Three meetings

Monday evening featured three public meetings. First up was the Rensselaer City Council meeting. Stephen Eastridge began with a report on what the Jasper County Economic Development Organization (JCEDO) was doing. In 2018 he was busy building relationships regionally and in 2019 he hopes to focus on relationships within the County. He said that his efforts were aimed more at helping businesses within the County grow than on attracting new businesses. Councilman Odle agreed that that focus made a lot of sense. The City of Rensselaer supports financially JCEDO and the Council approved a semi-annual contribution of $5000.

The Council clarified its action at the last meeting regarding a request by Good Oil for support in attaching to the City's sewer system. The City is willing to take sewage from businesses on the west side of the I-65/SR 114 interchange and will help with the permitting for boring under I-65. The reason that Good Oil wants help in the permitting is that the state does not charge municipalities for obtaining permits.

Consideration of quotes for a new truck for the gas department was delayed to the next meeting so additional quotes can be obtained. Jacob Ahler, who is the City's appointment to the Rensselaer Central School Board, is resigning and there is a need to fill the several months remaining on his term. Anyone interested should contact the Mayor. The reason Ahler is resigning is that he is now the legal counsel for the Jasper County Council, which meets at the same time that the School Board meets (which is why this blog only rarely covers what is happening  at School Board meetings.).

It appears that most of the City and County will be shut down on Wednesday and Thursday. The City announced early on Monday that the trash and recycling pickup for Wednesday will be postponed until Thursday and it is likely that it will be further postponed until Friday. The Mayor will decide if City Hall shuts down on Wednesday and Thursday. The County Commissioners have already decided that Jasper County government will be shut down on Wednesday and Thursday. 

The Fire Department has responded to eleven calls from Friday through Monday evening. If you have any water lines that are in danger of freezing, leave a little water running for the next couple of days.

After the meeting I asked a City official about ACD, the company that I saw stringing fiber cable on City utility poles. They are apparently doing the work as a contractor for another, unnamed company and it may be part of a 5-G network. 

The Jasper County BZA and Plan Commission meetings on Monday evening were moved to the third floor of the Court House because of the large crowd. The BZA meeting was first and was short. The Board elected new officers: Scott Walstra as chair and Lance Strange as Vice Chair. Its only agenda item was a variance for a setback. A person wanted to remove an existing structure and replace it with a structure with a somewhat larger footprint. That new structure apparently encroaches on the set back, which is why the variance was needed. It was approved.

The Plan Commission had two new members, David Webb replacing Sandra Putt and Steve Jordan replacing Gerritt DeVries. The officers for 2019 are Kent Korniak as President, Brian Overstreet as Vice President, and James Martin as Secretary. 

The first item on the agenda was the item that brought the crowd, the revised wind farm ordinance that the Commissioners had passed at their January 6 meeting. The attorney for the Commission told members that they could not amend and had only three options. They could  approve what the Commissioners had sent, and if they did, the ordinance would take effect immediately. They could disapprove it, in which case the ordinance would return to the Commissioners, who would then have the option of approving it. If the Commissioners did nothing, the draft that the Plan Commission had approved in November would take effect. Or they could do nothing at all, in which case the draft from the Commissioners would take effect after 45 days.  (I have in past blog posts been mistaken in describing the options available to the Commissioners and the Plan Commission as an ordinance moves from one body to the next. However, the discussion on the Plan Commission revealed that I am not the only one who has had trouble understanding the process.)

There was some discussion. Several members thought that the Commissioners had made some good changes but did not like other things that they had changed, especially the setbacks. The idea that there should be further negotiations was voiced by more than one member. After further discussion, Vince Ubano moved to disapprove the ordinance. His motion passed 6 to 2. 

The second item was an ordinance for solar energy systems. It had been introduced at the previous Plan Commission meeting and tabled so changes could be considered. The new draft had changes for acreage, noise, conservation districts, and fees. The ordinance drew heavily from an similar ordinance from Shelby County. There were concerns that a solar park would limit neighboring property owners but it was clarified that the setbacks were not reciprocal. After some discussion, the item was sent back to committee for further changes and will be brought back for the February 25 meeting.

I do not have any pictures that capture the cold that we are experiencing, but here are two that show the work being done at the Weston Cemetery office building. The first was taken on the 22nd and the second on Monday, the 28th.

I see from Facebook that Remington's Water Tower Days, scheduled for June 8, has been canceled. The reason given was that there were not enough volunteers.

Hunker down and get ready for some of the coldest weather that Rensselaer has ever experienced. Wednesday's forecast high is below zero.

End of a cold week

On Friday most area schools were closed because of the extremely cold temperatures. The forecast for next week is for even colder temperatures, with brutally cold temperatures for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It will be interesting to how many school delays and closings there will be next week.

The rain on Wednesday helped clear the roads so that City streets were mostly clear on Thursday. However, we are now getting more snow over the next few days so the roads will again be icy next week. If you must get out, drive carefully.

In the December 12 City Council meeting the Council approved a pole attachment agreement that came from interest by unnamed companies that wanted to attach lines to the City's utility poles. Last week I noticed a company doing that. The company is Advanced Communication and Data or ACD. It is a Michigan company. I do not know the rest of the story but I suspect that there is an interesting story here.

The hotel at Fair Oaks Farms opened a couple days ago. I suspect they want a quiet opening to work out any bugs and get staff trained.

Work at Autumn Trace has enclosed the building so there will not be much change until they finish the roof and give the exterior walls their final layer. The company put some pictures shot from a drone on the Internet this past week so I will link to one of theirs rather than post one of mine.

Rensselaer's Habitat for Humanity is no more. It is now affiliated with the Fuller Center for Housing. Their website explains: "This organization no longer has any affiliation with Habitat for Humanity or their partners. Both Habitat and Fuller Center were founded by Millard Fuller and have many goals in common and the same final goal, but are separate organizations. Our affiliate was started in 1994 under Habitat, and changed to a Fuller Center covenant partner in December 2018." (Their Facebook page is here.)

The first meeting of the task force concerned with the consequences of the closing of NIPSCO's Wheatfield generating station met in DeMotte on Wednesday evening. The Rensselaer Republican has a report of what happened at the meeting that is published in their Saturday edition.

The diocesan paper of Lafayette had an article about an after-school violin class at St. Augustine's School. You can read it here.  The class got some start-up money from the Jasper-Newton Foundation.

Fowler is featured in a BP ad that has been airing on television. I have not seen it there but it is on line here.

The former Country Bumpkin/Thee Dragonfly is busy moving from Kellner to Washington Street next to the bakery.

That is all I have for this week.

Odds and ends on a snowy Saturday

The weekend snow has been less than some of the forecast predictions but still has shut down many activities. The Rensselaer Library closed early and did not have their scheduled Train Day. The Library does have the 2018 tax forms available. The forms are different this year reflecting the tax changes made in 2017. The old 1040EZ and 1040A gone and everyone files a simplified 1040.

Postage rates are rising on January 27. The cost of a letter will rise from 50¢ to 55¢. You have only a few days to stock up on Forever stamps.

Fair Oaks Farm will open its new hotel in a few days. I have not seen an announcement of when they will open but the Fairfield website would accept reservations for February 1. 

Talbert Manufacturing was awarded a $320 million contract over the next five years to build semitrailers for the U.S. Department of Defense.

On Friday morning workers at Autumn Trace seemed to be installing the last few trusses. They had already installed many of the windows.

Also on Friday the Jasper County Finance Committee met. I had never been to one of these meetings so I went to see what they did. The Committee consists of the Commissioners and the County Treasurer and it must meet annually to approve the County's investment policy. Usually that meeting is very short and is the only time it meets during the year.

The Committee began by approving the minutes for both the 2018 and 2017 meetings. The County has quite a bit of money sitting in various accounts and the Treasurer has been investing that money in bank CDs. I recall at either a Commissioners or Council meeting a few years ago where there was a  discussion of what kinds of investment the State allow counties to make, and the State is quite restrictive in what it allows. Interest rates have risen in the past two years as the economy has expanded and the Federal Reserve has tightened monetary policy. The most recent investment that the Treasurer made was at 2.85%. The total amount of interest income that the County receives is starting to approach a million dollars a year.

The Treasurer invests so that each month a CD matures. Breaking the total investment in parts that are frequently maturing reduces or eliminates early withdrawal penalties if funds are suddenly or not so suddenly needed, which can happen when there are big expenditures such as the recent energy upgrades at the Court House. At Friday's meeting a representative from the Surveyor's office requested that some of their maintenance fund be invested so that the interest would go to the GDIF account. (I do not know what the GDIF account is but it funds some of the minor repairs that are done to ditches.) Currently the Surveyor's funds are invested as part of total monies and the interest goes to the County General Fund. The Board approved the request as part of the investment policy for 2019.

We are going to have a few days of real winter next week. More than the cold, I dislike the short days of winter. However, the days are getting longer by about a minute and forty seconds each day, and that increase per day is getting larger. I found a neat website that allows one to track the length of day for any location for the entire year. Check it out here. It shows that in one month there will be an extra hour and ten minutes of daylight.

 

County Council 1-15-19

The first order of business for the Jasper County Council on Tuesday evening was election of officers. The Council stayed with Rein Bontreger as President and Andrew Andree as Vice President.

Stephen Eastridge from Jasper County Economic Development Organization addressed the Council about three items. He discussed the community task force that he has assembled to prepare for the scheduled closure of NIPSCO's Wheatfield plant. Eleven people have agreed to serve and he is close to getting a twelfth and final member. There will be six monthly meetings, with the first in DeMotte. The second will probably also be in DeMotte and he would like to schedule the third in Remington.

Next he suggested to Council Members that the County should have a tax abatement policy that encourages some kinds of investment over other kinds. He proposed a scorecard that gives points for things that the County desires. This would take some of the subjectivity out of the abatement process and would give companies more certainty when considering investment in the County. For example, right now employment is tight and existing companies are having a hard time filling positions. So attracting a company with a lot of jobs might not be as desirable as it might be at other times. Instead the County might prefer companies that have higher wages and make more investment. A scorecard could reflect these or other preferences.

Finally, he said at the next Commissioners meeting he will be presenting a proposal to make the County a broadband ready community. This taps into something that the State is promoting. Two neighboring counties, Benton and Newton, are working on it. A solid infrastructure supporting telecommunications and Internet access is important for attracting new development.

Next was a discussion of pay and job descriptions for deputy coroners. There are eleven and all are part-time, paid based on work done.

The Council expressed appreciation for the work done by three jail inmates in cleaning the attic and basement of the Court House. The recent energy upgrades to the Court House are almost finished. There was only one bid received for remodeling the former PNC building and there needs to be at least two. The work will be rebid. With that, the meeting was adjourned.

The Rensselaer Library has an unusual exhibit for the next few days, a replica of the coffin of Abraham Lincoln. It is sponsored by the DAR, Jackson Funeral Chapels, and the Library and will only be here until January 21. On Thursday evening at 6:00 pm the Library will host a program by Lincoln presenter Danny Russel.

The Fendig Gallery's first exhibit of the year is the annual Primary School Art Show.

Among the schools represented are Rensselaer Primary, St. Augustine, South Newton, Lake Village, Demotte Christian, and DeMotte Primary.

The pictures are from Kindergarten, first, and second graders. It must be hard for the teachers to select what items to display. As the exhibits continue through the rest of the grades, one can see just how much ability increases through the years.

City Council meeting 1-14-2019

The first 2019 meeting of the Rensselaer City Council started late because the Board of Public Works meeting, which meets half an hour before the Council meeting once a month, went long. I had looked at the agenda and did not see anything that looked interesting, so skipped it. What I did not realize was that the Change Order item was about the new well on Sparling Avenue. The pump that had been installed was not quite right for the well and the suspicion was that it would fail prematurely. It will be replaced at no cost to the City with a submersible pump. Until the work is completed satisfactorily a payment of about $250,000 will be withheld.

First on the agenda of the City Council were two items from the Utility Office. The first changed the disconnect policy. The details were not explained but it will give certain customers more time to pay before they are disconnected for non-payment. It passed. The second was a proposal to establish a three-tiered meter deposit, with no deposit for those with good credit, the current deposit for those with mediocre credit, and a higher rate for those with bad credit. The City has been working with a company that generates or provides the credit information. As part of the ordinance, after twelve months in which there are no problems with payments, the deposit would be applied to the utility bill. Councilman Watson did not like the higher rates for those with a sketchy credit history because he said that it makes life harder for people who are already having a hard time with finances but he did like the part that gave back the deposit by applying it to the customer's bill. After some discussion, a committee of Councilmen Watson and Odle was formed to examine the ordinance and make a recommendation to a future Council meeting.

The gas tracker for January will be a fifteen cent increase per hundred cubic feet. The gas department was given permission to seek quotes for a new service truck to replace a 2003 truck used for welding that is starting to have problems. The Council also approved the purchase of nine radios for about $27,000 for the Fire Department.

Next there was a discussion of an inquiry from Good Oil Company, owner of the gas station on the west side of the SR 114/I-65 interchange. They wanted to know if the City would be open to allowing the businesses to connect to the City sewer on the east side of the interchange. They do not want to spend money developing plans if the City will not allow a connection. The Council voted that they are open to the idea. The discussion suggested that any connection will need to be paid for and constructed by the businesses on the west. The City would be willing to help obtain needed permits. George Cover said that it is in the interest of the City to help the businesses there because they provide jobs for City residents. The Council also approved granting the Mayor authority to hire an engineering firm to review any plans that Good Oil develops.

The Mayor and Council made appointments to various boards and commissions. Most were re-appointments. One opening that remains is a seat on the Rensselaer Board of Zoning Appeals where a current member has moved outside of City limits and thus is no longer eligible to serve on the Board. There will also be an opening in June for the Rensselaer Central School Board.

INDOT, which owns a square block of land in northeast Rensselaer where it once had its operations, has offered the land to the City for $1.00. However, they are not willing to accept any future liability for environmental contamination problems from any chemicals that might be on the site. The Council decided to decline the offer because of the potential liability and the lack of any real need for the property.

(I noted back in October another lot for sale that had environmental issues. It sold and the title was transferred in November. Like the INDOT property, it cannot be used for residential purposes and it has other restrictions on use due to its past use.)

The Mayor noted that the Governor has no Amtrak subsidy in his budget proposal and without the subsidy the Hoosier State will not run on the four days of a week that it currently runs. There was a brief discussion of a past proposal by a company to provide recording services for Council meetings. The Council thought the price ($17,000 for the basic service) was too high but agreed a committee (Barton & Cover) should consider options.

A recent hire by the Police Department will graduate from the police academy this week and join the force on Sunday. There is another opening at the Department that will have the hiring process starting soon.

The meeting adjourned a bit after 7:00.

Rensselaer woke up on Monday morning to heavy fog and very cold temperatures. The fog froze on tree branches. Because there was virtually no wind, it created a thick layer of ice crystals, mostly on only one side of the branch or twig.

Even small stems of flowers were thickly coated.

 It was not just the vegetation that was iced, but also fences and signs.

 Below is a close-up of the ice crystals on a sign that shows the feathery texture of the frost.

A few hours after sunrise it was all gone.

Checking the Internet, I learned that there is a difference between rime frost and hoar frost, but I cannot tell which this frost was.