Part 2 of February meetings

 A first meeting

The newly-established Rensselaer Plat Committee met on Thursday (Jan 30) for a quick meeting. This committee was established on Monday (1-27) at the Rensselaer Plan Commission and City Council meetings. The Committee elected Scott Barton as President and Todd Sammons as Vice President. There was only one item on the agenda, Fenwick Simple Subdivision. The owner of this 3.5 acre lot wanted to divide it into two roughly equal lots, one with barns and grain bins that he would keep and another with the existing residence that he would sell. The Committee found that this plan did not open up any new public right-of-ways, that it met the minimum lot sizes set in the Code for A2 zoning, and each lot met the minimum requirements for road frontage. (Video of the meeting here.)

Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission meeting

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met Monday evening. Mayor Phillips swore in the members and the members voted to keep the same officers as they had in 2024. (Kevin Smith President, Estel George Vice President, & Jeff Webb Secretary) The Commission approved claims and then voted to convert a loan for sewage work improvements to a grant. This action satisfies the State Board of Accounts and will keep sewer rates from rising even more than they have and will.

The Commission received an update from the Mayor on the I-65 water and sewer extension. Planning is finished. A difficulty in the future will occur when a customer decides to hook up to City sewer but not City water. The sewer bill depends on water usage, but apparently there is an alternative way to determine the charge. In addition, a four-inch gas line will also go under the Interstate, creating a loop to provide more reliable service. There were questions about extending the lines west of CR 1000W. That will require more than additional pipes. If this area can be put into a TIF, the tax revenues from improvements could be used to do the things needed in order to extend the lines. Bids will be opened on February 10.

The Mayor gave an update on 7th Street, which is currently undeveloped. Commonwealth Engineering wants $70,000 to finish plans to develop the area. A motion to move forward was approved.

The Commission approved having meetings in 2025 on first Mondays at 5:00 pm. (A video of the meeting is here. As for the audio, I do not know where that is.)

Rensselaer Park Board meeting

Also meeting Monday evening was the Rensselaer Park Board. They heard that the Woodchuck It disc golf tournament had 23 people show up. 

Craig Hooker was sworn in as a new member, filling the remaining term of Rick Williams. 

The Board approved a motion to demolish the former Park Headquarters in Iroquois Park. All operations have been moved out of the building. Whatever can be reused will be reused, whatever can be sold will be sold, and whatever can be recycled will be recycled. The concrete pad will remain and its future use will depend on its state after demolition. 

The demolition work will be done by park staff and perhaps some other City workers. With the building gone, the back end of the park will be opened up.

The Board also voted to demolish a garage at Foundation Park. It was left after the Blacker Trust bought a house and demolished it.

The new Park headquarters is progressing. The high pressure natural gas line that was needed for electrical generation has been removed and a low pressure line has been installed. Plumbing has been roughed in and there is hot water. The Park hopes that a planning grant can be obtained.

The pool house roof will be replaced this spring. However, the cost has risen because the gables need to be replaced, so there will not be enough money to keep the cupola. Cupolas provide ventilation, but the roofers will add vents to the roof, so it would only be decorative. 

The Park Corporation approved spending $2400 to cover the added cost of re-roofing the building. The Gifford Shelter is also scheduled to get a new roof this year.

There was a brief discussion of striping and surfacing the new pickleball courts, but action was postponed until the March meeting. There was a longer discussion of baseball, which I had a hard time understanding because I do not know how the system works. There were thoughts of having the Park sponsor its own tournaments and there were suggestions that the Park-sponsored teams could play teams from neighboring towns. The first scheduled tournament for the Blacker Fields is for April 4-6. There was a concern about too many people parking on the grass and that people attending tournaments do not know that there is additional parking near the pool. The next meeting will be on March 3.

Odds and ends

Garden plots in the Community garden are again available this year. (In the past I had plots there, but have gotten too old to do this anymore.)

In February day length increases by 67 minutes.

In mid-January I had a series of snippets from very old issues of the Rensselaer Republican that mentioned the construction of the first St. Augustine's Church. One of those snippets mentioned Alfred McCoy and I am ashamed to admit that I did not immediately recognize who that was. He was a hero who became a zero. While he was a hero he was a banker, part of the time with Alfred Thompson and they built the building that is now the Beaver Law Office, perhaps the oldest building in downtown Rensselaer. He also had a large farm east of Rensselaer and the little settlement of Marlboro changed its name to McCoysburg. Rensselaer named one of its streets to honor the family, McCoy Avenue. When he retired from banking, his son Thomas McCoy, who was the first mayor of the City of Rensselaer, took over the bank. And then he became a zero. In April of 1904 the bank closed, and hundreds of depositors lost funds. Thomas McCoy was eventually found guilty of fraud and sent to prison. Alfred left town in disgrace and moved to Missouri, where he died and is buried. Rensselaer renamed McCoy Avenue to Milroy Avenue, and someone dynamited Thomas McCoy's house, which was eventually restored by Earle Reynolds, one of Rensselaer's most famous residents. The annual Weston Cemetery Walk found a way to talk about the McCoys because the father of Alfred is buried in Weston Cemetery. (I found an obituary for Alfred and posted it on his find-a-grave memorial.)

The failure of McCoy's bank was local news. The failure of the bank of another Rensselaerian was national news.  

On Feb 1 I heard sandhill cranes flying overhead and on Feb 2 I heard a flock of robins.

We no longer have the bitter cold that we had in January, but it has remained cold enough so that some river ice remains. (The view is downriver from the College Avenue bridge.)

A very cold week

County meetings

The County Commissioners had enough items to reconvene their January meeting on Monday morning. I had planned to attend in person because I wanted to see the Commissioners Room in the Court House again, but the new snow and the subzero temperatures changed my mind. I opted to attend via Zoom.

(As I put out my recycling in the morning, I noticed animal tracks in the new snow. A deer and its pet cat must have been by during the night.)

The first item on the agenda was signing the three ambulance contracts. This is done annually and now the size of the subsidies is based on the number of runs each of the services makes. Next the Commissioners made several more board appointments. It seemed that they appointed the whole Jasper County Health Board. They appointed a member to the Remington Plan Commission and four to Northwest Indiana Workforce Development.

The Highway Department has received funds from EDP for culverts in the Carpenter Wind Farm. The Commissioners approved the process for spending them, which will have the Council appropriate the funds and the Commissioners approve the claims. They also approved a financial commitment letter for work on roads as part of the CCMG grant. The project will cost more than $2 million and the County's share will be about $600,000. 

Earlier in December the Commissioners had approved getting quotes for a new railing for the Fase Center. Community Services had obtained a quote from Hamstra for $1750 and it was approved. The Recorder's Office makes documents available on-line via a private third party. That party is changing its software, going away from desktop applications to the Internet, and this new process requires a new agreement. The Commissioners approved having the Recorder entering into a new agreement.

Work has started on a new solar farm near Kniman in Walker Township and there was concern that some stop signs might be needed. The matter will probably need a public hearing. Citizens complained that no agenda for this meeting was published and a short discussion followed. There is no legal requirement for a published agenda for a continued meeting since all items fit under "other business" in the main meeting, but an agenda would be nice. 

The County will be upgrading a storage building at the Highway Department, but before they make the upgrades, some repairs are needed. The Commissioners approved $5108 to make those repairs. They also approved starting the process to get the old sidewalks on two sides of the Court House redone. Finally, they gave approval to the Fair Board to use the Commercial Building for Bingo, which is needed for the Fair Board to receive a State gaming permit. The meeting lasted an hour.

The County Council met on Tuesday evening with two pages of additional appropriations on the agenda. Most were small and seemed to be salary additions. I tried to join via Zoom using the url given on Facebook and also sent to me, but I kept getting asked for a meeting passcode. I did not see any passcode in the page with the url link, so I never joined the meeting.

It is always better to attend a meeting in person but when the weather is terrible, Zoom looks attractive. Next year all public meetings are supposed to be available on-line and because of my age I will probably attend most of the evening meetings during winter via computer. I hope that all the bugs are worked out by then.

Meeting of the Rensselaer Redevelopment Authority

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Authority, which is a different body than the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission, met Thursday afternoon. It has only three members, and one of them, Jacob Ahler, was new. (He is not the attorney for the Authority. That is Todd Sammons.)

The Authority approved past minutes and elected Avery Douglas as president, Loren Berenda as Vice President, and Jacob Ahler as Secretary. The Authority issues the bonds that are attached to the TIF districts, and currently they have only one bond outstanding, one issued to finance the local fire department. Twice a year payments must be made on that bond, and the current payment was for $187,000, which the Authority approved. The bond will not be totally repaid until 2040. There was a question of whether the bond could be paid off early, and the answer was that if it were, the TIF district would lose some of its power. 

The members were given a report from Baker Tilly to review. The State Board of Accounts wants them to meet at least twice a year to approve the bond claims and they decided that the next meeting would probably be in June.

Odds and ends

The County has a new website and it may take me a while to find things on it. I wanted to find an old agenda and got a page asking me to log in. Also, the new pages are not visually attractive and hopefully that will change with time.

Going to the open house for the Harvest Christian Academy last Saturday, I stopped to take a picture of the other side of one of the semi trucks used for CDL training. (I had not realized that each side was different when I posted a picture here.)

This week's Rensselaer Republican has more details about the Harvest Christian Academy than I had in my post.

After the Redevelopment Authority meeting I visited the bowstring arch bridge to see how much ice was on the Iroquois River. Looking downstream toward College Avenue the River was completely frozen over.

But looking upstream toward the Washington Street Bridge there was open water, which was not surprising because there is a little rapids under the bridge.

I could not resist the temptation to take a picture from the bridge of the mural that the low winter sun was illuminating.

It has been a bitterly cold week but the highs for most days next week will be above zero.

Start of September, 2024

Some pictures

As of the weekend, the bricks on Harrison had reached the halfway point.

The stage at Filson Park is finished.

The final touch was stringing lights near the roof.

The park has a memorial bench.

There is a little area that looks like decorative bricks on the north side of the park. They are not real bricks but concrete colored and textured to look like bricks.

On Tuesday more sidewalk was being poured on the north side of the park.

There is still a little area near the alley that needs concrete. The forms were being set on Tuesday afternoon.

The SJC Building Trades program has begun work on the foundation of a first house.

Here is an article in the publication Inside Higher Ed about the shift in direction at SJC.

Remington has plans for an inclusive playground. See here and here. I think this is part of a goal of making the park a destination stop. Their big park on the north side of town is a impressive park for a small town. It would make a good lunch stop for travelers with kids. The kids could play on the playground equipment, run on the trails, or enjoy the splash pad. An inclusive playground, with equipment for handicapped children, might put them on the map. The nearest existing inclusive playground is two hours away according to Remington. I expect to hear more about these plans next year at Tourism Commisson meetings.

Rensselaer Redevelopment Authority

I was confused when I noticed that there were meetings scheduled for both the Rensselaer Redevelopment Authority and the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission. I asked and found that the Redevelopment Authority was the body that had to authorize any bonds that were issued. That group met Wednesday at 9:00 at City Hall and I arrived after the three members had elected officers. The meeting was apparently held because the State Board of Accounts had told the City that this body should be meeting at least twice a year. 

The Authority has approved one bond that is outstanding, a bond to finance the Rensselaer Fire Station. It is a 25 year bond and was issued in 2015. Twice a year payments must be made for this bond, for interest and the slow payment of principle. The Authority is supposed to approve those payments, and it did at this meeting. The next meeting will be in November and then one probably in January.

The bulk of the meeting was taken up by a discussion of what the City's next big project might be, though it is unlikely the Redevelopment Authority will be involved. The project that Mayor Phillips is most concerned about is meeting a State mandate to deal with the combined sewers. In many parts of Rensselaer the storm sewers and sanitary sewers are combined and when there are heavy rains, those sewers overflow into the Iroquois River. The City has been working on this problem with the high-rate treatment plant on Lincoln Street and the Melville Street Project, but more needs to be done and it will be expensive, potentially in the $13 to $20 million range. There does not seem to be grants available, but the City might get zero-percent loans from the State Revolving Fund. The cost will affect sewage bills in the future.

Trails plan

I received a link to the Jasper County Trails Master Plan that Kimley Horn prepared for the Jasper County Trails Club. There was a big section that gave the results of a survey that was done (and that I probably answered). More interesting were the plans for specific trails. In Rensselaer there was a proposed trail along Melville Street from the Primary School to SR 114. South of the railroad tracks, that route has a good sidewalk on the east side of Melville, but there is a bottleneck at the ditch just south of the primary school. The proposed trail starts at the CourtHouse, goes through the alley next to Filson Park, over the pedestrian bridge and through Iroquois Park. The trail crosses where there is no bridge from the west end of Iroquois to the east end of Weston Cemetery, then through the Cemetery and Brookside Park to SR 114, From there it continues to the Fairgrounds, then to the Interstate, and from there the trail will be extended to reach Fair Oaks Farms.

I think both of these trails would be worthwhile, especially one from Rensselaer to the Fairgrounds and Interstate. The latter would be expensive and would need a big grant to accomplish.

The plan wants to enhance the water trail of the Iroquois River with an additional boat launch site either in Potawatomi Park or on the other side of the River. The Iroquois already has three launch sites serving Rensselaer, at Laird's Landing, at Bicentennial Park, and on Mount Calvary Road. Years ago I rafted the River a couple of times, starting at Laird's Landing and ending at the Maxwell Ditch in Weston Cemetery. The Iroquois only occasionally has good rafting. Usually the water level is too low or too high.

If you want to know more, the Trails Club will be meeting in Rensselaer on September 17 at 7:00 in the basement of the Carnegie Center. (I do not think I can attend because the Jasper County Council meets the same evening and that meeting will be a long one.)

Commissioners' meeting

The Commissioners had a routine meeting on Tuesday morning rather than Monday morning because of the Labor Day holiday. There were no buried cable requests. Farm Bureau is upgrading its sign and will incorporate signs for the Surveyor and Extension in the new sign. The Coroner's new fee schedule was postponed for two weeks. The Forensics building he would like has expanding uses. Councilman Moore suggested that the County have a committee to do preliminary planning for any proposed building and that committee may happen. (It could also consider the proposed new show arena that the Fair Board wants.)

Animal Control gave statistics for 2023 and 2024 that show they are much busier this year than last. Their requests for a new shed and better signage were delayed to the continued meeting. At the last meeting Extension requested a storage shed. The Surveyor said that new shelving and use of the community-garden shed may be able to solve the storage problem. The Commissioners approved Mr Bontreger to sign off on warranties for the EMS building. 

A woman from WorkOne explained that WorkOne pays salaries for people learning the soft skills of holding a job. She has a person who would like to work at the Animal Shelter and WorkOne would pay her salary while she learns the job, which usually takes one to three months. WorkOne provides this service for private businesses and it is a way of getting people employed who lack experience and skills. The Commissioners approved her proposal pending legal review. 

Community Services had a leaky roof repaired and the Commissioners approved the claim. They received a grant to install a new digital sign but the grant does not cover the installation of electrical service. The Commissioners approved that installation. The Fase Center will need someone to remove snow and the Commissioners will look into it.

A road agreement with EDP renewables was postponed for two weeks to allow some changes in the proposed agreement. Growing Patch Learning Center in Remington gave a presentation. They opened after the Jasper County Youth Center closed in a building that formerly housed Treasure Keepers. They have five classrooms and 64 seats. They are accredited, which increases their costs and they lose about $4,000 per child. They have 19 on their wait list, including some unborn babies. They have 18 paid staff. No action was requested; their report was to update the Commissioners on their current status.

A spokesman from Tecton recommended the low bidders for the remodeling of the Sparling Annex/Health Department. Tecton would like construction to start in mid to late October. The Council approved the signing of the recommendation letter. There was a brief discussion of what to do with the old kitchen material from the building. No other County Department has an interest in using it and it probably has more value as scrap metal than what an auction would bring. Pending legal review the Commissioners approved scrapping it.

There were two bids for foam insulation of the storage barn at the Highway Department. They will be further considered at the continuation of the meeting on Monday, September 16 at 8:30.

Drainage Board

The Jasper County Drainage Board met after the conclusion of the Commissioners' meeting. Tri-County Schools is considering a small expansion of the Tri-County Elementary School. The roof will drain into the woods near the property and then into Carpenter Creek. The plan was approved. Also approved was a proposal to place buried cable under tiles and drains in Carpenter Township. BF&S will prepare bid packets for the next phase of the KV River Project. This phase is for two miles of bank stabilization and has had delays in the State and Federal permitting process. Finally there was a short discussion of what appears to be a dispute between two neighbors concerning a dam on a drainage ditch. The Board did not want to get involved.

Lots of good info

Park news

The first tournament at the Blacker fields was held this past weekend. The teams lucked out with some good weather. There was rain, but it was overnight on late Saturday and the fields were OK for Sunday. There were 30 teams participating.

New this year was an admission charge. Rensselaer had been the only venue used by the organizers of these tournaments that did not charge an admission fee.

There will be more tournaments for the next two or three weekends.

At the Park Board meeting on Monday evening, Mr Effinger explained that without the admission fee the teams had to pay a higher entrance fee, and that deterred some teams from coming to Rensselaer to play. There was concern that locals might complain about the fee if they only wanted to stop by and watch a game or a partial game and the fee might depress concession sales (which is where the Parks make money--the fees to use the fields cover the cost of preparing the fields). But with more teams coming for each tournament, the extra number of parents and players should more than offset the lost sales to those who are deterred by the entrance fee.

The Park Board also approved buying a sprinkler for the ball fields. Brianne Hooker from the Jasper-Newton Foundation said that she had donors who want to replace some of the playground equipment at Foundation Park and the Board encouraged her to support these efforts. The Board reviewed the accountant's report that showed that the Parks have operated in the black for the past four years. Softball should be getting started soon. Younger people seem to be uninterested in the sport. Pickleball has become popular at the new tennis courts.

Last week Brookside Park hosted a large group of students from the Kankakee Valley School system.

When I took the photo above I wondered what the purpose of the fencing was. I figured it out on Saturday when I stopped by to look at the baseball games.

Commissioners meeting

Near the beginning of the Commissioners meeting on Monday morning, Mr Bontreger mentioned the proposed carbon sequestration project. BP is apparently planning a test well to explore the rocks that lie beneath us. Newton County did not have the seismic testing that was done in Jasper County not because of something that their County government did but because there was data from the testing done before the landfill was put in and it apparently showed that the rock structures were too thin for significant CO2 storage. The Commissioners continue talking with BP and think that respectful dialogue is best at this point. All three commissioners oppose the project.

The meeting then proceeded with routine business. Two buried cable permits were approved for Carpenter Township and Remington,. The Commissioners approved lease contracts for postage machines for the Courthouse, Sheriff's Department, and the annex. New employee hours in the Health Department were approved as well as two new vehicles financed from a fund that the State wants the Department to spend down. A request from EMS to hire a full-time administrative assistant was approved. The Director is part-time (he has a full-time job in Valparaiso) and the salary for the Director is budgeted for a full-time director. Most of the money for the administrative assistant will come from unused funds for the director. The new EMS building will have an open house on May 23 from 4:00 until 6:00.

The Commissioners approved some conference requests and a vacation-extension request. The Sheriff received permission to replace two jailers and an officer who is leaving the Department after 20 years to work at Purdue. The leak in the jail roof was found under one of the condensers. There was a discussion of whether it would be better to put the air-conditioning equipment on the ground rather than have it on the roof and the Sheriff was told to proceed with planning for that change. The Commissioners approved a new application for a COPS grant. Last year the application was not funded because other departments were judged to have greater need for the funding. The Corrections Department received permission to replace a correctional officer. 

Two bids for outside contractor services were opened and both accepted. They allow the Highway Department to outsource work when the Department cannot perform it. The Commissioners accepted a bid of $2000 from Rensselaer Monuments to repair damage done by vandals in Makeever Cemetery. The County wants to transfer ownership to Newton Township and paperwork needs to be finished. The Commissioners also accepted proposals from Reliable Exterminators to service Corrections, EMS, and Animal Control.

In other business, it was noted that DeMotte is considering a speed limit for its buffer zone. The County Attorney said that they do not have the authority to do that, but they can make a request to the Commissioners. The Commissioners approved purchase of updated GPS equipment for the Surveyor's Office that will automate updating records. 

Changes to the Solar Ordinance will be discussed in the May Plan Commission meeting. Among the many changes will be the elimination of the requirement to plant trees or bushes for screening. Instead the setbacks will be increased and the land in the setback will be used for crops. There is currently no provision for battery storage facilities; the changes add some.

At a previous meeting the County Coroner expressed concerns about the speed limits on SR-10 as it approaches and goes through Wheatfield He said the State had been unresponsive to his request and Wheatfield's request for change and wanted the Commissioners to add their support for changes. He also gave the Commissioners updated and improved plans for a new building he would like built to house the mortuary. EMA Director Karen Wilson wanted a vehicle for EMA and the Commissioners approved transferring one from the Sheriff;s Department.

A number of citizens sat through a couple of hours of the meeting waiting to make public comments and most were about the proposed carbon sequestration project that BP has proposed. One speaker said that her communication with State officials said that the County had considerable authority to regulate both a CO2 pipeline and wells. Another speaker suggested that the Commissioners draft a resolution stating that the Commissioners were opposed to carbon sequestration. Mr DeYoung then made a motion to have the Attorney Beaver draft to that effect. Mr Bontreger then asked what effect that would have on IBEC, which is currently sequestering CO2. They were apparently told that they had to do this or they would be shut down. Further, IBEC provides a major market for the corn grown in Jasper County, so what happens to them may affect the farmers. The motion was then tabled until May 20 and Mr Beaver was asked to determine exactly what the County can and cannot do with the issue of carbon sequestration. After almost 3 hours, the meeting was continued to May 20 at 8:30.

Other meetings

I was not paying attention to the time on Monday afternoon so arrived at the Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission meeting fifteen minutes late. The meeting was over by the time I got there. I learned that the Commission had approved $60,000 for Apple Seed. The cost of running the Appletree Center is a bit over $600,000 and the revenues are a bit under $400,000, so a bit more than $200,000 must be raised each year to keep the Center open. The money from the Redevelopment Commission fills about a quarter of the gap.

The other item on the agenda was the building on the corner of Clark and Cullen that was once a bottling plant. The Commission would like it demolished.

The Drainage Board met after the Commissioners meeting. They decided to reject a request for a variance that would allow a garage to be built on the right-of-way of a ditch. The Surveyor needs the right-of-way if the ditch is cleaned. This issue had been discussed at previous meetings. They approved a request for a culvert placement and approved a fiber-cable request to cross County drains in Remington. A homeowner wanted three 18-inch culverts removed from a neighbor's driveway because she said the runoff was threatening the foundation of her house. After some discussion, Mr DeYoung told her to arrange a meeting with the adjoining property owner or owners and  together with him, the Surveyor, and the Highway Department, a solution would be worked out. A woman had a question about her drainage bill and was told that the overcharge was due to the computer program used by the Auditor and Treasurer. She was told to take the matter to their offices.

Brick street pictures

Work continues on the Brick Street project. Last week the workers were installing a couple of manholes on Harrison Street.

The sidewalks along Harrison Street were removed about a week ago.

This is a view of Van Rensselaer Street taken on Tuesday.

Odds and ends

The first farmers market of the summer took place on May 4. Only one of the booths had garden produce, some asparagus. 

I wonder why there is no rhubarb for sale. Is it because there is no demand for it or is it because no one is growing it?

A tree fell across the Iroquois River along Weston Cemetery. 

Property tax bills are due May 10. 

The primary election held on Tuesday had a number of contested County races on the Republican side. Emily Waddle defeated John Potter 52.61% to 47.39%. Diana Boersma won easily in a three-way race in the County Auditor race with over 50% of the vote. The two Commissioner candidates who will be on the ballot in November are Ryan Hilton (District 1) and Craig Standish (District 2). The race in District 2 was extremely close, with Standish edging Jeff DeYoung by six votes, 1617 to 1611. The three Republican candidates for County Council in November will be Brian Moore, Jacob Misch, and Scott Walstra. Complete results are here.

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.

Miscellany to start February

Notes 

On Thursday we saw the sun for the first time in over a week.

Local author Shannon Anderson had a piece on Lakeshore PBS that is now on youtube. The Historical Society had an exhibit highlighting Rensselaer authors in 2020. There are several major authors who have a connection with Rensselaer such as Edison Marshall and Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson and a whole lot of very minor authors (such as me). I do not know where Shannon Anderson ranks in the list of best-selling Rensselaer authors, but she must be near the top of the list.

The Iroquois peaked less than a foot below flood stage. Below is a picture from the Talbert Bridge when the River was near its peak.

Here is a graph from the measuring gauge at Laird's Landing showing the height of the River for the past year.

 The rain in late January was enough to bring back Weston Pond.

Before Christmas I was posting pictures of decorated windows that were downtown and elsewhere. I missed one. I found it a few days ago, It is on a window of M W Insurance on South College.

The first public meeting about revising the Solar Ordinance was held in DeMotte and the Rensselaer Republican wrote about it in this week's edition. There will be a second public meeting to gather input on February 15 at the Jasper County Fairgrounds. If you want to have an impact, you might read the ordinance and suggest changes with reasons for the changes. I doubt if ranting will have any impact. 

I missed the past two Airport Authority Board meetings. The minutes of the December meeting are now on-line (scroll to the bottom for December). It was the last meeting for Sean Yallaly. He is resigning to spend more time with family; his term lasts until the end of this year. There is interest by someone in land that the Airport owns along SR 114. (This is land that was purchased to provide room for an east-west runway. The parts of the parcels along SR 114 are not needed for that purpose.) The Board approved moving the assistant manager position from part-time to full-time.

The former Gutwein-Risner building on Washington recently sold. There have been a lot of downtown buildings that have changed ownership recently: Walters Electric, Willow Switch, Steffen's, R&M, what is now Earth Body Magic Potions, and the former REMC building. Still for sale is the former Pub building on Van Rensselaer.

La Trinidad Bakery is opening Feb 4 in the same building as Aydas, but with a different entrance.

The County Clerk has released an updated list of candidates for the May primary election. (There are still a few days for candidates to file.) A few races of interest: Senator Mike Braun is not running for reelection but is running for governor, along with three others. Jeff DeYoung has three challengers for his Commissioner of District 2 position. There are five candidates for the County Council At Large position, including the three incumbents. 

Art Show

The second of the local school art shows is now on exhibit at the Fendig Gallery. This one is for grades three to five.

It is a short-running exhibit, from February 1 to 18.

A slow week

 Weather rollercoaster

This week the bitter cold ended and rain began. On Tuesday area schools were canceled because of concerns about the weather. The temperature rose above freezing but apparently many County roads were still icy and the forecast for the afternoon was heavy fog. I drove to Lafayette in the late morning and there was light rain the whole way. At the 205 entrance to I-65 and for several miles further south there were many large potholes. Coming home a few hours later I saw a crew filling them and they backed up traffic for at least a mile.

We have had light rain and fog for most of the week and most of the snow is gone. The Iroquois River has risen and may reach flood stage.

A government agency tracks the ice cover on the Great Lakes. At the beginning of January it was almost zero but then with the cold it rapidly rose to 16% on January 22 and has since dropped with the warmer weather. 

Water tank

On Thursday the water tank was being put together. Here are some pictures from a video that the City of Rensselaer has on its Facebook page.

A few years ago I might have gone out to see the work but as I get older I am less and less adventurous. 

Something from the distant past

Wolves were once common in Jasper County and the County paid a bounty on them. Here is an article from the Evening Republican of February 12, 1914 page 4.

On the same page was this little bit that made me smile.

Both of these were found using the Hoosier State Chronicles.

It has been an uneventful week and I expect next week to be the same.