City meets new Indiana 15 director

Held explained that Indiana 15 is a planning commission, established under Indiana state code. It is also an economic development district through the U.S. Department of Commerce, economic development commission, and a rural planning commission through Indiana Department of Transportation. It has served the counties of Dubois, Crawford and Orange since 1973 when originally named Patoka Lake Regional Planning Commission. Perry and Spencer counties joined in 1974 and Pike County joined in 1993.

“We identify needs, prioritize those needs and work to find any type of resources out there to accomplish those,” Held said. He revealed that over the last 50 years, Indiana 15 has worked with communities to bring in over $150 million in grant funds for over 700 projects. Jasper has received $2 million of those grants.

Currently, a $1.1 million grant through the Economic Development Administration is pending to bolster Jasper. News on the Jasper grant is expected over the next several months.

Overall, Held said Indiana 15 is working on over 200 energy fund programs to bring into the greater region.

Ordinances

Council went over several ordinances in different stages of process. The following were covered at the meeting Wednesday, March 22.

• Ordinance 2023-9. An ordinance providing for cutting into and excavation of public streets, amending ordinance 788. Updates fees to reflect current costs incurred by the City of Jasper for repairing right of way cuts.

Received first and only reading.

• Ordinance 2023-11. An ordinance appropriating additional money for the city for the remainder of the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2023. Appropriates additional sums of money from each designated fund for the purposes specified. Received first and only reading, procedure and discussion. It was open for public comment and received none.

• Ordinance 2022-14. An ordinance regulating the maintenance and control of animals within the city and providing penalties for violations of such regulations. Establishes animal control regulations within the city. Received final reading and discussion. Approved by council.

• Ordinance 2023-6. An ordinance to rezone certain property within jurisdictional limits of the planning commission of the city. approves application for rezoning filed by Ann Neal Corporation to rezone a tract of land from R2 (single family residential) to B3 (general business). Received second and a third final reading. Approved by council.

• Ordinance 2023-8. An ordinance vacating a platted subsurface drain easement (Edward A. Mehringer and Kristi M. Mehringer). Vacates plated subsurface drain easement existing on the property of Ed and Kristi Mehringer. Received second and third final readings. Approved by council.

• Ordinance 2023-10. An ordinance establishing the city of Jasper Redevelopment Authority. Establishes the City of Jasper Redevelopment Authority to be governed by a board of directors consisting of three members appointed by the mayor. Received second and third final reading. Discussion led to an amendment, where one of the three appointees be a city councilor. Approved under the condition the amendment follows legal procedure.