Jasper to Host Summer of Recovery

At Tuesday morning’s Jasper Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, Two Eight Ministries appeared to tell the board about their Summer of Recovery event. Their ministry does a tour of Indiana each summer to connect cities with state resources. In a festival format, Two Eight hopes to create opportunities for families and members of the recovery community to connect and create a dignified space for healing. The family-friendly event will be about two and a half hours and will feature live musicians, a DJ, event speakers, vendors for local resources, and more. Summer of Recovery will be Saturday, July 12 at 5 pm at the Dave Buehler Plaza. 

French Lick Winery will be hosting an Indiana Uplands Wine Trail event, “Spring Into Summer Wine Market.” Multiple wineries, including French Lick, will be present at the event on Saturday, June 21 from 12-5 pm at the Parklands Pavilion. 

While some necessary masonry work is being completed, the alleys by Chocolate Bliss will be temporarily blocked to ensure pedestrian safety. The alleys will be opened in the evenings whenever possible in the evenings or when brick work is not in progress. Closures will be no longer than two weeks.  

Police Chief Chad Dick received the board’s approval for multiple training opportunities for the JPD. Sergeants Brescher and Knies will attend the Indiana Police Supervisors Training held at the Evansville Police Department on April 9-10. 

Chief Dick and Assistant Chief Persohn will attend Chief’s School at the ILEA on April 21-25. On October 6-10, Officer Joe Chambers will attend the ATK9 Conference in Butlerville, IN. A computer replacement and refresh request for the department was also approved. Chief Dick reminded the board that this is First Responder Wellness Week and talked about the importance of supporting responders who deal with critical incidents. To help with that, the department will move forward with training the new peer support team through Lexipol’s peer support team virtual training. 

Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang updated the board about multiple violations for trash and debris accumulation at some properties. Chiefs Dick and Hochgesang discussed the process of addressing abandoned vehicles. When notified of a possible abandoned vehicle, fire or police department officers go out to see if it’s inoperable. If it is, dispatch sends an officer out to tag it. The owner has 72 hours to rectify the situation from there, after which the vehicle can be towed. 

City Engineer Chad Hurm provided an update on some upcoming road closures. 6 th Street between Mill and Jackson will be closed on March 31 for up to two weeks to install a storm sewer. After that, sidewalks will be replaced and repaired. A portion of the road should be able to reopen after the sewer work is completed. For another storm sewer replacement, Brosmer Street south of 30th will be closed for one day on Wednesday, March 26.  

Three quotes were opened for a new one-ton dump truck for the Street Department, and the bid from Bob Luegers was accepted. A quote for a new salt spreader, which will be used on the new dump truck, was also accepted. Street Commissioner Jeff Theising thanked crews for all of their work in clearing debris from the recent storms. On April 1-2, the Street Department will be conducting its annual pavement inspection. 

In other business, Mayor Vonderheide received permission to attend the Mayor’s Institute in Indianapolis on April 29-30. Brosmer Land Surveying and Engineering received acceptance of a dedicated right-of-way, public utility and drainage easement, and public infrastructure for the West Hill First addition. 

For more information on these and other updates, visit jasperindiana.gov or JasperGov-Indiana on Facebook.


 - By Drew Hasselbring