The start of Little Cousin Jasper Festival

 Pictures from downtown

On the way to Wednesday's Redevelopment Commission meeting, I noticed that there were trees ready to be planted at Filson Park.

By Friday they were planted.

Also, the last of the sidewalk around and in the park was finished.

On Friday early afternoon the bricks on Harrison had almost reached the intersection.

Finally I noticed that there were tables and chairs inside what will be Brick Street Ice Cream. Maybe it will open soon.

Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission

The Rensselaer Redevelopment Commission met Wednesday evening. The Commission would like to buy the property with the vacant building on the corner of Clark and Cullen, tear down the building, and then sell the land so it can be developed. The building there once served as a laundry and apparently before that as a gas station, two uses that can leave polluted soil behind. The Commission considered doing a phase 2 environmental survey that would involve test wells, borings, and ground samples for $13,800. For an added $2,800 they could do ground penetrating radar in hopes of locating underground gas tanks. After discussion, they opted to do the survey without the radar study.

Next on the agenda was a short discussion of a proposed 7th Street Rensselaer TIF area. There will be a public hearing on this proposal on September 30. Finally there was a discussion of upgrades needed for the Rensselaer sewer system. In 2010 IDEM took Rensselaer to court over its combined sewer system that allows sewage to be dumped into the Iroquois River when there are heavy rains. Since then the City has done a number of projects to reduce the problem, but not enough to eliminate it. The waste-water treatment plant needs to be expanded and the estimated cost of that is at least $13 million. The median income in Rensselaer is now too high for the City to be eligible for grants, though it can get loans at zero percent interest. The next City Council meeting will discuss financing options.

Odds and ends

From Facebook I found a link to a page about the proposed Heritage Christian Academy. This is a school that plans to open in August 2025 in one wing of the SJC Core building.  The plan is to initially start with three grades and then add grades until the school has K-12. For more info, search the internet for Heritage Christian Academy Rensselaer.

We are two weeks away from the 7th annual Memories Alive in Weston Cemetery, aka The Weston Cemetery Walk. The walk is a program of the Jasper County Historical Society and it is meant to inform people about history in an entertaining and enjoyable way. Each year it has focused on eight people or families and had actors portray these eight. Some have made a difference locally, some on the State level, and a few have had national significance. Others have been part of some important or interesting historical even. Some just have interesting life or death stories. This year we will be in the eastern part of the Cemetery where some very early settlers are buried. This year two people who will be portrayed or discussed left Rensselaer and made a mark on the wider world. 

Anyone who has worked on an event like this knows how much work goes into the planning and execution. Also, most of these events are dependent on sponsors and the Cemetery Walk is no different. The ticket sales do not cover the costs of the event. The organizers are very thankful for our sponsors, four of whom are highlighted below. (The other four will be shown in a future post.)

My wild sunflowers have started to bloom. They tell me it almost time for the asters to bloom, and the asters are the last flowers of the autumn.

Little Cousin Jasper Festival starts

The LCJF started on Friday. The City parking lot next to the bowstring arch bridge is the food court. Food booths and food trucks are on the edges of the lot and tables are in the center.

A look at the festival from near the bridge.

There are a lot of booths. They line the sidewalks on both sides.

In the middle of Potawatomi Park are attractions for kids, including these bubbles in a pool.

Crossing the bridge one gets a good view of the Eagle mural.

On Friday evening the Hickory Huskers school bus was in the food court. It is a 1939 Chevy and was the bus used in the movie Hoosiers.

Below is the steering wheel and dashboard of the bus. I wonder how many people today could drive it. (Notice the stick shift.)

The food court was a lot busier in the evening than at noon.

The first act on the stage was getting ready to perform as I left.

Saturday will be a busy day with a parade at noon.

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.

A new superintendent

Some pictures

On Monday evening  I noticed new forms for concrete on the north side of Filson Park.

The stage structure is looking good.

The new lights along Van Rensselaer Street are in use.

This was Harrison Street over the weekend.

Can you see what is missing in this picture taken of SJC from near the bowling alley?

The fence is gone. Perhaps now that the bleachers have been removed, the insurance company no longer requires the fencing.

Several days ago the Rensselaer VFW announced on Facebook that it was closing its doors due to lack of participation. Then there was a followup post saying that maybe enough people were stepping up so they could continue. Read about this on their Facebook page.

Park Board meeting

The Rensselaer Park Board usually meets only once a month but had a second August meeting when it met Monday evening at 5:00 at the old light plant. The main item on the agenda was Mayor Phillips' reassignment of positions. He had decided to replace Joe Effinger with Heather Hall as Park Superintendent. He had previously appointed Mr Effinger to the position of Weston Cemetery Caretaker and Effinger will retain that position. However, the Mayor needed Park Board approval to the change the Park Superintendent. Only three Board members were present, a bare quorum. There were a number of questions about the transition, including how accounting and other paperwork issues would be handled. There was also discussion of what changes would be needed or desired to make the old light plant a suitable Park headquarters. The current bathroom may not be sufficient and the building should be made ADA compliant. The City is including an extra $100,000 in next year's budget to help make these changes as well as repair the sidewalk in front of the building. Mrs Hall said she would like to see the building used as a recreation center. Perhaps the remodeled building will encourage cooperative programming with the Library. There are many details that have to be worked out and there will be learning by doing. After a lot of discussion, all three members present voted to accept the change in the superintendent.

The meeting continued but about half of the people present, including the old and new park superintendents, left for the City Council meeting which started at 6:00. There had been plans for a tour of the light plant to see what changes were needed or planned, but that did not take place.

Here are some pictures I took of the inside of the building. The first is looking to the north. The area behind the wall will also be used by the park department.

Some of the stuff that was needed for the generators will probably be left to remind people of what the building used to be.

The main door has stairs on the outside and the inside. One walks up the stairs to the door, and walks down another set of stairs. What were the architects thinking when they designed this?

City Council meeting

The Rensselaer City Council met at 6:00 on Monday evening. Its first item of business was to move about $72,000 from this year's budget to next year's budget. It also approved a couple of transfers of funds. It approved spending $5,000 for consultants to review City policies and procedures to make sure they are current with State and Federal regulations. The Council approved the Electric Utility signing an interdepartmental agreement with the Park Department concerning use of the light plant and responsibility for utility bills. (The Park Board wanted more time to consider the agreement.) 

The City has been in discussion with CSX and Amtrak about paving the area around the depot and closing the Scott Street railroad crossing. Final details have not been worked out and the Council opted to delay a vote on the matter.

The Council approved paying invoice #5 of $145,566.90 from Grimmer Construction for work on the Brick Street project. It also gave the Gas Utility permission to prepay $13468 for gutters and downspouts for its building. New squad cars for the Police Department have been ordered. Five employees have recently received CDL licenses.

Parking-lot art

I am a little late this year with the painted parking lot spaces at the high school.

Speaking of the high school, the students have a new website, The Bomber Bunker.

Budgets

 Some pictures

On Wednesday I noticed construction had begun on the stage area in Filson Park.

On Thursday what was there on Wednesday was gone, replaced with this.

There is now a bench near the pool. I suspect others will soon be joining it.

Light poles were being erected along Van Rensselaer on Thursday. I believe they were finished by the end of the day.

The concrete curbs that will separate bricks from asphalt at the Harrison/Van Rensselaer interesection are finished. The brick laying on Harrison is slowly working its way up from SR 114.

INDOT posted some pictures on Facebook about work on the bridge south of Rensselaer so I went out to check out the progress. They hope to finish before the end of the month.

There is still work being done at the SJC football field but I cannot get close enough to see what they are doing.

Jasper County Council meeting

The Jasper County Council met Tuesday evening at 6:00. President Steve Jordan was delayed so Gary Fritts called the meeting to order. First on the agenda were transfers and additional appropriations, but one of the additional appropriations, from the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District, had been advertised for 7:00, so the meeting was flipped and the beginning of budget hearings started the meeting.

Budget hearings are long and often boring. The Council is looking at numbers in a thick book that is not available to the audience and asking questions about them. First up on Monday was the Coroner. He wants to find funding to hire a deputy coroner and found it by reducing some other numbers in his proposed budget. He noted that costs keep rising, including those for autopsies and body bags. He has had 59 calls so far this year, a level not reached last year until October. He has a new van that will be operational soon and that resulted in some shifts in budget numbers.

Next up was the auditor. She put in the 10% increase in salaries that all the departments are including. I suspect that number will be adjusted to make the final budget fit revenues.

Emergency management presented a budget with only small changes from the 2024 budget. One change will be expenses for a vehicle. The department is getting a vehicle from the Sheriff's Department. The State pays 50% of salaries in this very small department. 

The Sheriff has one of the biggest and most complicated budgets in the County government. He had a number of pay differentials he wanted to establish; that is, when two positions pay the same but one has greater responsibilities, increasing the pay of the person with the greater responsibilities. There was a discussion of the meal budget in the jail, which has had a large increase because of rising food costs and more inmates. Meals cost about $7.50 per prisoner per day. He has budgeted for three new vehicles, two trucks and one car. When the cars are retired by the Sheriff, they usually go to another County department. He noted that his salaries are below those in some of the area law enforcement agencies and that makes recruitment and retention a challenge. He noted that it is difficult to recruit, train, and retain dispatchers.

With the Sheriff's budget discussed, the meeting returned to transfers and additional appropriations, several of which were for the Sheriff. There was a transfer because repairs for a damaged squad car had been paid from the wrong account. There were additional appropriations for several insurance lines because insurance costs have increased. There were several additional appropriations that were Coroner related. One request was for a new budget line, "Indigenous Pauper Burial" that the Commissioners had requested as a result of the burial of a decomposing stranger, who was later identified. The Council decided that it would not be needed this year so voted to not appropriate the money.

Generally pauper burials are the responsibility of the township in which the death occurs. However, Newton Township has no township cemetery so deaths there (and Newton Township includes a long strip of i-65) become the responsibility of the County. There is a cemetery in the Township, Makeever Cemetery, but it is legally owned by the County. The Commissioners want to give it to Newton Township.

One additional appropriation was for consultants. This was to pay for services the County hires to monitor SolarPack, which then reimburses the County. The reimbursement goes into the general fund so the payments have to be re-appropriated.

There was a large additional appropriation for jail meals, explained above. What I found interesting is that the jail uses inmates to help prepare the meals. They get a bit of pay (which I believe they get when they are released) and they get out of their cells.

There was a very large additional appropriation for EMS. It is needed to finish the year. EMS budgeting continues to be a problem.

The last additional appropriation was for the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District and because it did not involve County money, the Council quickly approved it.

The Council had a discussion of the Local Income Tax on the agenda but decided to take that up on Wednesday morning at 8:30 when the budget hearings would continue. I have a high tolerance for long boring meetings, but not enough to want to go to that meeting.

A final note

I am on the planning committee for the Memories Alive Cemetery Walk in Weston Cemetery. We have found some interesting stories to tell and have recruited our cast. Here is the announcement of the event.

Most of the planning is finished but we need three or four able-bodied volunteers to help with set up and tear down. If you are interested, e-mail me at rensselaeradventures at yahoo.com and I will give you details of what is involved.