Planning and development

 The Rensselaer Plan Commission met on Thursday, August 12. It began the meeting by electing officers because its last meeting was almost two years ago, in 2019, and its membership had changed. It had one item on the agenda, a change in zoning from A2 to L1 for two acres at the north end of Owen Street. The property is adjacent to the Jasper County REMC building and the REMC would like to acquire the property for storage and possibly for office space. REMC is in process of providing high speed internet service throughout the County and I think this expansion is the primary reason they need more space. The zoning change was approved and now REMC will presumably purchase the property. 

The Rensselaer Board of Zoning Appeals met an hour later to consider a variance for height of an accessory building. The owner of a property near Curtis Creek wants to build a structure that will have a peak height of 27 feet but the building code allows only a peak height of 18 feet. Some neighbors were concerned that it might be a pole barn but the owner and her contractors are planning a structure that will be similar to the house. The reason that the Rensselaer BZA has jurisdiction is that the property is within the two-mile exclusion zone of Rensselaer. The variance was approved.

I would have liked to have attended the Airport Authority meeting on Thursday evening because they may have discussed hiring a new airport manager but the meeting time conflicted with the Rensselaer Plan Commission meeting.

The County Plan Commission met on Monday evening with two items on its agenda. The first was a special exception for a proposal to build cabin rentals around a gravel-pit lake north of Rensselaer. This project had been in front of the Plan Commission in June for a rezone from agriculture to parks and recreation, which was granted. However, the Jasper County designation for Parks and Recreation does not include short-term cabin rentals, so a special exception was needed from the BZA. The project now has a name, Brightstone Lake. The developers were seeking the exception only for a phase I on the project, which would be five cabins at the north end of the property. They said that future phases would depend on what they learned from phase 1. After a discussion that seemed to drag on forever, the exception was granted with one member opposed.

The second item was a special exception for a solar farm in Walker Township between 900 N and 1000N. The Jasper County Solar ordinance requires that any solar farm be approved with a special exception. This solar farm is completely separate from the Dunn's Bridge Solar Farm in Kankakee Township. It apparently has been before the Drainage Board, but I do not remember it and it may have been presented at one of the meetings I missed. It will occupy 470 acres and supply (if I heard correctly) 80 megawatts DC or 60 megawatts AC. (By comparison, the two solar farms in Rensselaer supply 4 and 1 megawatt.) Several people attending the meeting spoke against it, saying that they did not want to look at solar panels. Several others, including two of the landowners spoke in favor. The landowners said that the panels would be screened and would not be visible to neighbors. The special exception was approved. There was no date given for start of construction and additional approvals may be needed, but once construction starts, it will take nine months to a year to complete.

As for building under construction, not just being planned, the future Rensselaer Pet Care building now has conpleted its exterior.

The new electric storage building north of Columbia Park is getting walls. Below is a picture from late last week.

By Tuesday the front had been closed up.

McDonalds will be slightly larger when its renovation is completed. A trench for a new footer has been dug several feet away from what is now the south wall.

The new exterior of the south restrooms at Brookside Park is almost finished.

The exterior of the addition to Pipestone Veterinary Services seems to be finished.

Back to school

A new school year begins for Rensselaer students today (Thursday) and with it a new exhibit of ephemeral art: the paintings of parking lot spots by seniors at RCHS. This is the third year that high school seniors have, for a fee, been able to claim a parking spot and mark it with a design. (For pictures from the last two years, start here.)

This may be the least artistic but also the funniest.

 In other news, construction has begun on new rest stops on I-65 north of the DeMotte exit. Detail are here.

Honoring the dead

On Sunday there was a event in Weston Cemetery to commemorate three men buried there who served in the War of 1812: William Grant, Moses Marion, and Phineas Thorton. They are all buried in the eastern part of the Cemetery, but on opposite corners of Sections A and D. As part of the ceremony, re-enactors dressed in the uniforms of the day shot a volley from their muskets over each of the graves.

There was a good-sized group of onlookers. The event was organized by the Captain John Jackson Chapter of the National Society United States Daughters of 1912.

Below is the marker for Phineas Thornton showing the 1812 marker that was added to his grave.

One of these men, Moses Marion, will be featured on this year's Weston Cemetery Walk.

Speaking of the deceased, the Jasper-Newton Foundation added an article about one of the people who had endowed several of their funds, William Leopold. He was the great grandson of Abraham Leopold, one of the very influential merchants and citizens in 19th-century Rensselaer. He and his father ran the Home Finance Company years ago. I have no recollection of that business; perhaps it was gone by the time I arrived in Rensselaer. Does anyone know anything about it?

On Saturday the inaugural Jasper Jaunt took place. It was a bicycle ride that had focused on agri-tourism. About 25-30 riders participated. Below the riders are ready to start the ride from Potawatomie Park.

The organizer of the event is leaving the Jasper County Economic Development Organization for another position and JCEDO is currently trying to fill the position.

The digital sign by the Court House seems to be finished.

Expansion of the local McDonald's is underway. The expansion needed a variance that was approved in June.

Pizza Hut has been undergoing renovations to its dining room.

On Monday evening the Rensselaer Board of Public Works met. It approved adding a uniform option for the Police Department and approved a promotion of Patrolman 2nd Class to a recent addition to the Department. It approved paying legal fees to its lawyer for working on easements, right-of-ways, surveys, and property purchases involved in the sewer project. Finally, it heard an update on a proposed water project that awaits hearing if a SWIF grant will be approved. The awards were supposed to be announced August 6 but have been pushed back. There is a tight window in which some work must be completed and the Board gave approval to Commonwealth Engineers to begin that work.

The City Council meeting that followed approved a gas tracker for August of a 4.5¢ decrease per hundred cubic feet. The City gave an award to an employee for 20 years of service. The Council approved having Baker-Tilley administer spending from the Federal American Rescue Plan. The City expects $1.2 million but the guideline and regulations must be followed and they seem to be shifting. The Utility Office asked for permission to try outsourcing the printing and mailing of its bills. The equipment they have does not always work correctly and outsourcing may be cheaper. The Council approved. It also approved closing a block of Susan Street for the chicken and noodle dinner of the First Christian Church held during Little Cousin Jasper. This year the dinner will be drive-thru only and the Street will be one-way. When the road through the newest part of Weston Cemetery was built, it was given a base coat with the understanding that it would eventually need a surface coat. The Council approved $57,995 to add the surface coat.

In reports from Superintendents, the Fire Chief reported that the new aerial truck is being built. The new storage building for the Electric Department will use the concrete pad from the previous structure, but that pad was not level, having a foot different from front to back. The Council approved $27,170 for concrete to level it.

The Cemetery was given approval to trade in their center-mounted mower for a front mounted mower. After trade-in, the cost wil be $8850. 

Rensselaer Schools start this week. We are half way between the Summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox.

More Monday meetings

 The previous post mentioned that the Court House digital sign would be dedicated during Little Cousin Jasper Festival. On Thursday the mason built most of the base.

In addition to the Commissioners' meeting, there were two other public meetings on Monday. In the afternoon the Drainage Board met. The meeting began with a public hearing about a ditch that empties into Newton County. It drains 3300 acres and has 22 feet of fall over five and a half miles. Part of the bottom has been scoured and the current bottom is below the original bottom. The banks are very steep and may start eroding. The Board approved cleaning the ditch and establishing a $3 per acre reconstruction fee and a $2 per acre maintenance fee.

The plan to provide water west of I-65 from DeMotte has had a change in plans and the Board was asked to approve a new drain crossing. During the discussion it was revealed that the new line will run under a road that separates Jasper and Newton Counties. The Board pointed out that the project will need approval from Newton County because counties are responsible for boundary roads on the east and south sides. (The water line will serve the rest areas along i-65. At least one is being closed for reconstruction.)

The Board heard an update from the Dunn's Bridge project that included a hydrology report claiming that the project would reduce runoff. Grass fields have slower runoff that fields planted in corn or soybeans. At its July meeting the Board gave conditional approval for the project and at this meeting it gave final approval.

In the evening the Rensselaer Park Board met. It had a quorum for the Park Board, but not for the Park Corporation part of the meeting. The discussion meandered, but there were some interesting tidbits. There is one more tournament planned for the Blacker Fields, at the end of October. RBI Baseball, which uses Staddon Field, would like a five year commitment for the field because it is seeking funds to make improvements. There was discussion on how the Park Department could protect itself from increasing costs if it made that commitment. After school starts next week, the LaRue Pool will remain open on weekends and Tuesdays and Thursday evenings until the end of August. Porkburgers did not sell well during the tournaments. It seems that many visitors do not know what porkburgers are. The site originally prepared for the new activities building has been abandoned and a new site prepared. The original site had a water main under it and upon reflection, it was decided that a different site was better. The concrete pad for the new site was poured on Wednesday. A memorial fruit tree will be planted this fall near the new building. And finally, the south restrooms in Brookside are getting a new shell. 

August 2021

 I stumbled on more charismatic megafauna last week. They were in Bicentennial Park by the Talbert Bridge.

I passed through the Fairgrounds on Saturday a bit before noon and it looked dead. I was impressed with how many people camp out in the fairgrounds during Fair week.

I continued on to the airport to see the biplanes that were giving rides. 

I was surprised to see other biplanes that were not giving rides but were crop dusters. There were two different operators doing crop dusting.

The airport manager will be leaving at the end of August or perhaps in September and moving back to Kansas where he will manage an airport that is a bit bigger in terms of planes based there and air traffic than Jasper County Airport.

The August public meetings began on Monday with the Commissioners' meeting. They heard a presentation from Appleseed Childhood Education that was similar to the presentation Appleseed made to the Rensselaer City Council, but this presentation included an ask for a specific amount of funding, $150,000 for next year. Looking at the numbers, Appleseed has concluded that tuition and the various vouchers that are available will not be enough to fund the operation so they will need grants and gifts. The reason for giving the Commissioners a specific amount is that the Council will begin budget hearings in two weeks and Appleseed wants funding to be included in the Commissioners' budget in a similar way as funding for Community Services, the County Fair, CDC Resources, and EMT services are included.

The Commissioners noted that they had subsidized previous attempts to get licensed child care established and they had failed. They wanted to know why this attempt would succeed when past efforts had failed. The response was that Appleseed is partnering with Right Steps, a 52-year-old non-profit from Lafayette that manages five child care centers in Lafayette as well as the Growing Patch in Remington and a center in Goodland. They have the staff and expertise to find funding sources that a parent-led organization cannot find or successfully tap. One member of the audience was part of a non-profit called Seeds of Promise that raises funds for child care and he said that the Growing Patch in Remington would have failed if they had not allied with Right Steps. The Commissioners agreed to include the request in their budget but cautioned that there were many demands for County funds and it would be up to the Council to decide how much will be approved.

The Commissioners approved replacing a dispatcher in the Sheriff's Department. Thet Department had received a grant of $5000 from Franciscan to help fund counseling for inmates and the Commissioners voted to accept it. (The vote is needed to keep State auditors happy.) Tri-County School Corporation is taking possession of a squad car sold to them by the Sheriff's Department.

The Commissioners approved a rezone from A1 to A3 that was recommended by the Plan Commission. It will be for the interconnect station that connects the methane pipeline from two dairies to the natural-gas line.

The County Clerk is preparing a report for the State and wanted to know where absentee voting will be held. After some discussion, it was decided the best solution would be to install additional electrical circuits so the voting can be in the hallway outside of her office. There is no need at this time to change voting precincts but Council and Commissioners districts will be altered based on 2020 census figures.

There was discussion of the events planned to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Court House. During the Little Cousin Jasper Festival on September 11th there will be a rededication of the gazebo that is getting a new roof and cupola and a dedication of the digital sign. The Court House will be the Grand Marshall of the parade and past and present county officials will be in the parade. On October 15th there will be a ceremony and a Lura Halleck re-enactment. On November 12 there will be tours of various offices, mostly for students. There will also be photo and art contests as part of the commemoration.

A long discussion of repairs to the Animal Control building followed. There was vehicle damage that has insurance coverage, but there were also needed repairs before that accident, and there are some expansion plans. There was confusion about what the bids covered so the matter will be considered at the next meeting.

The Commissioners appointed Jason Armold to fill a vacancy on the Airport Authority Board. The Commissioners continued the meeting until August 16th if necessary before they went into executive session.

The planning committee for the Weston Cemetery Walk met on Monday. The Walk is scheduled for September 18 with two performances, one at 11:00 in the Hall Shelter at Brookside Park for those who cannot or do not want to walk and the other at 2:00. Tickets will also be available at Jordans and Browns and can also be purchased on-line through Eventbrite.

Finally, progress is rapid on the storage building for the electric department. The first picture is from the weekend and the second from Tuesday.

More later.