Some highlights from 2024

 The City of Rensselaer completed two big projects this past year, the Brick Street Project and the new water tower near I-65. There were more pictures on this blog of construction of the Brick Street Project than of any other subject. Related, the Fire Department constructed a training tower and Filson Park was largely finished.

Some other ribbon cuttings this past year included Plevna, Building Trades as SJC, the HYPER Center at Brookside Park, the Water Tower mural, the new EMS building, Ayda's new outdoor dining room, the new location for the Clinic of Family Medicine, the new location for Franciscan Working Well, the new location of the Good Samaritan Food Pantry, La Trinidad Bakery, and a revived greenhouse at SJC.

Some other business openings included Brick Street Ice Cream and the Wine Room. A Mexican Grocery opened on Washington Street and closed several months later. Gutwein Seeds moved. Janet's Kitchen closed after the death of an owner and also closing was A& B Auto Care. A couple of businesses that last year's highlights post mentioned as opening, First Hometown Mortgages and Not Your Typical Wingz, are gone. Also closing was the Jasper County Recovery House.

The primary and general elections gave us some new County officials, including a new judge, new auditor, two new commissioners, and a new councilman. The Carpenter Wind Farm got its final regulatory approval and should be starting construction early in 2025.

The High School has a new concession stand for the baseball field. SJC opened classes for CDL training and began hosting a branch of the Indiana Ag and Technical School. Mural week focused on Remington, but Cameron Moberg painted one in downtown Rensselaer. Rein Bontreger did one visible from the bowstring arch bridge and another on the pool house at Brookside Park.

(This summary was compiled with a quick scan through past posts. Undoubtedly I have omitted some things that should be included. You can add in the comments anything you think should be included.)

The picture below was taken on December 5 after several very cold days. We will see a lot more river ice in January.

Approaching the solstice

Pictures

I finally got around to taking pictures of the trees in Potawotomi Park. I am not sure who put up some of the trees.

I think this one is K&W Trucking, Amazon Freight Partner.

Franciscan Health

The one of the right is Fendig Theater and the one on the left is probably ConAgra because it has a picture of Orville Redenbacher on the tree. The one in the middle is Edward Jones.

Chief Industries.

Part of White Castle on the left and the Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce on the right.

White Castle Bakery.

Several trees that I did not identify leading up to the White Castle display.

On the left Donaldson and Little Cousin Jasper on the right.

Renew Salon and DAR.

The very blue one is IBEC and the one next to Santa's house is Brushwood Church. The middle one is the Post Office. The closest is either by the Police Department or in honor of the Police Department.

A better look at the IBEC and Brushwood Church trees.

Two Park trees. The one close was planted here a few years ago.

Painted windows at Rensselaer Pet Care.

The decoration on the windows of the Library are more modest than they were last year. The artist was running out of time and daylight when she did it.

Main Street Rensselaer has a light show playing on the Court House.

I have seen a very limited part of Rensselaer after dark, but the parts I have seen impress me with the number of houses with outside decorations. Many are quite elaborate.

Jasper County BZA meeting

The Jasper County Board of Zoning Appeals met Monday evening with three requests for variances on their agenda. First, however, they decided new dates for their January and February meetings. The third Monday of those months are Federal holidays, so they decided to move those meetings to the fourth Mondays. The Board had a new member, Scott Walker who replaced Scott Walstra, who had resigned because he had been elected to the County Council.

The three requests for variances were all from dairy farms and all were for setbacks. The required setbacks are 300 feet from the property line. The first request was from DeJong Family Farms in Gillam Township. They want to erect solar panels to partially power their dairy farm. The Federal government has a program that subsidizes these solar installations. They had selected a parcel of land that was unused for any productive purpose, but that land extended to 75 feet from the edge of Division Road. Not part of the variance, but the Farm wants to add another digester to produce more methane that is then injected into the natural gas pipeline. All the adjacent land is farmland, some owned by the DeJong Farms. Members of the Board wondered if the panels could be located on a different part of the property so they would not need a variance. The lawyer representing the Farms said that the BZA had always stressed preserving crop land and that is what this location did. Other locations would reduce cropland. The Board voted on the three findings of facts and nay votes exceeded yes votes on two of them so the variance was denied.

The second request for a variance was from Windy Ridge Dairy in Union Township. This dairy is on the east side of I-65 north of SR 14. It is the first dairy that was permitted in Jasper County and it also wants to install solar panels because of the Federal subsidy. The solar panels planned would be about 100 feet from CR 1100 W. Again, they had tried to find space that would avoid crop loss. Some of the panels they planned were on a bit of land that was not near the road. The dairy needs to renovate and expand, but none of that will need a variance. The panels are designed to provide 80% of the power the dairy needs when the sun is shining and 35% to 40% overall. The Board again asked if other siting was possible, including perhaps on roofs, but was told that there were problems with roof siting. The attorney representing the dairy was a bit frustrated that the Board was more interested in preserving setbacks than crop land. Eventually the Board decided that they could approve an increased setback that was 45 feet more than the 100 feet that the dairy had requested.

The final variance request was from the Oak Basin Dairy in Barkley Township and this one had no solar but was for an additional free-stall barn that would be less than 300 feet from the farm field to its west. The owner of that property had no objection to the siting. The new barn would add about 1400 additional cows but, when it was built, the infrastructure of the dairy had been planned to handle these cows. This variance passed with little discussion.

County Council meeting

I attended the County Council meeting on Tuesday evening via Zoom because the agenda did not look very interesting. The agenda had six additional appropriations, all of which were approved. There were also several transfers of funds that were approved. A salary ordinance was approved with the comment that the salaries listed are maximums and a department can pay less. The ordinance does not include salaries for the public defender's office.

The Council approved the salary contracts for the Sheriff for both 2024 and 2025. They had previously been approved by the Commissioners. It also approved the contract for its attorney, Jacob Ahler.

Under old business, the Council considered a resolution that says the Council will modify its tax-abatement scorecard to give negative points for commercial solar farms and battery storage facilities. In the discussion one councilman pointed out that the statement that the majority of citizens opposed solar farms had no factual backing. There was a discussion of tax rates and assessed valuation. One member wanted the matter tabled because it had not been available before the meeting and he said he needed time to evaluate it. The motion to table was rejected 2-4. The motion to pass the resolution with one section omitted and another added passed 4-2.

The Sheriff's office wanted to make some promotions so there would be a supervisor on each shift. The Council agreed and will work on implementing it in the next salary ordinance.  The EMS director has resigned and has been replaced by one of the EMTs. The January and February meetings will be in the Court House due to remodeling at the Sparling Annex.

Odds and ends

New County officials were sworn in on Monday evening at the same time as the BZA meeting started.

The rescheduled Tourism Commission meeting was canceled. The next meeting will be in January and it will meet at the meeting room in the Carnegie Center.

The old carriage building that was last used to store stuff for the Fendig Theater is getting a new roof.

Comments on this blog are moderated, which means they do not appear until I review them. The reason for this is that almost half the comments that are submitted are spam. A lot of them seem to be designed for search engine optimization. The more links going to a site, the higher it appears in search-engine results. So I get things from Indonesia and India offering products and services that can not be of interest to the blog readers. 

Another note: Much fuller accounts of the meetings reported on the blog are available in official minutes that can be found on County or City websites. However, they do not get posted until they are approved, which is usually two weeks or a month after the meeting. 

The winter solstice will be on December 21 this year. On that date we will have nine hours and 17 minutes of daylight. By Christmas we will have added 38 seconds more. You can track the changes in daylight at https://sunrise-sunset.org/us/rensselaer-in.

Ribboncuttings, long meetings, and more

Ribbon cuttings

Franciscan WorkingWell had a ribbon cutting Tuesday afternoon to celebrate its move into a larger building, the former Clinic of Family Medicine. Two groups posed by the ribbon. In the first group were those who helped make the move.

The second group included local people and staff of the new clinic. They got to watch the ribbon being cut.

After the ribbon cutting there was a short program and then a blessing of the building. Giving a prayer was Father Buckles who is Director of Spiritual Care at Franciscan Health at Lafayette.

There were snacks for those attending.

People could take a tour of the building. Below is the reception area. Those that work here were very happy for the move because they were extremely cramped in the old building.

The facility does a lot of testing and simple medical care. If someone has a problem that needs attention but is not serious enough for the emergency room, they are an option. They also have contracts with local businesses for services.

On Tuesday morning Ayda's had a ribbon cutting for their new patio dining area. I knew that the lighting would make it difficult to get a good picture of the event.

It is a very attractive space and can seat at least 80. 

Ayda's is not going to continue to use their party room in front of this space but will try to find another use for it.

Commissioners continued meeting

The County Commissioners met in a continued meeting on Monday morning, and although the agenda was very short, the meeting still lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

The first item on the agenda was approval of a wind-farm overlay, which identifies property where placement of wind turbines and the work needed to erect them can take place. The Plan Commission had voted an unfavorable recommendation for this item in its February meeting due to concerns about a variety of issues. and the Commissioners had not acted on the recommendation in their March meeting, but had decided to work through the concerns of the Plan Commission. The Commissioners believed that those issues had been addressed so the item was back on the agenda. In particular, the Commissioners had found a construction compliance monitor that would report to the County but the cost of which would be borne by the contractor. The Commissioners had received about twenty letters supporting the district from people or groups, including the Town of Remington and the Tri-County Schools.

Because the meeting had attracted a substantial number of citizens, Mr. Bontreger let people voice their concerns before the Commissioners voted on the overlay district. He also said that in June the Commissioners would have a pilot program to allow citizens to submit comments and concerns via the Internet so that those who could not attend the meetings could have their voices heard.

One person gave the Commissioners the result of a survey he had conducted. The Commissioners asked how he found people to respond and he said many came from Facebook and others from door-to-door canvassing. There were questions about the CO2 pipeline. At the first meeting of the month someone suggested the County could do more to resist the proposed pipeline. The County is working on an ordinance but it is not clear yet what it can control. A county in Iowa passed a restrictive ordinance but it has been challenged in court and the case is on appeal. The County does not want to pass something that will result in high legal bills and be rejected by Courts. One person suggested that the County establish districts for solar and wind and was told that the wind ordinance does that for wind: they are only allowed in Carpenter Township and a mile strip of Jordan Township. After hearing the comments, the Commissioners approved the wind-farm overlay district.

Next on the agenda was an agreement between the County and the City of Rensselaer to extend water and sewer to the west side of I-65. This project should encourage development west of the Interstate and tax revenues from improvements would go to the County. The County has agreed to help fund this project with surplus ARPA money (the federal stimulus money). However, extending the sewer to Sherwood Forest and Kelley Green would require a sewage plant and this might be funded with a TIF district, something for the future. The Commissioners approved the agreement.

In other business the Commissioners approved purchase of a refrigerator, approved finishing the floors of the first floor of the Courthouse to match those on the second floor, and noted that there was a need for a notary public in the Courthouse for County business. Recently requirements for notaries have increased so there are fewer people becoming notaries. They also approved a gas card for the Coroner's van.

 Then it was time for more public comments. One person gave an update on the Connection Center in DeMotte and the Commissioners recommended to the Council to appropriate $50,000 to help get the recreational part up and running. Somewhere in the comments someone at the table gave a list of payments that the various energy projects will provide the County and I think the total was $18.5 million. Much of that would come from the proposed Carpenter Township wind farm and includes rebuilding the roads used during construction.

One thing I noticed is that some of the people commenting want to solve national problems at the local level. For example, if a person thinks that federal energy policy with its subsidies for solar and wind and increasing regulations on fossil fuel is a bad energy policy, does it follow that one should oppose the County taking advantage of those subsidies as a way of opposing the federal policies? Or are local and federal two separable issues? Even if the federal policy is bad, should the local level take advantage of the dollars the policy makes available to local levels?

After the meeting adjourned, there was a short (five minute) meeting of the Regional Water and Sewer District, which is composed of the three Commissioners. This group has authority over providing water and sewer to all the unincorporated parts of Jasper County. They approved the County-City agreement to extend water and sewer west of I-65 and also transferred the authority to provide sewer and water to that area to Rensselaer.

Jasper County BZA and Plan Commission meetings

The Jasper County BZA and Plan Commission met Monday evening. There was one item on the agenda of the BZA and that item contained two parts, a request from Rose Acre Farms for a special exception for a confined feeding operation and requests for variances for setback from neighbors.  In March Rose Acre had  appeared before the Plan Commission requesting their land be rezoned from A1 to A3 and that request had been granted. However, the code requires a special exception be granted for any confined feeding operation. Rose Acre is converting to cage-free flocks and needs to rebuild its buildings on the corner of SR 16 and US 231 to do that. It is replacing three buildings with two that are larger. The new buildings will hold a bit over 200,000 birds each while the previous barns held a total of somewhat over 500,000. The special exception was granted.

The code says that the buildings should be 1320 feet away from residential dwellings. There are three residences near the proposed buildings that are slightly less than that, with the closest at 1200 feet. There were no complaints from neighbors and the variance was granted. Rose Acres also wanted a variance from the requirement that a shelter belt of trees be planted around the buildings. Trees attract birds and those birds may carry disease that can destroy the flock of birds in a barn. This has happened to Rose Acres in one of their Iowa facilities. The Board also gave them a variance on the shelter-belt issue.

The Plan Commission met after the BZA adjourned. Their first item was a rezone from R1 to A1. The property is an 8.66 acre lot in Keener Township adjacent to Newton County. The property is currently used as a horse facility but two people who would like to buy it want it zoned properly so they can continue using it for agricultural purposes with the proper zoning. They want to operate animal educational programs involving farm animals and reptiles. Their request was sent on to the Commissioners with a favorable recommendation.

The second items were revisions to the solar ordinance, which were summarized in a previous post. The ordinance was read and then both members of the Commission and the public picked at it with a variety of questions and suggestions for changes. The most hostile comments were directed at the battery storage provisions and concerned safety in case of a fire. Eventually the Commission sent it to the Commissioners with no recommendation in hopes that the Commissioners will make changes and send back an improved revision to the Plan Commission. (The Plan Commission cannot amend what is presented to them as written amendments to ordinances, though they can amend proposed changes to the ordinance maps.) The revisions impose more cost on developers and it will be interesting to see if the additional costs will cause developers to abandon Jasper County for solar farms. Also, someone commented that the County would like any battery storage systems to be confined to the NIPSCO property east of Wheatfield.

The last item on the agenda was an amendment to the UDO that adds requirements for special-purpose (or test) wells. At present there is nothing in the UDO about test wells, wells drilled to examine the underlying geology and rock strata, so if a company obtains a permit from the State to drill, they do not even have to tell the County that they are drilling a well. The proposed amendment establishes a requirement to tell the County about any such well as well as provide setbacks and fencing requirements. There was general consensus that the proposed amendment needed changes but that something needed to be put in place immediately, so the Commission sent it to the Commissioners with a favorable recommendation and the hope that there would be further development of the ordinance. 

The next meeting will be on June 24 if there is an agenda. The meeting adjourned at about 10:00, three hours after the BZA meeting started and shortly after the thunderstorms moved in.

Jasper County Coucil meeting

The County Council met Tuesday evening for its May meeting with a list of additional appropriations on its agenda. It approved money for an administrative assistant/evidence based practice coordinator for Community Corrections and funds for Valley Oaks Health. Valley Oaks had not requested a payment last year that it should have so it was paid this year and the funds needed to be appropriated. Some funds that were supposed to be in the budget for the 100th year anniversary for the Fair were not, so they were appropriated. The Sheriff's Department is upgrading computer equipment and an appropriation was made for that. 

After a confusing discussion of moving money from the EMS director to an administrative assistant, the transfer was approved. Then the Council was very happy to make a budget reduction of over $4 million in the Highway budget.

The Council changed its meeting time for future meetings from 7:00 Central to 6:00 Central. They reappointed a member of the Library Board. The State is releasing a large block of money that it had collected for and not previously returned to local governments and the County share is $2.4 million. The Coroner gave the Council plans for a new annex he would like to be built. In some of the discussion among members there was mention that NIPSCO plans to build a gas-fueled peaking plant when it shuts down its coal-fired generators.

Odd and ends

Saint Joseph's College announced the appointment of a new CEO.

Fountain Stone Theaters announced their free summer movie schedule.

Work has started on a water main to the planned fire tower at the Fire Station.

In the field to the west the corn is emerging.

There will soon be a new business on Washington Street. I heard from a good source that it will be a Mexican grocery.

The building that will house the Clinic of Family Medicine is getting new windows.

Weston Pond has dried up leaving behind hundreds of little dead minnows.

On Tuesday morning workers were starting to erect the fountain in Filson Park. The finished fountain will be taller than this. The workers were having problems getting everything level.

Work continues on Harrison Street.

Van Rensselaer was quiet on Tuesday monring.

The goslings at Weston Cemetery are growing up. There are two families there. The other has only two chicks and they are smaller than these.

Strong winds late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning resulted in branches down throughout town. We have had some hot days recently.

AppleTree announced that they received over $8000 in donations from Alliance Bank and White Castle Bakery.

Lent starts on Valentines Day

 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.)

The rest of the sewage plant is to the north.)

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.

From a different vantage point:

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.

Four meetings in one day

Notes

The new Mexican Bakery, La Trinidad, opened on Sunday. I stopped by on Monday and took some pictures.

The bakery is renting space from Ayda's Restaurant and is located behind the restaurant on Harrison Street. Its hours are 8 to 8, but once it finds when customers come and when they do not, it will probably adjust the hours. I asked why it opened and was told that this is the only Mexican bakery between Lafayette and Merrillville. 

I do not do food reviews because I do not have a palette (and for health reasons I avoid bakery products-–too much sugar.) Try their offerings yourself and see what you think.

In other downtown news, Gutwein Seeds is relocating into what was the Gutwein-Risner Insurance Building on Washington Street. I am told that their former space in the building with the purple coneflowers will be occupied by Sharon Johnson, a nurse practitioner located in what was the Clinic of Family Medicine across the highway from the hospital.

Commissioners meeting

The Commissioners met Monday with a long agenda and a long meeting. Jeff DeYoung abstained from approving claims because he had a claim for $250 for delivering a load of salt. He said he will take the check, add $750 to it, and donate it to the Park Board. There was one buried cable permit approved, a simple bore under a County road in Union Township to serve a residence. Primary election voting centers were approved. They were the same as in the previous election with one big change. In Rensselaer the Armory replaces the Fire Station.

The Commissioners reappointed Scott Malone to the Airport Authority Board and Holly Eldridge to the Animal Control Board. At a previous meeting there was a question of whether Jacob Misch could serve on the  PTABOA Board after he had been appointed to the County Council, but it was determined that there was no conflict. The Commissions approved the purchase of a used van for the County Coroner.

The Commissioners approved $30,000 for remodeling the kitchen at Community Corrections. The Council will have to re-appropriate the funds because the project was not finished in 2023. The Commissioners approved the annual GUTS Software and Maintenance Agreement. (GUTS = Government Utilities Technology Service, a company based in Lebanon, IN.)

The Rensselaer Urban Forestry Council asked for and received permission to plant a ginkgo tree in the CourtHouse square. It will honor the late James Beaver. Animal Shelter had a request for a strobe-light bar for their vehicles. It was tabled while the Highway Department sees if they have something appropriate in their inventory. The Commissioners approved a software purchase that previously had been funded by the Council. The Commissioners approved spending and estimated $2670 for the Health Department to purchase 90 doses of flu shots for County employees. The full-time food inspector is resigning and the Commissioners approved filling the position. The Health Department needs a new postage machine. There was a brief discussion about other departments that may soon need to renew their machines, but the Health Departments problem was deemed the worse so only its machine replacement was approved at this meeting. The Health Department would like its space to be renovated because its needs have changed since it moved in. There was a discussion of various options and also of the need for new HVAC equipment. The Commissioners approved moving forward with one of the architectural firms that is interested.

The Sheriff received approval to replace three positions, a dispatcher who recently died, a road deputy who is resigning, and a jail correctional officer. He said another road deputy resignation is pending and said these resignations are related to the incentives to retire after 20 years created by the pension system. The Department did not receive a COPS grant it had applied for. The grant had many applications and Jasper County did not have enough crime and was too affluent compared to other applicants. However, he wants to apply again and the Commissioners approved. The grant would fund the addition of one or two new officers for about three years. The jail leaks. The problem is the flat section of roof and he said that flat roofs are prone to leaking. Trane will design a new roof for that section and will also design how to move the HVAC from the roof. Finally, he would like the 911 funds invested. The 911 Board needs to approve this.

The Commissioners approved an agreement with Moolenaar Supreme Professional Lawn Care Services to cut grass at the jail, Courthouse, Health Department, and Surveyor's Office. They approved April 6, 2024 for the next County auction. Sharron Collee from Community Services updated them on various projects and asked for approval to have the Fase Center parking lot striped. It was granted.

The local head of the Jasper County Recovery House gave a short presentation about what the Recovery House does. It has been in operation for eight years and is a first step in a road to recovery for addicts. They spend a first month locally before going to Elkhart to finish the program. The local branch accepts men from all locations but gives preference to locals. The Recovery House would like County support from opioid settlement. The Commissioners were unsure of how much money was in that fund so put the matter on the February agenda. A bit later they heard a similar presentation from the House of Grace, which provides similar services for women, who were invited to the meeting. They currently have a location on the SJC campus and can handle up to four women but usually have only one or two. They have a long list of things they would be able to spend funds on, including moving to a house. They are looking for volunteers. Again, no action was taken at this meeting.

The Commissioners approved a motion to do preliminary work for extending Rensselaer water and sewer west of I-65. March 4 is the date for groundbreaking for the Brick Streets project in downtown Rensselaer. (See update at the end.) The EMS director has resigned as director but will remain as a paramedic. There is an interim director and the leadership positions will be restructured. The Coroner gave a short report and said that a body from Weston Cemetery will be exhumed so that an identification may be found. (See below in notes.) In public comments a woman who has been to previous meetings repeated her concerns about the influence of the World Economic Forum. The Commissioners signed documents needed for work on a bridge over Carpenter Creek that is largely funded by federal dollars. The meeting was adjourned after two and a half hours.

Drainage Board

The Drainage Board meeting that followed the Commissioners meeting was much shorter, lasting only a bit more than half an hour. Two NIPSCO representatives who sat behind me for the entire Commissioners meeting presented a request to bore under a ditch to serve a subdivision near DeMotte. It was granted. The Board then gave approval for work on the bridge discussed in the Commissioners meeting to work in the County drainage right-of-way. Next it quickly approved a drainage plan from Rensselaer Central Schools, which is building a new concession stand. The drainage will tie into a tile owned by the school corporation and drain into the School House Ditch.There was a discussion about a ditch that has a section with a 48-inch pipe that is failing. The easiest solution seems to be to abandon the pipe and create a ditch on the other side of the road and the landowner is willing to donate the land. There is no maintenance fund for this ditch so the issue is how to finance it. No action was taken at this meeting and the matter will be on next month's agenda.The Board approved the Surveyor's Spray Maintenance Report. The Surveyor'''s office will treat 80 miles of ditch in-house and these are smaller ditches. They only spray one side of the ditch and have to abide by restrictions from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Larger ditches are done by contractors. The meeting adjourned after about half an hour.

Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met late on Monday afternoon. It began with Mayor Phillips swearing in members. There was one new member, Matt MacAleer (sp?). The Commission then elected officers: Kevin Smith president, Estel George Vice president, and Jeff Webb Secretary. The Commission voted to release $25,000 to the Rensselaer Park Board for various educational programs and camps that the Parks provide. It then accepted a tax increment report from Baker Tilly for 2023. The main item on the agenda was a presentation from Adam Alson for a Appleseed Childcare Educational funding request. For 2023 the Commission had granted Appleseed $130,000. The rationale for giving this money is that child care makes Rensselaer a more attractive place to live and thus encourages workers to locate here, providing local companies with a better workforce. Appleseed has served over 80 families since it opened and currently has about 60 children, aged 6 month to five years, enrolled. Mayor Phillips, who was at the meeting, said he would like to get the funding established through the City budget. The Commission was unsure of how much money they could budget for education (in addition to the Rensselaer Parks that have sought this money, the Rensselaer School Corporation has also asked for funds), so the Commission tabled the request.

The Commission decided that it would hold meetings on the first Monday of the month, as needed.

Rensselaer Park Board

The Rensselaer Park Board also met Monday evening. They heard from a citizen who wanted a special-needs baseball team. Currently DeMotte has such a team and several Rensselaer parents have used this team for their children. Special-needs children cannot compete with normal kids but want to be like other kids and play ball. The team would be open to children from four to 18. The parents behind this request think that they can draw enough kids from the local special-ed classes to fill a roster. They limit games to one hour, which often means one inning. Blacker Fields is the appropriate location because it has the best bathrooms for handicapped accessibility. The only problem foreseen was the problems of scheduling games in an already busy schedule for the fields. The request was approved.The Board also approved an Eagle Scout request to repair the boat launch in Bicentennial Park. The boat launch there was another Eagle Scout project and it had some issues because Bicentennial Parks located above an old garbage dump.

If all goes well, the Blacker Fields will host 13 tournaments this summer. The first girls softball tournament will be on April 20-21.

The Park employees are working on remodeling the restrooms south of Roth Field.

There was a discussion of disc golf and the possibility of finishing the course with concrete tee pads. Someone noted that the course attracted out-of-towners to Rensselaer and someone mentioned that Mount Ayr has a disc golf course and may be the smallest community in the U.S with its own course.

The meeting finished with a discussion of the problem of getting grass to grow in certain places on athletic fields. The biggest example is where the former Monnett School stood. The next meeting will be on the first Monday in March.

From the Cemetery

After hearing about the plans to exhume a body in Weston Cemetery, I checked with the caretaker of the Cemetery. He said that the idea had been around for about nine months but rules have to be followed. The State must approve digging up bodies. He said that the person of interest was buried in the southeast part of the Cemetery where there are many unmarked graves and quite a few that are only identified as "occupied" on the Cemetery's map. He said the person was killed in a train accident.

Below is a picture of the map showing some of the "occupied" graves. This part of the Cemetery has many County burials. Included are burials from those who died at the County Farm, which was located where the new EMS building and Animal Control are now located. One of "unknown from Newton County" buried in one of these lots may be this one.

This second picture shows the grave of the what may be the person of interest. Click the link and read his story. (Should I have put a trigger warning on these? They are kind of gruesome.)

By the way, this mention was tied to an earlier identication of an unknown burial, the John Doe in Old Settlers' Cemetery. It was solved a couple of years ago and here is the story.

Update: The City has now announced that the groundbreaking for the Brick Streets Project will be February 20 at 9:00 in front of City Hall.