Paving

 Corn is sprouting in some fields. Maybe we have had our last frost of the Spring.

I have heard frogs chirping in Weston Lake. I wonder if the water will last long enough for their tadpoles to mature. (Update: I noticed on Saturday that it had already dried up.)

The geese at Donaldsons have goslings.

Donaldsons also has "hiring" signs. There are a lot of "hiring" signs at local businesses.

The basketball court at Brookside Park now has a new asphalt surface. The hoops are not yet installed.

Paving City streets kicked off in earnest this week. Parts or all of John, Charles, Emmett, Kannal, Fleming, and McKinley Streets were milled. The picture below shows milling on McKinley.

Paving started with Charles Street being the first with new blacktop.

I stopped in Walmart and saw that their photo department was no more. That space will become their pick-up desk for things ordered on-line.

There were a couple of meetings on Friday. In the morning the Jasper County Commission of Public Records met. It took 15 minutes to assemble a quorum and while people waited, I learned that the Animal Shelter is closed because a vehicle ran into the building. On November 12 there will be some kind of ceremony to mark the 125th anniversary of the Court House. The Court House has new gutters to fix a leak, but there was skepticism that it would solve all the problems. There seems to be leaks that are higher in the building than where leaks caused by gutters are supposed to be.

The purpose of this commission is to give permission to government units to destroy old paperwork. There are regulations about what paperwork must be kept and for how long. Eventually an office will run out of room if it cannot throw away or shred unneeded files. The Commission heard requests from the County Prosecutor, City of Rensselaer Utility Office, City of Rensselaer Clerk-Treasurer, the Jasper County Library, Probation Department, Clerk's Office, Recorder's Office, Veteran Service Office, Treasurer, Health Department, The Sheriff, Animal Control, Marion and Carpenter Townships, Rensselaer Central School Corporation, and the Town of Remington. A visit from a shredding company will be arranged for July and boxes and boxes of paper will be waiting to be shredded.

The other meeting was a continued meeting of the County Council. At their April meeting they began a process to grant an abatement to a project that will convert cow manure into natural gas. They needed to have a public hearing as part of that, and they scheduled it for Friday. The meeting was short and there was no one from the public who commented. 

I missed the Airport Authority meeting on Thursday evening. I chose to attend another event.

We have celebrated the 125th anniversary of the Fire Department and will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Court House. There is another 125th anniversary that we could celebrate this year. In 1896 Rensselaer became a city. It has previously been classified as a town.

Rensselaer no longer has an aerial fire truck. It is now the property of the Brook-Iroquois Township Fire Department.

Jenna Morello has begun her Francesville mural.

226 tons

 On Monday morning I saw frost on a roof and some grass. It may not be the last of the season.

Rensselaer received a bit more than two inches of rain Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The baseball tournament games at Blacker Fields were canceled for Sunday. The river has risen but is three feet below flood stage. For the first time this spring there is water in the field east of Weston Cemetery (an area that I sometimes call Weston Lake). 

The Fire Department had a busy weekend. On Friday their fish dinner served almost 1100 meals and ran out of food. It was drive-through and was very efficiently run. On Saturday the Department celebrated its 125th anniversary with an open house. The event began with some speeches that you can view on Facebook. (Skip to the 34 minute mark to hear Kenny Hahn review the history of the Department.)

The open house had a free lunch with sugary cupcakes.

The Department has a room that displays old equipment once used by the Department, including a wagon that was horse drawn. (Notice the spelling of Rensselaer.) Members of the Department had to take care of those horses.

In 1920 the Deparment purchased a motorized vehicle that is in the musuem.

The Deparment also owns a firetruck that it purchased in 1940.

I was fascinated by the fire insurance maps that were on display as part of the Open House. (Some of these maps can be found on-line.)

Francesville is getting a mural. It will be painted by Jenna Morello, the artist that painted the large mural of purple cone flowers in Rensselaer.

The new gas-line feed is not yet live. The Gas Department is waiting for some final parts.

The City Council met Monday evening. There were two items from the public. An organization called Rensselaer Bomber Youth Basketball wants to host a 3-on-3 tournament on July 17th at Foundation Park and needs more than the two courts there. So they requested that Francis Street between Monnett and Kannal be closed for the day so they can set up temporary courts. The request was granted.

Fendig Summer Theater gave an update of its summer plans and requested use of Foundation Park for its performances July 8-11. Their request was also granted. It plans to hold all rehearsals, which will start June 1, outdoors. They will need electricity for the public performances and are working with City officials to arrange that.

Moving on to the main agenda, the Council passed an ordinance setting up an account for funds that it will get from the American Rescue Plan, the name of the latest Federal spending plan intended to provide Covid relief. The City will get about a million dollars but does not know yet what restrictions will be put on the spending of that money.

The Council approved a couple of transfers of funds and then approved the May gas tracker of a 7.5¢ decrease per hundred cubic feet. The gas department needs a new truck because one of its trucks was involved in an accident. The truck t-boned another vehicle that failed to stop at a stop sign and is considered totaled. There may be difficulties in replacing the truck. Right now there is a shortage of some computer chip that the trucks need, so the manufacturers are sitting on large inventories of almost-completed trucks. 

The Council approved hiring a electrical consultant. The person being hired worked for the City electric utility from 1985 to 1991 and will be needed for some projects that are planned. The Council also approved its appointment to the Rensselaer School Board. Only one person, Emily Lyons, applied. She will join the Board in July.

In adminstrative comments the Police Chief noted that the Department would be going live with Spillman software on Tuesday. (Sheriff Williamson pushed for this software that  does a variety of things for police departments and other first responders.) On Wednesday the Brook Fire Department will take delivery of the Rensselaer aerial truck.

City crews picked up 226 tons of garbage during clean-up week. They also hauled away 24 truckloads of yard waste, 19 truckloads of scrap metal, 129 car and truck tires, and 26 gaylord boxes of electronics.

Pouring sidewalks as part of the Community Crossings grant is finished. Milling of streets will start this week. South McKinley (the part that is not also U.S. 231) will have more than a resurfacing. The street will be dug out and a new base installed. It will be closed for three or four weeks.

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There will be another big baseball tournament at Blacker Fields on May 21-23. I finally found a list of softball tournaments scheduled for the Blacker Fields.

Finally, Father Ralph Verdi, who taught for several years at SJC, died on Monday.

Updates and more

Fendig Summer Theater has announced the plays that they will present this summer. Instead of a two-hour musical, they will present two one-hour productions, Xanadu Jr and  Disney's Moana Jr. Each will have a separate cast. The performances will be over four days, Thursday through Sunday, July 8 through 11, and probably outdoors in a park. July 10 is Cruise Night and the performance that day will be in the afternoon.

The new classroom building planned for Brookside Park is being financed by grants from the Jeff Goad Memorial 5K and the Jasper-Newton Foundation. The Rensselaer Republican had full details in this week's paper. 

Did you see the caravan of vehicles cleaning up the City for clean-up week? I will be interested in hearing how much they collected. I would expect that it will be more than usual because there was no clean-up week last year.

The containers in the Walmart parking lot that were pictured in a recent post are now enclosed in a fence. Comments on that post suggested that Walmart will be doing some remodeling.

Paving of the parking lot at the recycling center is finished.

There is a new tenant in the College Mall, Training Elite. I was told that it offers wrestling classes. I recall that a few years ago there was a martial arts studio that briefly rented in the College Mall.

The Smoked food truck will be at the bowling alley every Friday afternoon. It is owned by people who live a few miles from Rensselaer. They may do more days during the summer and expect to be at local festivals. On Saturdays they set up in DeMotte.

Here is a rather bad picture of their menu. 

Work began this week on sidewalks. Below is a cement truck getting ready to pour.

Here is a completed sidewalk on Home Avenue.

I only visited the construction site of the new vet clinic once this week. The day I was there they were installing what appeared to be the sewer line.

The maple trees are shedding their leaves. I have had some young morning doves in my backyard, so the first generation of birds has left the nest. Both signs of spring, but we had patchy frost on Saturday morning and may have more next week. 

The Tourism Commission met Friday. Revenue from the innkeepers tax has rebounded from last year as people are once again staying in motels. The Tourism Commission was a major contributor to the mural that DeMotte will be getting. Cameron Moberg, who will paint the mural, has had his sketches approved by the authorities in DeMotte. They will also get a sculpture that is being done by the same artist that did the bird outside of eMbers. This bird was given to the City but the City has not found a place for it to be permanently displayed.

The Commission had four requests for funds. They approved $175 for new plants in the Court House planters and a sponsorship for the Weston cemetery walk scheduled for September 18. Touch of Dutch is planning a smaller event this year, more a music festival and less arts and crafts. The Commission turned down a grant request and instead agreed to sponsor them at the $1500 level, their highest level. The Commission is trying to move away from grants to sponsorship. It also has increased its funding of capital improvements and to do that has had to reduce what it gives to events. 

The Commission approved paying the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority for the services they provide Jasper County Tourism. The person from South Shore noted that there has been a huge demand for sporting events and that the facilities in Crown Point and Hammond are totally booked. Perhaps that is why the Blacker Fields have had so many events scheduled in its first year.  The tournaments do seem to be filling hotels rooms.

Fourth Annual PAC Member Show

 The 4th annual Prairie Arts Council member show is on display at the Fendig gallery.

The Gallery is open on Tuesday and Thursdays from noon until 4:00.

It is no longer necessary to schedule and appointment, but you are supposed to wear a mask.

This year's exhibit seemed a bit smaller than the first two. Last year's was only on-line. 

The show runs until June 18.

The closing reception will be on the 18th at 6:30.

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A former Rensselaer resident, Amanda McIlwain Hauser, was featured on the Today Show. Video here.

Early May meetings

 Construction of the vet clinic east of Fountain Stone Theaters is off to a fast start. Last week concrete trucks were delivering cement for the foundations.

Below is the site at the beginning of this week.

The Rensselaer Farmers Market had its first day on Saturday. There were quite a few venders but it is still too early for garden crops. (Although rhubarb and asparagus may be ready to harvest in local gardens.)

The Park Board had an interesting meeting on Monday evening. The Fendig Theater, which should be announcing summer plans this week, asked if it could use the parks for summer performances and their request was approved. Last year the lockdown prevented their usual summer performance and this year fears of Covid will still result in a change from the full-scale musical production. Last year they went to on-line programming and served children in 35 counties, seven states, and two foreign countries. The Theater hopes to continue online of programming throughout the year.

This coming weekend the Blacker Fields are scheduled to host the largest tournament of the summer, with 32 teams playing games Friday through Sunday. This will be the only three-day tournament at the fields. This past weekend there was another girls softball tournament, this one with 11 teams. The previous weekend the tournament was very small, with only four teams playing only one day. Parking remains the big concern. Will there be enough parking if there are weekends with big tournaments and multiple rentals of shelters?

The Board reviewed finances for the Recreational Development Corporation, which is a non-profit part of the parks that controls money raised by park events. Revenues for 2020 were down from pool fees and shelter rental. It will be interesting to see how the tournaments change the numbers for this year.

The Board approved an lengthy list of summer programs proposed by Heather Hall. There will be some program for almost every day in June, most for kids but some also for adults. Also, there are plans to add a small building next to the existing building east of the soccer field in Brookside Park. It will have about 600 square feet of space to use as a class room/craft room and for any activities that are better done inside than outside. Funding for it comes from a local group that has not yet made an announcement on the matter, so I will not step on their announcement.

The Commissioners met on Monday morning in another hybrid meeting, partly in-person and partly via Zoom. There was a public hearing for the designation of an infrastructure development area. The purpose of this is to encourage installation of broadband Internet connections throughout the County. The Commissioners approved a motion that stated that finding shows that the County needs faster Internet speeds. Final wording on an ordinance is being worked on and will be presented at the June meeting. Once enacted, developers will be able to apply for an exception with the assessor, which is like an abatement but with a different office overseeing it.

Next the Commissioners heard a request to use a County parcel located along Wood Road and adjacent to the Airport runway for a 4H shooting range. It would be used during the County Fair for shooting related activities. The Commissioners did not take action, but wanted to see what the Airport Authority Board thought of it. (Their next meeting is May 13 at 6:00.) Any plan would need Purdue approval and it might also need Rensselaer approval because the land is within the City's buffer zone.

The City of Rensselaer plans to extend a sewer line along SR 114 and would like an easement for crossing the property of the County Highway Department. The matter had been discussed at a previous meeting and some questions raised. The questions having been answered satisfactorily, the Commissioners approved the easement.

Steven Eastridge gave an update on what progress had been made on the recommendations of the NIPSCO task force. It was noted that we are only two years away from the May 2023 planned shutdown of the Schahfer plant.

The Commissioners approved two rezones that were recommended by the Plan Commission. The County Prosecutor requested that his investigator position be made a full-time position. The Commissioners were sympathetic but wondered if it would set in motion a host of other requests to change part-time positions to full-time. The request will be back on the agenda in June.

The Health Department proposed some loosening of Covid restrictions. If all workers in a Court House office are vaccinated, they no longer need to wear a mask if no outsiders are present. The Court House will no longer scan for temperatures when people enter. County Highway workers can be considered in quarantine if they are alone in their trucks. The judges will decide what is appropriate for their courtrooms. The Commissioners approved the recommendations.  

The Keener Township Trustee has been trying to combine the various parcels of the Keener Township Cemetery and discovered one parcel is owned by the County. He requested that it be given to the Township. The County Attorney will draw up the needed paperwork.

There was a presentation from a consulting firm that specializes in child-support reimbursements. The auditor uses a competing company but may switch when at the end of the year. 

The Sheriff suggested the County needs an ordinance to deal with impoundment of large animals (horses). The boarding fee for horses impounded because they are not being properly cared for is $15 a day and they may be boarded for months. He also had a couple of requests to replace officers, one a part-time Court House security officer and another correctional officer. Tri-County Schools is establishing its own police force so it can hire a security officer and would like to purchase one of the older cars of the Sheriff's Department. They agreed to $12,000, but then the Department discovered that they had misstated the mileage by 30,000 miles. The Commissioners agreed that $10,000 was a fair price for the 2015 vehicle. 

There was a brief discussion of bridges. The County ranks in the top ten of counties in the State for the good condition of bridges. Six bridges merited mention. One in Remington is being redone with a Federal Grant. A second near the NIPSCO plant can wait until the work on the solar farm is finished. One is recommended for replacement, and three others need some less drastic work. The Commissioners wanted more information. The County was awarded $818,252.25 in the latest round of Community Crossings grants. The total length of roads in the project is about 7.5 miles. The advertisement for bids will go out as soon as possible. 

The Commissioners approved quotes for three lighting improvements, one at the former 5/3 building and two at the Sparling annex.

The County Court was built 125 years ago and there may be some ceremony to mark the occasion.

There are storage containers in the Walmart parking lot and it appears there will be more coming. Anyone know why?