch for the playgrounds in Iroquois and Columbia Parks. There was a discussion about problems with the air conditioner at the Blacker Fields. It is poorly placed with a fence too close to the unit. There was another discussion of pickle ball, which has become so popular that there are wait times for the courts. One idea to alleviate the congestion is to convert the old tennis courts into four pickle ball courts. The Board passed a motion to get quotes for the asphalt and fencing needed to  make the conversion. There are no funds currently available for the project, but perhaps a grant might be obtained or it may represent a sponsorship opportunity.

Odds & ends

Replacing the bricks on Van Rensselaer Street continues. The date for substantial completion is September 30.

Local Schools start Thursday. The last weekday for LaRue Pool is Wednesday but it will be open the 10th and 11th. 

The length of day for August 7 in Rensselaer is 14 hours and 8 minutes. We will lose a hour of daylight by the end of the month.

August has many species of plants blooming with flowers that look like yellow daisies. The one below is Silphium perfoliatum, commonly known as Cup Plant.

Pictures to end the month of June

 The Rensselaer Advisory Planning Commission meeting

The Rensselaer Advisory Planning Commission met Thursday evening. It appointed a new secretary, the administrative assistant in the Building Department and then had a discussion of various fees and other budget items. They approved the per diem allowance for members of the Plan Commission and the BZA from $35 to $50. 

A local realtor had questions about what could be done with a 20-acre parcel north of Bunkum Road. It is landlocked but has access through two easements. It has always been used for agriculture but is zoned residential suburban as are other parcels in that area. She had two interested buyers, one who wanted to farm it and another who wanted to build a house on part of the parcel and farm the rest. She was told that as long as the land was kept in farming, no changes were needed. However, building on it would cause it to be treated as residential and farming would no longer be allowed unless variances were obtained. Further, putting a house on the land would need a variance because the parcel has no road frontage. 

There were a few comments about Saint Joe's. They have a surveyor working on a development plan for a subdivision on the land that was recently rezoned as residential from residential suburban. The plan is to start building a house along Daugherty Road in August. The plan for the development may come before the Plan Commission for its July 18 meeting. There was also mention of the demolition of the press box at the football field, something that several of the members did not know was happening. Apparently the bleachers have been sold to a school in Lafayette and they will be disassembled and moved.  (If the people in charge of SJC would tell the public what they are doing, there would still be complaints, but maybe they would not be as strident.)

Below is a picture of the press box being removed taken from Sparling Ave.

The picture below, showing the removal of the last bit of the PUMAS sign, was taken from near the bowling alley. Both pictures were taken last Wednesday.

Ribbon cutting at Brookside

On Friday the Rensselaer Parks had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the HYPER Center at Brookside Park. The HYPER Center is a building that was delivered in August of 2021 and meant to help with programming in the Park, especially during the summer. It has taken several years to get the interior into final shape. Below is a picture looking to the north of the building.

On the opposite wall is a deer head.

Below is what the south end of the building looks like. There is a refrigerator but no stove, microwave, or sink.

At a bit after 11:00 the dedication speeches began with a sizeable crowd of onlookers.

Finally the actual ribbon cutting took place. Because most of the people behind the ribbon were in the shade, I knew that the picture would not turn out well.

A bit of playing with the picture on my computer made it look better, but there are still a few people next to the building that are almost invisible.

The ribbon cutting was supposed to be accompanied by people setting off confetti guns but most of the people had problems getting them to work. So instead of one big display of confetti there were about a dozen small displays, one after another.

A lot of pictures

The Carnegie Players presented "An Evening with George Ade" on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Below is the curtain call.

The Carnegie Players now own what was formerly the Apostolic Bible Church at 220 N Franklin. However, the building needs repairs and deferred maintenance. Hopefully it will be ready for the next performance of the Players.

The doors were open last week at the light plant so I peeked in and took pictures of the new floors. Below is the view from the north door.

And this second picture shows the view from the south door.

Last week was sidewalk week for the Brick Street Project. Most of the sidewalk along the east side of Harrison is finished.

The southwest corner of Harrison and Van Rensselaer was mostly finished.

Early in the week the workers were preparing part of the sidewalk between the highway and alley on Van Rensselaer.

Below cement is being poured at the corner of Van Rensselaer and Harrison. Notice that some of the east Harrison sidewalk was still not finished.

By the end of the week almost all of the sidewalk along the south side of Van Rensselaer was finished. There was a sort bit near the alley that still needs concrete.

More concrete work was underway at Filson Park, beginning with sidewalks nearest the shelter.

I stopped by when concrete was being poured for the sidewalk around the fountain.

Most of the interiour sidewalks were finished by the weekend. The sidewalks along the streets still must be removed and replaced.

The new Mexican grocery looks like it is ready to open but when I stopped by on Monday afternoon the door was locked.

This sign is along US 231 opposite Walgreens. I have not heard of any plans to put housing in this part of the campus, but in the long run this area may be converted to housing.

The new concession stand/restrooms for the baseball field and the other fields in the part of the campus is almost finished.

Most of this spring's goslings are almost fully grown and many were enjoying a swim in the Donaldson's retention pond last week.

Purple coneflowers are blooming.

As are milkweeds.

Jasper County BZA & Plan Commission meetings

The Jasper County BZA met on Monday evening with one cause on their agenda, a request for a lot width variance. The owners of 80 acres in Barley Township want to separate out 20 acres that are wooded and want a frontage of 100 feet rather than the 400 feet the ordinance requires. They do not have immediate plans to build on the 20 acres but want the variance to make the lot a buildable lot. The reduced frontage will preserve farmland. The variance was approved.

The Jasper County Advisory Plan Commission met after the BZA meeting. The first item on its agenda was a request from Patel Hospitality Group for a rezone from A2 to HC for land in Keener Township near the I-65/SR 10 interchange. The plan is to build a 75 room hotel that will be similar to the Remington Holiday Inn Express. Currently there are no hotels at the Demotte exit of I-65. The new hotel will provide about 25 jobs, provide approximately $100,000 in annual inns-keeper tax, about $50,000 in property tax, and about $25,000 in revenue for sewer and water. (DeMotte extended water and sewer to the Interstate in hopes of attracting more development.) Mr Patel said that the County is losing room rentals to Lake and Porter County by not having a hotel near DeMotte. There was one citizen who expressed concerns about the traffic at the intersection. The Commissioners are aware of that problem and have been urging INDOT to address the problem and they may be slowly working on it. The Commission sent the requested zoning change to the Commissioners with a favorable recommendation.

The second item was an amendment to the ordinance that the Commissioners had approved in June about special purpose wells. Few other counties have anything about test wells because the issue is new, so the County cannot use their experience to help set Jasper County's rules. The Commission recommended to the Commissioners to extend the set back for these wells to 1320 feet (a quarter mile). 

Rensselaer City Council meeting

The Rensselaer City Council had a very short meeting with a short agenda on Monday evening. One citizen wanted an alley off Angelica Street between 9th and 10th streets extended for the whole block. The City will examine the alley and get back to him.

Greg Whaley requested that the City reconsider an ordnance that sets the minimum size of a new house at 1120 square feet. He argued that this results in expensive housing that is unnecessarily large for some people. Instead of a minimum size, he suggested an architectural committee to approve designs of new housing to prevent new buildings that degrade the quality of a neighborhood. The Mayor said the City will consider his suggestion.

The Council approved a gas tracker for the quarter that represents a small decrease in rates. (I did not catch the exact number.) It also honored an employee for 40 years of service.

The light plant has a new floor but diesel fuel remains in tanks and that results in a fuel odor inside the building. As of July 1 of 2025 the Council will have to live-stream its meetings (new State law) and the City is beginning to investigate how best to do that. (Audio is the hard part.) Cruise night is less than two weeks away and several City Departments are getting ready for it. The Street Department has begun a 22-day project of fixing potholes.

A short post to start May

 Medical signs

In the previous post I had pictures of a sign for the Clinic of Family Medicine being installed downtown. According to its website, The Clinic of Family Medicine has three medical providers: Dr Robert Darnaby, Family Nurse Practitioner Sharon Johnson, and Nurse Practitioner Debra Drescher. They have not moved yet as the renovation of their downtown office is not finished.

What used to be the Clinic of Family Medicine is now three offices of Franciscan Health: Working Well, Express Care, and HealtheAccess. 

These services have moved from the building to the west, which is now vacant.

It has a sign in one of the windows saying the space is available.

The property tax record from the County says this building has 3142 square feet and the former Clinic of Family Medicine has 5312 square feet.

The Liberty Clinic of Dr. Randy Lehman is now operating out of the Hospital. Dr Lehman posted a video on Facebook that explains what he is doing and why.

The Clinic of Family Medicine is now operating from the building to the south and east of the building Franciscan is using.

It is open four days a week and on the fifth day the building is used by Lafayette Pain Care.

Odds and Ends

The Food Pantry has a sign in front of their building along the highway.

Over the weekend the Chamber of Commerce sponsored Daffodil Days, which featured a scavenger hunt to get people to visit the participating businesses. I picked up the goodie bag but decided I did not want to enter the drawing for the big prizes. (I am too old to want more stuff.) The goodie bag had some pens, some popcorn, a fan that folded up in a funny way, and a coupon for a free cookie at McDonalds. I used the coupon and was surprised that there were no customers inside. I asked the lady who waited on me how much business is through the drive-up and she said over 80%. There always seems to be cars in the drive up.

On Friday the City's Gas Utility hosted an 811-Awareness event with a free lunch.

You can find better pictures here.

I sat by some City officials and some County candidates joined them a bit later. One of the County candidates noted that the issues that concern people in the northern part of the County are completely different from those that concern people in the southern part of the County.

We had a frost on the morning of April 25. Hopefully that will be the last frost of the season. I saw someone on Facebook asking when the peach trees would bloom. Mine bloomed two or three weeks ago and had very few flowers. Apparently the cold snap in January has largely destroyed this year's crop in our area.

We have had a very wet spring and you can see it in the rise and fall of the Iroquois. The graph below is from the gauging station at Laird's Landing.

I do not see much activity in the fields. They are too wet to work. The oak trees are leafing out, which may mean it is time to plant some of the more sensitive plants in the garden.

Work on the Brick Street Project continues. Last week there was a pile of stuff found under the streets. 

The workers keep digging and filling holes.

More large concrete structures are being put in. I believe this is part of a sewer line.

Almost all of the sidewalks on both sides of the brick-streets part of Harrison Street have been removed.

This Saturday we will have the opening of the Farmers Market and the Town-Wide Garage Sale. On Friday is the Fire Department's fish and chicken dinner. Tickets are $14 for adults, which may seem a bit expensive, but it is all you can eat (and some people can eat a lot.)

Next Tuesday is primary election day. If you have not voted early, you can vote at any of the ten voting centers in the County. The two that are most convenient for Rensselaer are at the armory and the Fairgrounds. This week's Rensselaer Republican is devoted to previewing all the contested races.