Going to the dogs

The Tuesday night Farmers Markets are underway, and yesterday it was pet parade night. A lot of dogs and one chicken and one pig participated. There was an entry fee for the pets with proceeds going to the establishment of a dog park. (More on the dog park below.)

Next week the retired iron folks will drive their tractors in from the fairgrounds and circle around the court house square.

After the commissioners meeting on Monday, I attended two other meetings. The Drainage Board met at 1:00 for a routine meeting. IBEC (the ethanol people at Pleasant Ridge) want to put in a second storage tank and replace and expand their containment area. Their plan was approved with no discussion.

NIPSCO is replacing all the poles for its transmission line between Goodland and Monticello. They were told to go before the drainage board even though they did not need any approval. The Drainage Board wanted them to be aware of any tiles along the route.

There was an item on the agenda about a culvert replacement in DeMotte, but apparently that has been settled locally.

A second NIPSCO item, the fly-ash landfill, was approved, though the commissioners still want to know what they can do with fly-ash coming in from other counties.

A citizen wanted to convert an open swell to a buried drain because the neighbor had done the same. Another citizen wanted to let the proper people know that the drainage ditch by her house was not draining. The surveyor said he would look into it.

Then there was some discussion about a public hearing for a couple of ditch projects. The hearing will be before the Drainage Board meeting on September 2.

In the evening the Rensselaer Park Board met. They talked to a person who wants do a trial PiYo lesson this Saturday to see if there is interest for further instruction. If you are interested, it should be from 9:00 am till 11:00 am somewhere in Brookside Park. Another person was interested in getting a program of tennis for kids started. That may begin on August 2.

Then there was discussion of a dog park, with a proposal that most of Iroquois Park be fenced in for dogs. One area would be for dogs without a leash and another would be for dogs on a leash (at least that is how I heard it). One reason for the dog park is that now people are using the ball fields for dog exercise, and that creates some conflict when they do not clean up after their dogs properly. What do you think--should Iroquois Park go to the dogs?

The diving board at the LaRue Pool had to be removed because it had cracks and it probably will not be replaced this year because of the early start of school (and thus the early closure of the pool) and the time needed for a new board to be manufactured and shipped.

Finally, at the August meeting (Aug 4) some plans for future development may be presented and discussed.

(I do not know if the Park Department still sponsors the Rensselaer Summer Swim Team--I know that they did when my kids were involved. The team finished its season over a week ago, winning all its regular meets as well as the conference meet. I have not seen the results in the Rensselaer Republican yet. Some of the ball leagues are either finished are finishing. This weekend the Children's Summer Theater will perform Willy Wonka. There are lots of activities for kids early in the summer, but then they all finish up mid summer. Is that to allow family vacations?)

July's commissioners meeting

The library is getting a new roof.

Or at least repairs.

I noticed the men working on the roof on my way to the monthly commissioner's meeting. It was a long meeting, lasting over three hours, but there was a lot on the agenda.

At each meeting the commissioners approve buried cable requests. On Monday they had two buried pipeline requests. The first was from the City of Renssealer, which wants to extend gas service in three places outside the city limits, on Eger Road, Wood Road, and Amsler Road. One of the dairy farms north (and east?) of town wants to put in three manure pipelines that will take the manure from the dairy to fields where it can be spread. Both requests were approved.

There was a discussion of insurance that was impossible to follow without the document that the commissioners had, and then they went on to fees for building inspection. This item has bounced around for months, and the idea is that the fee for larger buildings should be more than the fee for smaller buildings. It passed, with the exception of the fee for electrical upgrades, which did not pass because there was no one qualified to do those inspections.

The Sheriff reported on repairs, which is almost a monthly item. The commissioners heard again about he problems with the VAV boxes (which are some kind of supplemental heating unit that has never worked right, in part because they were not installed properly). The commissioners approved spending to fix the ones that have been identified as non-functional. The Sheriff also talked about dealing with FEMA in the county's effort to get reimbursed for expenses of the winter storms. He said the barriers to getting all the paper work done almost seem as if FEMA intended to discourage people from applying. However, it appears that his office will get $13,000 back and other departments also should get some funding.

A Commissioner asked about the status of the tower. The Sheriff said that they would be doing a test using the Midway tower. At present, the Sheriff's office sometimes has problems with radio communication in the extremities of the county. Finally, the Sheriff will be decommissioning a squad car, 2009 Crown Victoria, that the airport would like to acquire. However, since the airport is now under the airport authority, it no long falls under the jurisdiction of the commissioners, so they cannot simply approve a transfer. (The airport provides a courtesy car that people who fly in use to conduct business or shop--it is an important item for many out-of-town visitors to the airport. The current courtesy car is a 1998 model and it is becoming more expensive to maintain.)

Four representatives from NIPSCO were next to address the commissioners. At the last drainage board meeting, they commissioners had had questions about the long-term plans for for the fly-ash landfill at the Schahfer plant near Wheatfield. NIPSCO wants to do a phase six of their landfill and plans a phase 7. After that they will need new state permits.

Then there was a long discussion of the technical aspects of asphalt and the words "raveling" and "delamination" were used a lot. Eventually the commissioners decided to accept the bid from Milestone for resurfacing a section of 400 North and from Town and Country Paving for a shorter section that they referred to as the Sandpiper section.

After a short break, a citizen from the northern part of the county addressed the commissioners. He had bought a house that had serious problems and wondered why these problems had not been noticed by the building inspector.

There was long pondering as the commissioners decided which bridge the county should focus on repairing. None are in urgent need of repair, but some maintenance now to bridges that are showing wear can prevent bigger costs in the future. They finally decided on one. They also decided to spend some money to do maintenance on the exterior of the Court House, on caulking windows that needed it, limestone repair, and a bit of tuck pointing.

There were a lot of additional items, but the above seemed to me to be most important.

Busy Saturday, Part 2

In addition to a grand opening, a fly-in at the airport, and cleanup day at the fairgrounds, today featured a car show in Brookside Park and the annual Cruise Night. One could not miss the effects of this vehicle at the car show. It blasted music so everyone could hear it. What I wonder is why music of the 1960s and 1970s is tied to the car show.

There are some vehicles that are much older. Shouldn't there be some ragtime and big band music in honor of those cars? Like this Plymouth. I am not sure what year it was, but it looks late 1930s or early 1940s.

 It has a neat hood ornament. Hood ornaments were once very popular and then died. Why?

 Here is a Buick for which the music fit.

 The placard said that this was once a 1934 Dodge. I wonder how much of the original car is still there.

 Here was another remade vehicle--or at least that is what I assume it is.

 There will be no Mustang Roundup this year, so our one and only car show is now history.

There were big crowds lining the streets for the Cruise. The red car coming towards the camera had the new fair queen and her court. They will have a busy couple of weeks ahead of them.

 The crowds seemed to be thickest around the College Mall. They were definitely thinner north of the river, and the further north along the route you went, the thinner they got.

The cars turned around at Walmart. I noticed that the trees next to the Strack and Van Til parking lot had been recently cut down.

 A crowd favorite is vehicles that burn rubber. It makes a lot of noise and a lot of smelly smoke.

 At the Charlie Roberts dealership the fire department had three vehicles on display, including their newest acquisition, a 1940 American LaFrance fire truck, the second fire truck the department owned. It had a sign in the window, "Do not shift truck into gear at any time."

 The old horse drawn trailer was used before the trucks. Note the interesting spelling of Rensselaer. It apparently came that way from the builder in Lafayette.

The sock hop in the park was canceled. There was a bit of rain and the sound man did not want to risk getting equipment wet. I think also that the Little Cousin Jasper folks were too exhausted to do much more. They had been up since 5:30 this morning. They served breakfast and lunch at the car show and they apparently did very well, serving a lot of meals.

I mentioned in part 1 that I had been getting in touch with my inner princess. I have also been getting in touch with my inner pirate, and that voyage has also come to an end.

Busy Saturday (Part 1)

The Saturday a week before the start of the Jasper County Fair is alway busy, and today had the extra attraction of an open house at the new Dollar General Store. There were people waiting outside before it opened, with the line wrapped around the front of the building to the side. You would have thought that they were giving away money.

 Actually, they were. The first 50 adults got a $10 Dollar General gift card. The queue began at 7:15 and when the store opened, there were 54 people in it. Though the last four did not get the gift card, they did get a tote bag with some freebies. But then so did the people who came two hours later.

Today was also clean-up date at the fairgrounds. I do not remember the commercial building having these side walls, though perhaps it did last year.

 However, this little barn is new. The Farm Bureau will sell their milk shakes from here.

There were porches being added to one of the pig barns. They will protect the animals from heat of the sun.

Across the highway the EEA fly in was underway. I got there early enough this year to see most of the planes. (A lot of the pilots come early and leave early, so by noon quite a few of them are gone.) This strange little plane left about ten minutes after I took its picture.

Below is another odd little plane getting ready to leave.

I noticed that Titan has a sign up where the MacAllister building will be built, but there is no sign of any construction.

I have been busy for the the past two months searching for my inner princess, but I am happy to report that the quest is finished.

Summer is slipping by

It is July, which means that the days are getting shorter even though the days may get a bit hotter. There is a lot going on. I missed the ribbon cutting for Dollar General on Tuesday, but I will try to get there early for the Open House on Saturday. I missed because I had an appointment in West Lafayette, and driving down I kept noticing how tall the corn has gotten. Some of it seems ready to tassel.

Now that Fair Oaks Farms does not have an air show to promote, they have been busy promoting their new restaurant. It will have its grand opening on July 5. Fair Oaks has also given more options for visitors. They can now choose only the pig adventure or only the dairy adventure as well as both adventures.

There are plenty of activities this weekend. Various area communities have festivals or fireworks. On the fifth Rensselaer will have the annual car show and cruise night. This year the Little Cousin Jasper Festival will host a free sock hop in Brookside Park after 8:00. The airport will have the annual fly-in and pork chop dinner.

In a few weeks there will be a big festival in Potawatomie Park, and electrical wiring is being installed to get ready for that.

There are also round picnic tables along the sidewalk.

 The library had a well attended program this morning, and even a small alligator showed up for it. The presentation was by Indiana Wild.

 Tuesday night farmers' markets have begun. On July 8th the program will be the pet parade.

County Fair is a bit more than a week away. I was asked to give a shout out to the Why Not Me luncheon and silent auction that will be held on Friday, July 18 as part of the County Fair. The purpose of the event is to raise money to help people who are going out of the county for cancer treatment.

The water in the quarry has risen over part of the road down into the quarry.

 Here is a closer look. It appears that the road was lined with boulders and they are more visible now than when they were above water.

 And to finish this post, here is a blast from the past--the business is gone, but the sign remains.